It was no secret that a win was required for Harlow Town on Saturday, as the legends of the 1979/80 Harlow side watched on, the side that reached the fourth round in a run that included a victory over Leicester City. More importantly, they needed a win due to a frustrating defeat in midweek to May & Baker away from home. With Hackney Wick looming behind and winning their game in hand over Hoddesdon Town 3-1, the title may be beginning to slip out of the reds’ hands.

With Gavin Cockman out injured, manager Danny Chapman opted for numerous changes, with Ishaq Ameen returning to the starting lineup, and Teddy Jones starting for the first time since his long-term injury away at Coggeshall Town last year. As a result, Teddy formed a back three alongside James Folkes and Dan Heald, with Fabion Simms pushing up into midfield.

Both sides looked to start the game with an early goal, and Harlow almost found it when Terrell Egbri’s free kick found Fabion Simms unmarked in the box but, with a diving header, the midfielder failed to hit the target, the ball travelling over the frame of the goal.

It was looking as though Harlow would need to come from behind for the third game in a row after Chaka Barnett was fouled in the box by Terrell Egbri, and AS London were awarded a penalty kick, early on in the first-half.

Reece Simpson, the AS London striker, stepped up and dispatched the penalty well, despite James Pellin getting a hand on it and pushing it into the top-left corner. Once again, Harlow would need something special to gain three points.

Chaka Barnett looked to cause more trouble for the Harlow Town defence when a clearance fell to him. The winger swung at it in rash fashion, and the wild effort flew wide.

A couple of Harlow half-chances went amiss via Ishaq Ameen and a Terrell Egbri free-kick, both tame efforts, before Syrus Gordon came agonisingly close to levelling the game just before the break, hitting a half-volley that was beating Arnauchkov, but the post denied him.

Within a few moments, Syrus Gordon had another opportunity to shoot, striking it hard and low from the edge of the box, but Arnauchkov was equal to it and dived down well to make the save and keep his side ahead.

The final actions of the first-half saw Arnauchkov punch the ball into the back of James Folkes, with the ball almost ricocheting into the net, and Euander Lopes running in on goal for AS London but being denied by a strong James Pellin at the near-post.

Knowing a major reaction was needed in the second half, Harlow upped the tempo, and won a free-kick which Denzel Effah prepared to take. It was not necessarily in shooting range, a long way from goal to the right-hand side, but Denzel Effah decided to have a crack. The left-back’s effort swerved and dipped, completely catching Arnauchkov off-guard and forcing him to scramble and miss it, and the ball flew into the top-left corner of the goal, equalising the game in unbelievable style thanks to the the young, in-form left-back.

Looking to act upon this and find a second goal in quick succession, Terrell Egbri found himself some space outside the box and shot with his left-foot, but the effort was poor and wasteful, flying out of the ground.

AS London were not done yet though, and Reece Simpson cut it back to Lopes, who was quickly smothered in the six-yard box by James Pellin. Had Lopes acted faster, it could have been a second goal for AS London.

From this point onwards, Harlow created numerous chances that simply needed to at the very least hit the target, but they continued to be wasteful in front of goal which ultimately cost them points once again.

Ishaq Ameen found himself in a dangerous position after being played through by Syrus Gordon. On his left-foot, the striker swung at it, but the shot was wild and failed to hit the target.

After Chaka Barnett hit a fairly weak effort into the gloves of James Pellin, Harlow went down the other end, now in injury time and searching for a winner. The ball found Ishaq Ameen nicely and in one of the biggest chances of the game, he skied it. It had started to feel as though the ball was never going to find the net again for Harlow.

In the final minute of the game, Terrell Egbri put in one final cross, and Jack Cousins had an open goal in front of him, but failed to get contact with the ball and AS London were able to clear it and hold onto a big point for them, but a huge two points dropped for Harlow Town.

Overall, it was yet another frustrating result for Harlow Town, with their win against Hackney Wick seeming an awfully long time ago now. With just five league games left to play this season, it’s in Hackney Wick’s hands to go out and win their remaining games and overtake Harlow to win the title in April.

Although there is still football to be played, this game felt like a huge blow to our title race and missed chances can once again be attributed to our failure to claim three points.

Despite this, we had our largest home attendance of the season at 563, and we thank you all massively for your continued support. We hope to see you in our next game when we host Coggeshall Town next Saturday in a huge game for us.