Harlow seal all 3 points against Needham Market

Needham Market got the game underway with both teams looking to make a quick start. Harlow wanted to start their era with their new sponsors OPT FX with a win where as Needham wanted to bounce back from FA cup disappointment.

With former professional players such as Izzet and Guy who both played for Colchester, Harlow knew they would be in for a difficult test.

Danny Chapman had to make an early substitution. Stanley Muguo came off looking like a hamstring injury and John Glowacki came on to replace him.

Harlow thought that they had taken an early lead through Layne Eadie, the ball came in from the right and it found its way to Eadie who was caught in an offside position. After that it was a very quiet first half.

Needham Market were looking the better team. Chances from Charles and Westlake forced good stops from Darren Behcet to keep it 0-0. The MarketMen were looking dominant and Harlow were struggling to get momentum behind them. Read was one of only few bright sparks of the first half as his hold up play and lay offs were exceptional.

Harlow got their first chance after 24 minutes. Alex Read pressured the Needham Defender Townrow to make a mistake and Read nearly capitalised but his shot was pushed away by keeper Andrew Plummer.

This started a good end to the first half as Harlow started to dominate. Read again was causing problems for the marketmen as his shot was deflected and nearly looped over the keeper but Plummer was able to tip it over the bar. From the resulting corner Daniel Brown got on the end of a great cross from Robbie Martin but was only able to get his headed effort straight to the keeper.

However Needham Market had a glorious chance to go into the break a goal up. Nice footwork from Ryan Melaugh opened space for him to pass to Jamie Guy who slotted in a neat pass to Charles who tried to lob Behcet but failed miserably.

Danny Chapman had his work cut out. His Half Time team talk was definitely paying dividends, like many times this season.
Harlow came out flying and dominated from the off.

Chances from Dadson, Martin and Read were all missed, and Harlow must have felt it wasn't going to be their day.

Chapman brought on Shane Stamp for the injured Aaron Greene and made an instant impact for Harlow. Harlow took the lead on 70 minutes. A cross from Martin was flicked on by Leon Antoine to Shane Stamp who crashed in a thunderous volley from just outside the area. Definitely a contender for goal of the season.

Harlow then doubled lead through top scorer Alex Read. Brilliant skill from Read drifted past the hapless defender and Read composed himself and expertly dispatched his shot into the bottom corner. 2-0 74 minutes.

From then Harlow were looking to see the game out, but this had a negative result. Harlow were inviting pressure onto themselves and Needham Market got a goal back. A cross from Ryan Melaugh wasn't cleared and the ball found its way to Needham captain Driver who slotted past Behcet on 88 minutes.

It was a frantic finish but Harlow were able to hold on and collect all 3 points.

HARLOW: Behcet, Martin, Eadie, Mcleod- Urquhart, Brown, Blewitt c, Dadson (Stamp), Muguo (Glowacki), Read, Antoine, Greene (Smith).

ATTENDANCE: 195