Hawks victorious in seven goal thriller

A frantic twenty minute period early in the first half saw all seven goals fly in, with Junior Dadson scoring three and setting up another. Barkingside had shocked the hosts when they went ahead, but Harlow were quick to pull it level a minute later through a long-range Dadson finish.

Captain David Cowley and Junior Appiah secured a two-goal cushion, which only lasted a minute when Barkingside took the scoreline to 3-2, before a brace of goals from man-of-the-match Dadson saw of the visitors.

The game sprang into action when on 11 minutes Calvin Poku finished off a nice Barkingside move. He had back-heeled to put Jason Fontaine into space in the area, and his powerful shot could only be parried by Andrew Walker in the Harlow goal. The rebound fell nicely to Poku who finished underneath the diving Walker.

Barely had the Barkingside players finished celebrating when Harlow were level. Junior Dadson won the ball on the edge of the area and composed himself before putting the ball into the corner, beyond the reach of visiting ‘keeper Tim Pitman.

Harlow continued to press forward, and a spell of possession led to a corner that would give the Hawks the lead under strange circumstances. David Cowley’s inswinging corner was heading towards the near-post when Barkingside right-back Lewis Francis inexplicably moved to one side to allow the ball to sneak past into the net.

Just three minutes later Dadson, who had been switched to the left wing for this match, beat Francis and crossed for namesake Junior Appiah to sidefoot the shot back across goal and into the far side of the net.

The goal frenzy wasn’t finished there. Barkingside captain Joe Bricknell pegged the deficit back to one when the ball fell to him in the area and his half-volley eluded Walker.

Harlow once again stepped up the tempo, and Junior Dadson was the conduit for the attacking play. Layne Eadie played the ball to Dadson’s feet, who cut inside and shot into the far corner, taking a slight deflection on the way.

Lewis Francis was having a torrid time trying to contain the unplayable Dadson, who secured his hat-trick on 32 minutes. Fabion Simms passed out wide, and Dadson powered through the Barkingside defence before curling his foot around the ball to take the score to 5-3.

Incredibly, there could have been even more goals. Dadson played through Alex Read, who rounded the keeper before seeing his goal-bound shot stopped by a retreating defender.

The first half ended on a sour note, as Read picked up a worrying injury. He latched onto a long-ball and was thwarted by a well-timed last ditch tacked from Barkingside defender Josh Akapka. The striker spent several minutes receiving treatment before being substituted at half-time.

HT: Harlow Town 5-2 Barkingside

The second half was devoid or any more goals, but there were still an abundance of chances. Leon Antoine, replacing Alex Read, had two gilt-edged headers from 6 yards out on 46 and 55 minutes, but he failed to convert the crosses from Junior Appiah and David Cowley respectively.

Appiah also had a chance to score, but his header from three yards out was well saved by Pitman.

Barkingside had a rare spell of attacking possession, with both Calvin Poku and Gregg Akpele going close. Akpele blazed over, while Poku was frustrated by Andrew Walker who saved well, before smothering the ball at the striker’s feet.

Joshua Urquhart, Junior Appiah and Billy Jones all forced saves from Tim Pitman, who was single-handedly preventing an even more one-sided scoreline.

The Hawks did have the ball in the back of the net again on 88 minutes, however Leon Antoine’s header was ruled out as he was adjudged to have fouled the defender while jumping for the ball.

There was time for one last attack, when Junior Appiah beat the visiting keeper to the ball far out on the touchline. He looked up for an unmarked red shirt in the box, but the ball went out of play and the Hawks had to settle for five.

FT: Harlow Town 5-2 Barkingside
ATTENDANCE: 250

With the top four in the league all winning, the table remains unchanged at the top. Harlow are now on 81 points from 37 games, with Needham Market still hot on their heels on 80 points, having played two games less. Once of their games-in-hand will be played on Tuesday 3rd March, away to Tilbury.

The next game for Harlow is at home to Aveley, on Saturday 7th March. Kick off will be at 3pm.