Hawks Quality Outshines May & Baker

Following a fantastic 3-1 derby win over Hoddesdon Town, in front of a rocking Pardus Wealth Stadium filled with 409 Harlow fans, it seemed it would be tricky to top such a positive day for the club; back-to-back league wins is something the Hawks were yet to achieve this season, but with new signing Roman Percil joining, to add to a group of already influential individuals, Harlow’s quality on the pitch emerged too hot to handle.

It has to be said that May & Baker are far from an awful side, finishing 8th place last season in the Thurlow Nunn League, just 8 points away from a place in the playoffs. They are clearly familiar with getting three points and would provide another great test for Danny Chapman’s young team.

The effect of Roman Percil was an immediate one towards our squad, he’s a player who no doubt carries a strong reputation. An intricate, skilful winger who originally came from the Tottenham Hotspur youth setup – nephew of club legend Marc Salmon who held our club’s goalscoring record until Alex Read broke it in 2022. It was written in the stars for the lad to make an impact.

It didn’t take long for the Hawks to get up and running, with us hitting the woodwork in the opening minutes via a Tom Jelliman thunderbolt effort of which the keeper could only watch as it bruised the post. This didn’t phase the boys in red as a long ball from Tom Jelliman fell perfectly for Gavin Cockman. With the May & Baker keeper desperately rushing off his line, Gavin impeccably took the ball round him, turned his man and played a perfect ball into the feet of… you guessed it, Roman Percil. An early debut goal from the man with Harlow blood and no one took their feet of the pedal for the rest of the game.

It was becoming a recurring theme that we were going to continue to hit the woodwork at every given opportunity, as Jack Cousins smashed a shot straight into the opposite post this time, terrorising the May & Baker defence even more. Chances continued to flow for the Hawks until Alex Luque picked out Bobby Kirby on the back post with a beautiful ball, who volleyed it straight into the bar, as if we were playing the woodwork challenge.

At half-time, it was clear that there was an overwhelming gulf in quality between the two sides, with Harlow knocking the ball around with absolute ease, creating chance after chance and contrary to the scoreline, we should have been leading by 5.

Eventually though, the safety cushion arrived. Some great link-up play between Roman Percil and Tom Jelliman led to a pinpoint cross being delivered in from the latter, which was then headed into the path of Gavin Cockman, who when faced with an open goal, never fails to score. The Hawks had doubled their lead and it was going to be a long way back for May & Baker.

Harlow kept threatening with a few half-chances yet again until a shock attack from May & Baker lead to Taylor Hastings tripping over Cain Brougham and with a chance to fire themselves back into the game, May & Baker’s penalty was saved emphatically due to the heroics of James Pellin.

In a game where the scoreline could’ve turned into a cricket score, the Hawks yet again cemented their place in the playoff positions by moving up to 2nd place in the league. Arley Barker was awarded the Man Of The Match award after his amazing display in the midfield, not putting a foot wrong all game, and another defensive masterclass occurred as James Pellin has now recorded clean sheets in 3 out of his 5 games in the league this season. Overall, a great performance from the Hawks who were simply too good for May & Baker on the day and a deserved win followed.

Thank you to everyone who attended the game and have supported us in our return to football once again.