Harpenden Town return to winning ways with cup win over Crawley Green

Harpenden Town ran out 4-0 winners over Crawley Green last Saturday courtesy of goals from Isiah Hillaire, Tom Silford, Tom Colbourne and Sam Denham. The victory sees them progress to the next round of the Premier Division Cup.

The Harps started brightly before Conor Freeman was called into action, making a close-range save following a Crawley Green corner.

The breakthrough came just before the half-hour mark when Dylan Joyce fed Isiah Hillaire, who cleverly lifted the ball over the keeper to make it 1-0.

Harpenden almost doubled their lead moments later. A long ball from Conor Freeman released Danny Webb in behind, but Crawley keeper Declan Jackson was equal to the effort.

The Harps picked up where they left off after the restart. Tom Silford doubled the advantage with a superb long-range strike from the left.

It didn’t take long for Harpenden to make it 3-0, as Charlie Smith’s cross was flicked on to the back post, where Tom Colbourne headed home from point-blank range.

Sam Denham wrapped up proceedings in style, scoring an acrobatic bicycle kick from two yards out to cap a dominant afternoon and secure Harpenden’s place in the next round.

After the match, Assistant Manager, Goalkeeper Coach and Head of Football Peter Russell expressed his delight with the performance.

“I am very pleased. We have struggled to keep clean sheets as we have made a lot of changes. It was really important not just to perform as a team and score a few goals, but also to keep a clean sheet.”

Russell also made clear that he expects even more from his team.

“I’m always looking for a bit more. I wish this had been a league game, but it’s still happy days.”