Pre-Season Friendly: Harlow Town 1 v 2 Brightlingsea Regent

By Logan Young

FROM the moment the pre-season fixtures were announced, many questions had been asked as to whether the Hawks would be able to cope. Eight months of negativity and issues swallowed what had always been a club with a meaning, a positive impact on its town.

The Hawks were faced with four weeks to put together a squad fit to cope with the new surroundings in the Thurlow Nunn League, and by playing a number of teams above the Step 6 status, it seemed it would be a tough task. 

Brightlingsea Regent are a side that certainly fit the category of teams that would be a challenge: a Step 4 side recently relegated from Step 3, however Danny Chapman’s men did not shy away from the challenge. 

From the beginning of the game, it became clear that Brightlingsea were strong on the ball, constantly passing it around our team, with ease. However, we played with intent and never gave up on a duel. Half-chances fell at the feet of Brightlingsea until their striker was in front of goal; a terrific save from James Pellin denied them. Constant pressure followed and a goal was imminent, as an unstoppable Brightlingsea strike gave them the lead. 

On the brink of half-time, Joshua Brown found himself one-on-one with the Brightlingsea keeper after a spectacular ball from Mo Mohammed. Unfortunately, the young forward sent the shot over the bar, leaving the visitors on top at the break.

We undoubtedly came out firing in the second half as a Gavin Cockman flick-on left Mo Mohammed goal-bound. He struck the ball to the keeper’s near post and a stunning save followed denying him the equaliser. A penalty decision given in our favour then gifted us the opportunity to equalise on a plate, however luck was not on our side as captain James Folkes’ penalty was saved by the Brightlingsea keeper. 

The arrival of Ishaq Ameen to the pitch had an invigorating impact on the Hawks’ attacking performance. Defensive indecision from Brightlingsea’s goalkeeper left Joshua Brown with an open net, but nobody was there to get on the end of his pass across the face of the goal. A cross later flew into the penalty area, was missed by the goalkeeper and Ishaq then volleyed it home to make it 2-1. 

In the end, Harlow simply ran out of time. We had attacking momentum throughout most of the game but if we had capitalised on our opportunities, the scoreline may have been in our favour. However, regardless of the scoreline, the Hawks put in a great performance against a strong Brightlingsea Regent.