Harlow came away from Maidstone Road fortunate to take all three points with their 6th win on the trot as Chatham gave a performance belying their position in the league & neutrals to the game would have wondered who the team were second in the table.
The game started with Harlow having the first half chance of the game when in the 3rd minute Junior Dadson on the left cut inside beating two defenders before curling his shot goal wards only to see Ryan Nicholls push the ball around the post for a corner.
Chatham woke up & dominated possession for the next 25 minutes, in the 4th minute Joe Loft saw his shot from 20 yards go just over the bar then 4 minutes later Austin Edwards saw his volley from 20 yards go wide of the post.
Another half chance came in the 16th minute when Edwards on the edge of the area saw his snap shot go just past the post. Harlow at this point were struggling to get out of their half but as the saying goes when you are winning more than you losing a chance comes & you score & that’s exactly what they did when in the 29th minute David Cowley on the right crossed into the area for Jamie Guy to flick on & Dadson reacted first & hooked the ball into the net from 3 yards.
This stunned Chatham & you wondered if they would fold but up to half time they had the chances, as in the 34th minute Kieron McCann latched onto a clearance & saw his shot fly over the bar.
In the 40th minute Richard Davies running forward saw his shot from 25 yards go wide but then justice was done when in the second minute of added on time Chatham equalised when Davies saw his long ball down the wing flicked on by James Taylor for McCann to run onto & his lob from 15 yards beat Andrew Walker.
The second half saw both sides go for it, first to have a chance was Cowley whose free kick from 25 yards out was easily saved by Nicholls. In the 53rd minute a Liam Hickey free kick on half way went to the back post where Davies was & his snap shot was deflected for a corner, in the very next minute Harlow nearly took the lead when Guy on the left wing crossed into the six yard box where Junior Appiah was but his header went over the bar.
Another chance came in the 64th minute when Cowley on the left saw his low cross flicked goal wards by Dadson only for Nicholls to block it & conceded the corner. Harlow were now creating the better chances although Chatham kept plugging away & in the 67th minute McCann running forward saw his shot from 20 yards punched clear by Walker.
In the very next minute Billy Jones on the edge of the area latched onto a clearance & saw his chipped shot pushed over the bar by Nicholls, two minutes later a corner into the Chatham area saw Fabian Sims shoot from 10 yards & it was punched away by Nicholls then in the very next minute a ball back into the area was met by Guy whose header was headed off the line by Lewis Knight.
Then in the 80th minute disaster struck for Chatham when Harlow regained the lead, a ball into the area saw head tennis being played by both sides until Guy saw his header loop into the net.
Chatham threw everything at Harlow but just came up short & when the final whistle went the Chatham players must have been asking how they did not get a point out of that game whilst the Harlow players celebrated especially as news filtered through the their nearest rivals for the title had lost.
CHATHAM TOWN:
- NICHOLLS 2. R.DAVIES 3. G.BENBOW 4. J.LOFT 5. L.HICKEY 6. L.KNIGHT 7. A EDSWARDS (89) 8. C.HOLDER (84) 9. J.TAYLOR (84) 10. J.BINGHAM 11. K.McCANN
SUBS USED: 14. G.TILLEY (84) 17. S.REILLY (84) 15. F.McARDLE
SUBS NOT USED: 12. J.STEVENTON 16. L.COLLINS
BOOKINGS: 6. L.KNIGHT (28) 11. K.McCANN (88)
HARLOW TOWN:
- WALKER 2. B.GLASGOW 3. L.EADIE 4. J.URQUART 5. W.GOODHIND (90) 6. B.JONES 7. J.APPIAH 8. D.COWLEY 9. J.GUY 10. L.ANTOINE (61) 11. J.DADSON
SUBS USED: 16. F.SIMS (61) 12. M.GORBELL (90)
SUBS NOT USED: 14. J.SMALL 15. D.MATSUZAKA 17. E.THOMPSON
BOOKINGS: 2. B.GLASGOW (53)
REFEREE: Mr P.ROWLEY
ASSISTANTS: Mr R.ALBERT & Mr O.BENTLEY
ATTENDANCE: 170