The Hawks successfully made it three wins in a row on Saturday, after their groundshares of last season NW London travelled to the Pardus Wealth Stadium for the first time since their 7-0 defeat there in February.

The home side grabbed all three points at the end of the game, in what was an action-packed 8-goal thriller, ending 5-3.

It became clear that NW London were looking to cause trouble early on for Harlow, as Arianit Krasniqi saw his half-volley ascend miles over the bar. After just five minutes, the opener was found for the away side, as Lamine Gomes unleashed a finish in to the bottom-right corner that was straight out of the top drawer, giving James Pellin no chance of stopping it.

The first goal gave Harlow a well-needed wakeup call after what had been a slow start, and they did find the net in scrappy fashion after Tom Jelliman’s free-kick delivery was spilled by Kian Eyers, and Fabion Simms was in position to nudge it past him, levelling the game after 15 minutes.

Harlow wasted no time following this, with Denzel Effah causing havoc down the left flank as we have seen from him all season. The full-back, delivered a perfect cross into Jack Zielinski’s path, and the striker couldn’t miss, flipping the game on its head just two minutes later.

However, Harlow’s lead lasted a mere five minutes before Felipe Melgaco hit a marvellous free kick into the top-right corner, well beyond the reach of James Pellin to level the game once again.

There were numerous efforts from both sides in the lead up to half-time, but nothing truly threatened either goalkeeper with the half-time score being 2-2, a fair reflection on the first-half’s proceedings.

Jack Zielinski and Korede Da Silva both saw their tame efforts by their standards go begging, but it was Denzel Effah who forced the biggest save of the afternoon out of Eyers with a strike from distance that the NW London goalkeeper could only parry away, Fred Agyemang will have felt he could have done better with the rebound, heading it straight at Eyers.

Harlow really should have taken the lead, and were beginning to get frustrated after Denzel Effah bursted down the left-wing and delivered an excellent ball across both Jack Zielinski and Fred Agyemang, but neither striker was able to connect with it in the six yard box.

A matter of moments later, the lead became red, after Alfie Attrill whipped in a great ball and Fred Agyemang netted with an absolute bullet header. Eyers could only stand still as the ball flew past his grasp.

Thirsty to extend their lead, Harlow kept coming forward, and it was Denzel Effah again delivering the goods, as Jack Zielinski saw a decent header of his denied by Eyers, with the follow-up from Arley Barker being wayward.

Danny Chapman made his first change of the afternoon, introducing Jack Haley for Korede Da Silva.

NW London had their first clear chance of the second half through Lamine Gomes, who found some space and struck an effort from 20 yards out, an effort that was always bouncing wide.

Once again the ball was in the NW London net off of Jack Zielinski, after Arley Barker found him terrifically, but the Harlow striker went just slightly early, and was correctly flagged offside.

Lamine Gomes came agonisingly close to equalising for NW London after sprinting one-on-one with James Pellin, but Fabion Simms emerged out of nowhere to slide in and win the ball, killing the danger.

David Aderibigbe hit what quite possibly could have been one of the most over-the-bar shots in the history of Barrows Farm; his first-time, long-range strike rose so high air traffic control should have been contacted.

Arley Barker was replaced by Jordan Burnett just before Harlow grabbed their fourth of the afternoon and it was Fred Agyemang once again, who this time hit a half-volleyed strike with panache past Eyers, extending the gap to two goals.

Four goals quickly became five for Harlow after Fred Agyemang grabbed yet another goal involvement, crossing the ball towards the back post where Denzel Effah was lurking. The full-back took a touch and unleashed a top finish past Eyers, eliminating any real chance of a NW London comeback with just eight minutes of normal time to go.

Danny Chapman made his final two substitutions of the afternoon, seeing Alfie Attrill and Jack Zielinski leaving the pitch for Dan Heald, and the recently re-signed out of retirement, Gavin Cockman.

In the dying moments of the game, Lamine Gomes netted his second goal of the game (and NW London’s third), with what was a fairly tame effort at the near-post, which James Pellin will be disappointed not to have stopped, despite his view of it being partially blocked.

The goal-fest came to a close after 8 goals, a terrific game for a neutral to have watched.

We have seen in the past that NW London are a great footballing outfit who hold onto the ball very well, and this is something they showcased yesterday, with much more cutting edge than they showed in their 7-0 defeat here last time out.

The 5-3 scoreline would be deemed fair in the eyes of most that viewed the game, with the Hawks deserving to win based on their high chance creation throughout.

With another amazing attendance of 399 yesterday, we once again thank you for your awesome support and we’ll be needing it more than ever as we host Thurlow Nunn Division One North leaders Stanway Pegasus on Tuesday evening, in what will be a tough game for us, as we look to continue our League Challenge Cup defence.