Following on from a more-than-substantial 1-3 victory last Saturday against title rivals Hackney Wick, our focus shifted to another difficult game, travelling to The Bobby Moore Hub, Dagenham to face playoff contenders May & Baker, who sat in 9th position prior to the game on Wednesday night.

It was a result in which players, coaches and supporters were frustrated by, with the Hawks dominating the majority of the game, but failing to put the ball in the net on numerous occasions, partly accredited to the fantastic work of the May & Baker defence and their goalkeeper Ryan Bungaradu. As well as this, we found ourselves cut open at times, with May & Baker netting in three of their four shots on target.

It was an unchanged starting lineup for Danny Chapman’s team from a momentous win at Hackney Wick, as the side looked to continue to build momentum and extend our three point gap at the top of the table. However, this was not the way that the game played out.

Harlow Town were absolutely the side with the stronger start, as big chances from Fred Agyemang and Denzel Effah went amiss as Harlow’s build up play was consistently positive, with them hitting a plethora of crosses into the May & Baker penalty area. One of these chances included an Agyemang header from what was an open goal, but his connection was poor and he headed over the bar.

The Hawks were made to rue those missed chances after the home side went down the other end and found themselves in front. Idris Aminu dribbled round the Harlow defence before squaring it across goal to an unmarked Ollie Beadle, who could only tap it home. In a similar fashion to last Saturday, the Hawks had given themselves a mountain to climb early on in the game.

Refusing to let the opener hinder them, Harlow continued to push for their first goal of the game, but missed chances from Fred Agyemang and Terrell Egbri begged the question as to whether they were rushing their opportunities, or perhaps not taking enough care, especially given how rash Terrell Egbri’s effort on the volley was, when he had time to think.

For the second time in the game, May & Baker put the ball in the Harlow net, after James Pellin saved it into the path of Idris Aminu, but the linesman’s flag was raised and the goal did not stand; it was a let off for the Hawks.

That disallowed goal acted as a reality check, and Harlow Town went straight down the other end, won a corner, which resulted in a goal as Denzel Effah delivered a superb whipped ball that was travelling into the goal. Gavin Cockman hit it with the slightest of touches off his back, and claimed the easiest goal of his career to level things towards the end of the first half.

With the momentum, Harlow looked to take the advantage as Denzel Effah found space and hit a shot from just outside the box. A good strike, it travelled just over the May & Baker crossbar.

May & Baker proved they were still well-and-truly in the game as Ollie Beadle, the goalscorer, had a close range effort drag just wide, with James Pellin rooted to the spot.

A terrific piece of skill from Terrell Egbri provided one of the biggest chances of the game for Harlow, the winger ran through two red players before cutting it back to Fred Agyemang, who struck it excellently, but Bungaradu made an equally excellent save down to his left to prevent Harlow from taking a first-half lead.

Unfortunately, Gavin Cockman had to leave the field early due to a calf injury, and so was unable to further contribute to the performance, and Ishaq Ameen replaced him.

The final action of the first-half saw Tom Cottle-Wood hit a fairly tame free-kick straight down the path of James Pellin, and nothing could separate the two sides heading into the break.

It was Ishaq Ameen who found himself with the first chance of the second half, after a great ball over the top from Syrus Gordon, but the striker scuffed the effort and Bungaradu could collect with ease.

Terrell Egbri was searching for a Harlow lead and decided to take a shot on, now playing on the left after Jack Haley was introduced at half-time. The winger’s shot curled over the top-right and off target.

Just when Harlow thought their momentum would continue, May & Baker burst their balloon, with a long-range strike from Jasan Pauline traversing into the bottom-right corner with panache, completely shocking the travelling supporters. The home side erupted as it was a huge goal for them in what is a race for the playoffs.

They were not done there though, young left-back Freddie Blackham sent Jack Haley with a good bit of skill before playing a simple but extremely effective ball through into Wesley Dos Santos, who dropped his shoulder, sent Fabion Simms to the shops and buried it into the bottom-left corner. Dos Santos then proceeded to celebrate in style, with a cartwheel and a backflip.

From this point on, Danny Chapman’s side knew it would take a lot to get them back into the game and, thanks to the strong defensive work of May & Baker, this would prove challenging.

At this stage, Chapman decided to change things for the third time, bringing off Tom Jelliman in favour of Korede Da Silva.

Harlow continued to search for a goal to get them back into the game, and Fred Agyemang was the one to find it from a Terrell Egbri in-swinging cross. With twenty minutes to go, it looked like the Hawks had a lifeline.

The following events were not quite as Harlow would have hoped, though. The Hawks missed chance after chance, including one of their headers being cleared off the line, but May & Baker’s defence stood strong, including man of the match contender Bungaradu in net.

The Hawks were unable to find an equaliser in the final 18 minutes, plus 6 added time, and May & Baker emerged victorious 3-2, dealing a huge blow to Harlow Town in what is an extremely tight title race between themselves and Hackney Wick.

Despite the result, we thank you for your amazing continued support and are appreciative of all the supporters who made the trip down to Dagenham on a cold Wednesday evening.

Our focus now shifts to tomorrow’s game, a huge one against third placed AS London, with the Harlow side who reached the 4th round of the FA Cup in the 1979-80 season joining us for the game. We hope to see you there.