A game under the lights at the Pardus Wealth Stadium against former groundshares Cannons Wood was always set to be a lively, and entertaining one - and despite there only being a single goal to note, being an own goal, the match itself did not disappoint.

The Hawks faced Cannons Wood just last month at Aveley’s Parkside Stadium, going 1-0 down early on, but after a double sending off for Cannons Wood, Harlow bombarded them and emerged winners 1-5.

It was a lively start for Harlow Town, with Jack Zielinski getting an early effort away for the home side, which traversed just wide.

Harlow continued to work the ball into the box excellently, but were struggling to get clear shots away, much of which can be accredited to the Cannons Wood defence, who were sharp all game.

Fabion Simms felt he could have been awarded a penalty, after making his way into the box and going down from the Cannons Wood number 4, however the referee thought otherwise.

A big chance came for Harlow when Cav Clarke was fouled right on the edge of the Cannons Wood box, and Ruben Santos stepped up to the free kick from 20 yards. However, the free kick left a lot to be desired, flying well over the bar.

On the topic of over the bar, the next chance of the game was a Cannons Wood one, and after hitting the Hawks on the break, their forward struck an ambitious effort from 25 yards, which flew over.

A huge chance went amiss for Harlow when Cav Clarke robbed Reece Latimer of the ball, only to hit a shot well wide after drifting into the box. It was the biggest chance of the game up to that point, causing frustration as he had 2 passing options in the box.

Continuing the trend of missed chances, Ruben Santos also should have put the ball in the net, when a Jack Zielinski cross found him at the back post. The midfielder took a touch before sky-ing it, from the shot at a tight angle.

The teams could not be separated at half-time, with Cannons Wood having been well-organised but struggling to get past the strong Harlow defence, and the home side being forced to rue several missed chances.

The second half almost started perfectly for Harlow, as Tom Jelliman headed it into Jack Zielinski who touched it fantastically around the defender, putting him through on goal. Frustratingly, the Harlow forward looked to bend his effort into the far corner, and sent it slightly wide.

Cannons Wood hit Harlow with their best attack of the game yet, on the break once again. Mekhi Armstrong ran onto a long ball, looping it over the head of Dan Heald and into Michael Mignot, who struck a volley straight at James Pellin.

Working well to win the ball back high up the pitch, Jack Zielinski played the ball across the Cannons Wood box finding Tom Jelliman on the edge, who hit it first time just narrowly over the crossbar.

Harlow continued plugging away with James Folkes and Denzel Effah coming close to finding the goal, but lacking the cutting edge in the crucial moment.

James Folkes really should have scored when Tom Jelliman whipped a corner into the box, and the Harlow skipper was up to it well but couldn’t direct it on target.

A great team move saw Jack Zielinski play in Denzel Effah with an awesome through ball. Effah later crossed the ball into Zielinski, who got a shot on target but Marigliani was equal to it.

Jack Haley found James Folkes with a pin-point cross in the late stages of the game, and totally unmarked, the captain needed to hit the target. The ball flew just wide of the top-right corner.

Eventually, in the 85th minute, the deadlock was finally broken and Harlow found the goal they’d been pushing for all game. Teddy Jones launched a throw on into the box, and in a crowd of players, the ball ended up in the back of the net, as the crowd and players went wild. The goal itself came off the back of Brendon Osholake’s head in unfortunate circumstances for the defender, but Harlow were not going to complain about it.

Despite some late Cannons Wood pressure, Harlow managed to keep them at bay and come away with three huge points in the league, making it a league double over Cannons Wood for the season.

Despite the utter dominance of the Hawks throughout the game, they struggled to break down Cannons Wood’s air-tight defence, but in the same respect, Cannons Wood struggled to break down the Harlow defence. In particular, Teddy Jones had a spectacular game, winning practically every duel, and dominating the Cannons Wood attack.

We thank you once again for your incredible continued support, and we hope to see you on Saturday for our FA Vase tie, away to Hadleigh United.