Harrow Borough 3 Blues 1

Leiston fell to back to back League defeats for only the second time this season after they were beaten 3-1 at Harrow Borough. Half time substitute Joe Francis netted for the Blues but three Harrow goals secured them all three points writes Ollie Fairs.

Leiston made a very strong start to the match and were able to get the ball down and play some nice passing football as the home side struggled to even get a touch. They also created some chances, the first coming when the ball was loose in the box following a cross but Ollie Brown could not convert. Seb Dunbar then hit the post with a ferocious shot from the left of the box. However, Harrow took the lead in the 14th minute when a corner was floated to the back post for Steven Brown to head home. The first goal came very much against the run of play as it was Harrow’s first attempt on goal, but after the goal Harrow became the dominant side. The home side got into good positions on several occasions but their shooting was letting them down. The Blues did have a rare chance when Patrick Brothers whipped in a cross towards Matt Blake but his header from six yards out was straight at the Harrow keeper. Harrow came close to doubling their lead just before half time when Joshua Webb swung in a free kick from the right wing which bypassed the group of players in the box and bounced onto the post.

For the majority of the second half Leiston enjoyed most of the possession but they did very little with it and rarely challenged the Harrow defence. On one occasion they did manage to carve out a chance for themselves when half time substitute Joe Francis linked up well with Niko Muir but he was just edged off the ball in the box and forced to drag his shot wide. Harrow looked very dangerous on the break with Sahr Kabba in particular causing the Leiston defenders problems. Kabba had plenty of opportunities to score but was denied multiple times by some confident goalkeeping from Jacob Marsden. Leiston got themselves level again in the 67th minute thanks to a mix up in the Harrow defence which saw the ball cleared against the back of a Harrow defender which then fell to the feet of Niko Muir who squared to Joe Francis who stay composed and placed the ball past the keeper and into the back of the net. At this stage the game kicked up a gear as it became end to end with both teams pushing forward to get themselves ahead. Leiston came inches from taking the lead when Byron Lawrence capitalised on a poor Harrow pass before crossing the ball across the face of goal but it was just ahead of Matt Blake as he stretched out to try and get something on it. Harrow were still looking very dangerous going forward and it soon became clear that there was still more goals to come in the match, the only question was who would score them. That question was answered in the 85th minute when Sahr Kabba got the goal that his performance deserved as he got on the end of a Shaun Preddie cut back after he had intercepted a throw out from Jacob Marsden, the ball bouncing down off the underside of the crossbar and across the line. The home side capped off a very poor day at the office for Leiston when they added to their lead in the dying moments of the game. George Nicholas made a powerful run through the centre of the field before slotting through Harry Newman who placed his shot into the bottom right hand corner of the net.

FT - Harrow Borough 3 Blues 1

Harrow Borough - Williams, Josh Webb, Lomas, Preddie, Brown, Joshua Webb (Babalola 80 mins), Bryan (Newman 80 mins), Nicholas, Kabba, Driver (Charles-Smith 31 mins), Cumberbatch. Subs not used - Hazlett and Ochoa.

Blues - Jacob Marsden, Brown, Dunbar, Hutchings (Lawrence 64 mins), Jefford, Bullard, Hubble, Heath, Blake, Muir-Merchant, Brothers (Francis 45 mins). Subs not used - Joe Marsden, Cole and Ainsley.

Man of the Match - Jake Hutchings

Attendance - 179