Braintree Town Vs Harlow Town match report 14-01-2014 (Essex Senior cup)

A strong Braintree side was too much for Harlow Town in the Essex Senior cup, winning 3-1 to send Iron into the semi-finals. Six of the starting eleven were also in the side at Woking, but it was substitute Jordan Cox who enjoyed the occasion, coming on in the second half, netting once and winning a penalty which eventually made the difference.

The Iron took the game to their opponents with Holman creating an opening early on, running at the Harlow defence and feeding James Mulley, whose deflected shot spun over the bar. Matt Paine then managed to find a chance when he was left unmarked in the area and met Luke Daley’s cross, but his headed effort flew over as the hosts struggled to break through. For the visitors, Leon Antoine looked lively from the start, happy to run at the iron defence. He was the first to worry the home side, providing a threatening ball across the box twenty minutes into the game that could not find a teammate to the relief of the backpedalling Irons.

It was Alex Read who was to open the scoring in this cup tie, drilling in a low effort which added to his impressive tally for the season. The travelling fans set off an air raid siren in celebration, which rung out around the Amlin, in keeping with the game which had largely been played in the air with long balls in from both sides. Matt Paine struggled to deal with a ball through from the Hawkes, slipping on the patched up surface and giving away possession. Read made the most of the opportunity, bearing down on goal and slotting the ball into the bottom right hand corner, giving the visitors the lead.

With the Harlow fans in full voice, Exodus Geohaghan looked to instantly reply through a set piece. The big centre back made full use of his height when he met a corner in from Luke Daley, directing his header straight down the goalkeeper’s throat who held onto the ball to ease the pressure. A series of volleys set Dan Holman up, as Luke Daley crossed from the right hand side to Holman, who got over the ball with his attempt, but still couldn’t keep his shot down enough to test James May.

Leon Antoine continued to provide the Hawks with opportunities, setting up Read and crossing into Smith as the visitors looked to extend their lead. Down the other end, James Mulley ran at the Harlow defence, and it looked as if Layne Eadie was going to open the scoring for the home side as he slid in to cut out the ball across. His blushes were saved with what was to be a good defensive block in the end, putting the ball behind for a corner. It was Kenny Davis who opened the scoring for the Iron just before half time, beating several challenges to get his shot in on goal which rolled into the Harlow net to equalise.

Dan Holman managed to find James Mulley with a through ball when the teams returned from the break, who cut in and saw his shot bundled out for a corner. Jordan Cox managed to make an instant impact when he received a throw deep inside the Harlow half from James Mulley. Cox twisted and turned to get himself into a shooting position, curling an out swinging shot at goal which nestled into the side netting to give Devonshire’s side the lead.

Quinton almost added a third when one of his many in swinging corners teetered in front of the goal line, but an orange shirt could not connect and the marginal lead remained as the clock ticked down. Alex Reid did find himself with chances in what were becoming rare attacks for the Hawks. He set up teammate Leon Antoine who drilled an effort at Nathan McDonalds left post, but the keeper got down well to turn the ball out for a corner.

Ben Long picked up a loose ball midway in the Harlow half and ran into space, laying off Jordan Cox who again tried a curling effort. This time he couldn’t add to the scoring with May getting a hand on the shot and palming the effort away. Jordan Cox was again in the thick of the action as he ran onto a through ball, bearing down on the Harlow goalkeeper. Darren Williams brought Cox down in the box with just minutes to go, earning a red card as he got nowhere near the ball sending the lofty striker sprawling. Sean Marks stepped up for the spot kick and made it count, sending James May the wrong way, slotting into the bottom right hand corner to finish the visitors off.
 

Braintree: McDonald, Griffiths, Peters, Geohaghon, Paine, Daley, Davis, Quinton, Mulley (Long), Marks, Holman (Cox)

Unused Subs: Moore, Maybanks, Green

 

Harlow Town: May, Dadson, Eadie, McLeod-Urquhat, Williams, Glowacki, Smith (Hart), O’Donoghue (Muguo), Read, Antoine, Smith

 Unused Subs: Curley, Martin

 Referee: Stephen Moore

Assistants: Stuart Cheek and Stuart Gillman

 

Attendance: 204