By Peter Douglass

Starting Eleven: Jack Beresford, Nathan Atkinson, Billy Jordan, Archie Hubert, Owen Lavery, Warren Buckman, Ollie Long, Liam Shaw, Charlie Atkin, Ollie Griggs, Stan Horne
Bench: Harry Bales, Hano Hawar

Conditions weren’t the best with a damp pitch and drizzle in the air which fortunately didn’t last long into the game. The visitors kicked off playing down the slope with the wind at their backs towards the Victory Road end.

The early exchanges saw Haverhill with the majority of the possession and only an excellent save by Jack Beresford in the home goal kept the scores level. However, parity was short lived as from the resulting corner Haverhill took the lead. Their left wing corner was played beyond the far post and almost beyond their captain, Charlie Norman, but he managed to get a touch on the ball and then spin to shoot and score. The home response was positive and could have resulted in an equaliser when Ollie Long played a good ball across the face of the goal from the right but it was just a little too far ahead of both Charlie Atkin and Stan Horne. Having come close to an equalising goal, a defensive clearance fell straight to the feet of a visiting player who wasted no time in returning the ball into the home penalty area where it was headed home, unchallenged from close range.

As the half drew towards a close there were two incidents, one at each end, that could have had a significant impact on the final result.

The first was a third goal for Haverhill, the second a left wing cross from the left by Owen Lavery that found Ollie Long on the edge of the six yard box, but he couldn’t make a good connection with the ball safely trickling into the goalkeeper’s arms. If these two incidents had had different outcomes who knows what the impact could have been.

Half Time: U23s 0 – 3 Haverhill Borough

The second half started with the U23s taking the game to the visitors and looking a much better team. Their positive play was rewarded when after a bit of pinball in the Haverhill penalty area Charlie Atkin did well to keep the ball alive and ball found it’s way to STAN HORNE on the edge of the six yard box, his shot finding the back of the net.

The home side continued to press and on another day could have been awarded two penalties but neither was forthcoming. Midway through the half two substitutions saw Harry Bales and Hano Hawar replace Charlie Atkin and Nathan Atkinson. Harry slotted in at fullback, Ollie Long moved into the centre to replace Charlie with Hano on the right flank. The impact was immediate when Ollie Long was brought down in the penalty area, leaving the referee with no option other than to award the penalty. STAN HORNE stepped up to take the kick which reduced the deficit to a single goal.

At that stage with 20 minutes left in the game the chances of an equaliser looked good and maybe even an unlikely winner.

Unfortunately it was not to be. Despite continuing to have the majority of the possession, the intensity of the U23s play dropped and they were unable to add to their score.
Full Time: U23s 2 – 3 Haverhill Borough

If ever there was a ‘game of two halves’ this was it. The U23’s first half performance was as poor as I’ve seen this season in contrast to the second half when they played well without getting the reward their play deserved.