Harleston Town boss Danny Crow believes his side have ‘turned a corner’ after Scole United win ahead of Mulbarton Wanderers visit
Harleston Town boss Danny Crow believes his side have ‘turned a corner’ after seeing them progress through to the third round of The Norfolk Hire Senior Cup with a 3-1 victory at home over Scole United in a tie postponed from Saturday to Tuesday evening.
While the scoreline suggests a comfortable victory for the hosts, they were stunned in the first minute as the Fosters Solicitors Anglian Combination League Premier Division outfit, two levels below them, took the lead through Ollie Boardman.
The Magpies showed their quality and turned the game around on the hour mark thanks to goals from Liam Jackson and Ryan Crisp.
The fiery midweek encounter saw the hosts then reduced to 10 men when Asa McGeachy was shown a straight red card but, despite being a man down, Harleston secured their place in the next round via a stunning goal from Nathan Page.
“We seemed to have turned a corner and hopefully we can keep this momentum going,” said Crow.
“It’s no disrespect to Scole, we’ve all played cup games where you play against lower opposition and it’s a tough task. It’s a local derby as well so we did well to come out on top.
“Obviously they scored quickly and you could tell they were up for it straight away. They are a good team, they’ve got some good individual players and they work hard.
“Tackles were flying in and it was a proper cup tie. I feel like we deserved to win the game, we had more quality. We tried to match their attitude, desire and application to the game and I think we did that. Even at the end with 10 men, I think there was only one team that was looking to score and win the game.”
On the sending off, Crow said: “The (Scole) lad has got Asa by the throat to which the officials missed, then he’s reacted and been sent off, and rightly so because he reacted aggressivley, but the referee’s missed what the lad has done to him. We clearly saw what he did. He got him by the throat on the floor but that’s part of the learning curve for Asa, he’s still young.”
The third-placed Magpies return to Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division action tomorrow with an important encounter as they welcome Mulbarton Wanderers to The Recreation Ground (3pm), who sit in sixth place, just outside of the play-off positions.
Only four points separate the two sides as Harleston are looking to record their seventh consecutive league win, having only tasted defeat twice in their last 10 games in all competitions.
The Magpies certainly are on the up as in the reverse fixture, Mulbarton ran out 5-0 winners back in August.
“It’s not revenge. I don’t look at it like that but the lads might. I might remind them of it but the past is the past,” said Crow.
“We’ve turned a corner, we’re on a good run and they know how good we are.
“The team-talk doesn’t change just because they beat us 5-0.
“They are one of the best teams that we’ve played this year. They’re a very good and energetic side with a lot of ball players and they’re very organised. It’s always a tough game against them.”
