Early misfortune sees U17A fall to Harrow

By Billy Hutchings |

Harrow 1-0 Hampton |

Hampton’s U17A team suffered a 1-0 defeat to Harrow in their third game after the restart of school football with the team narrowly missing out on taking something away from the windy affair in North London.

Despite a sharp start from Hampton, Harrow struck relatively early on in the first half with a tame free kick cruelly deflecting in off the wall, leaving goalkeeper Arthur Bothamley wrong-footed.

The remainder of the first period saw a lot of possession for Hampton, who were not without chances. They did not take advantage of a large number of corners and were left frustrated after good shots from distance were saved by the capable Harrow goalkeeper. The opposition did provide a sizable threat on the counterattack with Harrow possessing some very talented and skilful players although the Hampton defence coped very professionally, and the first half ended without Harrow troubling Bothamley again.

After the break Hampton piled further pressure upon the Harrow goal with the post being struck twice and the crossbar once in the final ten minutes of play, however Hampton couldn’t quite bundle the ball over the line. It looked as if the away side would equalise with the last play of the game, but winger Jack Da Costa was not able to guide his header on target.

Notable performances came from trio Marco Ferrucci, Fergus Briston and Luca Parrish who all had comfortable and assured games coming in from our extremely successful B team – who have reached the ESFA Cup final for three consecutive years – to bolster a slightly decreased squad size due to injuries.

Coach Mr Joseph Cumberbatch will have positives to take away from the game after the team produced some attractive football, yet he will know that too many chances were missed, and this is what ultimately cost the team.