This match report comes a few weeks later than intended, as I was hoping to be able to write a full report, assisted by Veo footage, however this hasn’t been possible due to administrative issues from Veo, which we have been in the process of rectifying, hence the lack of highlights videos recently.

In our penultimate home game of the season, we faced Clapton FC on a sunny and bright setting, the Pardus Wealth Stadium. Seeking revenge from our 4-2 defeat in Plaistow last year, the Hawks came away with a very comprehensive 2-0 victory, in a game where things got heated, but the performance from the home side was not hindered by it.

Clapton FC begun the game strongly, landing a few opportunities to strike at goal and try to claim an early lead, however there was a lack of punch to these efforts, one of which went wide from distance, and the other was no issue for James Pellin.

Raheem Gray soon found himself with a chance down the other end, but unfortunately with the goal gaping, he missed the target – however despite the horror miss, he would have the last laugh come minute 90.

Junior Dadson was the next Harlow player to threaten the defence of Clapton, and the winger came inches away from finding the net, but his shot was cleared off the line, keeping things level. Dadson soon picked up an injury and was forced to leave the field early in the game, being replaced by Ishaq Ameen.

It was Clapton who finished the first-half the stronger side, coming painfully close to opening scoring for them, as their effort struck the Harlow crossbar, before shooting wide later in the half, as both teams went into the break level.

The first half left a lot to be desired from Harlow Town, who really needed to up the tempo in the second half, if they were to find the goals to win them the game – with Clapton FC having the momentum at the end of the first half.

This was the case in the second half, which was a much more exciting affair from either team. Early in the half, James Pellin was forced to make a good save, which he did comfortably before Raheem Gray missed from a volley two minutes later.

Clapton then found themselves shooting from distance again, which proved unsuccessful, as Harlow quickly went down the other end and netted the opener; a fantastic leaping header from James Folkes from a corner, which was assisted by Tom Jelliman’s 20th assist of the season so far.

Both teams continued to fire blanks as Harlow had certainly upped the tempo, but couldn’t yet find the second goal they had been searching for to kill the game. Once again, Pellin was forced into action before the game took a turn in trajectory.

Things had begun to get heated towards the end of the second half, as some big challenges left both teams frustrated, which led to the dismissal of Jorden Adeoye for Clapton FC.

This gave the Hawks a huge boost and allowed us to be more open and fully attack the away side, with the substitutes and particularly Korede Da Silva having a huge impact. Ishaq Ameen produced one of the assists of the season as he picked out Raheem Gray in the 96th minute of action, and the striker was never going to miss, grabbing the second of the game for the Hawks, and securing all three points.