The Hawks returned to league action at the weekend as they faced Dunstable Town following mid-week victory in the FA Cup against Saffron Walden. The only change in the team from this game was Arley Barker starting at right-back, in the absence of Harvey Steel due to injury. New signing Dwade James was named on the bench, with Callum Leggatt not in the squad.

Dunstable came to The Harlow Arena as another team that we did not know massively what to expect from, but they proved within the game to be clinical.

After a missed chance from Callum Ibe and a superb save from Alex Desmond to prevent Teddy Jones, Harlow found an early lead as Callum Ibe crossed in a free-kick and Louis Stead got his head to it to place it past Desmond in the eighteenth minute.

Harlow continued to mount the pressure on Dunstable, and Denzel Effah had some joy, running through two defenders before forcing Desmond into a save. On the follow-up, Fabion Simms ran onto it but mis-kicked it and it flew wide.

The reds really should have been at least two or three goals up in the first-half as Stef Georgiou couldn’t finish two chances from the right-hand side, and Fabion Simms hit a shot at Desmond after being picked out just inside the 18-yard box.

The Hawks were punished for their ill-finishing as Hadley Gleeson turned Teddy Jones before dispatching it into the bottom-left corner with a clinical, low finish that James Pellin could get nowhere near.

In a quick turn of play, Dunstable flipped the game on its head as their free-kick from distance was whipped into the box, headed across the box, where Luka Lodder stood to awkwardly get on the end of it. The defending from Harlow Town was poor, allowing Lodder to put it in the net and give Dunstable a lead in the first-half.

A chance from Jack Cousins followed in which he attempted to head the ball from Denzel Effah’s cross, but didn’t connect cleanly with it. Shortly after, Raheem Gray came agonisingly close after Jack Cousins switched the play to him. Gray hit it low to the far-post, but it struck the inside of the post and bounced into Desmond’s arms; inches from a goal.

Much of the second half felt very flat. Not a lot was going on and the Hawks were trailing by a goal, they needed something to give them a lift, and that came in the form of Josh Gruby.

Since his introduction, Josh looked dangerous on the attack, having a few good spells on the ball before a mega moment in the game. Harlow had won a corner in the 91st minute. Callum Ibe whipped it in, the reds called for a handball which was not awarded as Dunstable got it clear. Josh Gruby picked it up from 25 yards out, beat a man before hitting an effort at goal. The shot took a significant touch off of a Dunstable defender and beat Desmond, levelling the game in added time. The Hawks quickly grabbed the ball and the crowd went wild, spurring them on in the final moments.

It really should have been Harlow celebrations after Korede Da Silva was picked out in space in the 94th minute, squaring it across to Raheem Gray but Desmond smothered the effort and prevented a late Harlow winner.

New striker Dwade James attempted to find Harlow a winner after Denzel Effah whipped in a cross in some of the final moments of the game, but the header had minimal contact and drifted wide.

Deep into added time, Harlow continued to pump the ball forward, with the crowd behind them, searching for a late winner, but it came back to bite them. Dunstable won a duel, hitting Harlow on the break through Charlie Clark, who played a ball down the line into Montel Brown who ran all the way through and slid it past James Pellin, winning the game for Dunstable in the 98th minute.

The Dunstable team and officials erupted, with the substitutes all running onto the pitch in celebration. They had done it. They had stolen it at the death. Deflation filled the Harlow supporters.

The referee called time on the game and Harlow had been stunned. Despite a quite dominant display from the reds in which they registered 15 shots, 8 on target, Dunstable’s clinical finishing made the difference in the end. The away side had just 5 shots with 4 being on target.

We thank you for your continued support and shift our focus to tomorrow’s game against Crawley Green away from home, kicking off at 7.45pm.