Harpenden Town fall to 3–1 defeat at home to Sawbridgeworth

Written by Abid Khan

Harpenden took an early lead, but three goals from Sawbridgeworth handed the Harps their first loss under newly appointed manager, Lee Hawkes.

Despite a cagey opening, Ollie Salami gave the Harps the lead. Salami received the ball on the wing and combined nicely with Harps’ top goalscorer, Henry Jones; once through on goal, Salami beat the goalkeeper to give Harpenden the opener.

Sawbridgeworth equalised shortly after — a loopy cross was played to the back post and headed onto the crossbar by Yildiz. It fell for Toner, who scored to make it level.

The opposition then took advantage and added two more before the break. The Harps found themselves trailing 3–1 at half-time.

Harpenden came quickly out of the blocks in the second half. Ollie Salami came close to a brace with a free kick that smashed against the crossbar. George Devine also shot just wide of the far post soon after, as the hosts pushed to get back into the game.

Despite a strong second-half effort, the Harps fell to four straight games without a win in the league.

Speaking after the game, Head Coach Lee Hawkes credited Sawbridgeworth — despite his frustration with his team’s performance.

He said:

“I don’t think we were at the races today.
We go 1–0 up, but to concede immediately after wasn’t good.
Credit to Sawbridgeworth as they made it hard for us.”

Looking forward, Lee Hawkes says that his team will improve.

He added:

“We take the loss on the chin.
We will learn from today’s performance. We know what we can achieve at our best and we are working hard to show that.”