Welcome To The Harrow Borough FC Fans Forum

Borough 1, Snodland 3.

By Fastnet Rover (Grinetohkesleker)23/8 16:12Sun Aug 23 16:12:30 2026

Views: 597

Harrow Borough 1, Snodland Town 3.

Harrow exited the FA Cup in disappointing fashion this afternoon, being somewhat unfortunate to lose to a hungry & well-organised Snodland Town side that lost more games than they won last term, in what I still regard as the Kent County League, and who have started this campaign with a win, a draw and a defeat.

I can't say I'd ever heard tell of Snodland Town. Though I know vaguely where it is, I'd have to look up Snodland, were I to have cause to go there... Which I doubt I ever will.
Whereas the neighbouring locality of Halling had a champion racehorse named after it in the 1990s, one cannot imagine Her Majesty, the Aga Khan, the Maktoums or the Magniers naming a prize thoroughbred "Snodland." It has a faintly comical or obscene ring to it. There was something faintly obscene about Snodland Town burgling a win at Earlsmead.

This was a strange game. Borough seemed to accept that their lower-level visitors would be "up for it" and decided that hard work and physicality was beneath them: confident that sweeping passes from their superior midfielders and the speed of their wingers would be enough to see off the guttersnipes. That's a mite unorthodox and rather disrespectful, but the tactic created enough chances to have won the game comfortably. It was undermined by a genuine Souness "challenge" and allowing two Snodland players so much time & space in the box that they could have claimed Travellers' rights.

On a pleasant summer afternoon, Borough made four changes from the XI that garnered a point against Southall in midweek.
The hosts more or less went 4-3-3, with Lenny Farhall as a lone striker and Tade Ibrahim & Will Bailey as fairly orthodox wingers.

Snodland, perhaps delayed by Sadiq & Co. installing of a cycle lane on the M25, didn't arrive until getting on for 2:30. A mini-coach with thirty or so fans, pitched-up around the same time. A respectable number had arrived earlier, including a Hun!... in a Rangers shirt! The coach party included a fan in a Republic of Ireland shirt. I know diversity is popular, but that's pushing it. The Hun remained behind the dugouts. Fittingly, the Ireland fan briefly stationed himself near Terry's position, before moving closer to the bottom end. Snodland showed no signs of being unsettled by the delay. They remained on opposite sides of the ground throughout. Snodland initially seemed to line-up 5-4-1, but player-manager Connor Dymond, in the centre of the back three, soon took up a deep midfield role, where he read the game expertly and thwarted Borough's attempts at progress through the middle. Kian Scott was the lone striker, with Harry Hudson often providing support from central midfield.

Kicking down the slope, Borough's tiki-taka was replaced by mid-range "hoofs" to Ibrahim & Bailey who, despite their relatively small size, often managed to take them down well and unsettled Kent fullbacks Todd Brand & Tyler Jackson-Hunt with their pace.
Just two minutes in, a fast Bailey break down the right saw the ball worked across to Ibrahim, who cleverly jinked back inside and clipped a decent curving shot from 10 yards or so that Snodland goalie Frankie Leonard did well to tip past his left post.
Snodland launched a fast break after the resulting corner came to nothing, which fortunately culminated in a tame shot by Kian Scott that Trent Carter-Rogers held easily.

Borough won a free kick, five yards outside the area, just to the right of the D. An inviting position for a left-footed strike. Lewis Cole struck a poor delivery, looking for a colleague's head, rather than the top corner. That's not indicative of a high level of confidence.
A couple of minutes later, the impressive Ibrahim dispossessed right-back Brand, as he tried to shepherd the ball back to keeper Leonard. With neither Ibrahim nor the goalie seeming to know much about it, the ball got stuck somewhere around Leonard's stomach and he managed to grab it at the edge of the area.

Against the run of play, Snodland took the lead on 18 minutes. They won a throw on their right, maybe 25 yards out. I was standing by their Irish fan and my view of the throw was impeded by the stand and some fans. There was no quick throw and everyone in a red shirt who should've been defending was positioned to do just that. Somehow, the ball trundled rather gently to Harry Hudson, perhaps 15 yards out and five yards outside TC-R's left post. No red shirt anywhere near him. He took a touch and hit a firm, low shot into TC-R's bottom right corner. Maybe Snodland took the throw when Borough weren't expecting it; maybe they did something innovative but, as I say, it wasn't a quick throw and it's hard to see how the opposition's #10 (in the positional sense; Hudson actually wore eight) could be left in splendid isolation, 15 yards out.
One-nil.
It was noticeable that Snodland skipper Emmanuel Shoderu - playing in a peripheral position, wide right - was quick to gee-up his players to concentrate and get the first tackle in. He shook fists, shouted and encouraged throughout. A similar character in a red shirt was conspicuous by its absence.

Although outfought in the trenches, Borough continued to look the likelier side to score.
An impressive Cole delivery of a flag-kick from the bottom corner beat the goalie, but was headed away from near the line by a blue shirt. The resulting fast break was thwarted only by the speedy Ibrahim getting back to make a vital tackle.
Ibrahim soon won another corner. From the other side, Cole's chipped delivery saw Harry Nevins rise outside the far post to nod the ball dangerously back across goal. It was then headed straight back to Nevins, who didn't catch the volley as he would have wished and Leonard pouched the angled shot with comfort.
Bailey won another corner by outpacing left-back Jackson-Hunt from a hopeful Harrow hoof, then he had an airshot from a Massimo Giamettei throw.

Prince Mbengui went down in a heap and, under these new regulations that I've paid no attention to, had to stand on the touchline for two minutes before being allowed back on.
Borough's defence creaked loudly when a Snodland throw bounced around their six-yard box, but they soon had another good opportunity to get back on terms. Giamettei won a free kick, only a couple of yards further outside the box and a couple of yards closer to the touchline than the one at which Cole had earlier ineffectually attempted a cross. Not quite A1 position for a left-footer, but promising. Cole made a dummy run over the ball and Bailey, tailing him, hit a tame right-footer that got past the right edge of the wall but was easily snaffled by Leonard, low to his left.

As the Snodland bench and fans on that side screamed loudly for some perceived infringement in front of them, a touch of the tiki-takas saw TC-R attempt to dribble around Kent striker Scott, with almost fatal results. The keeper recovered to shank a panicky hoof over the main stand into someone's garden. Stop doing that! Now!
Borough hoofed a free kick from their own half into the Kent box. Keeper Leonard came 15 yards to punch but, under pressure from Simba Kudyiwa, fisted the ball straight up in the air, but a blue shirt cleared the danger. At the other end a Kieran King cutback saw a Snodland shot deflected over.

The half ended with Snodland making a mess of a reasonable free kick, ten yards outside the box. TC-R comfortably caught it and launched a hoof, which Farhall managed to haul down, goal side of his marker. Unfortunately, holding off his pursuer, his shot was tamely at the Kent goalie.

Mr. Carter was not best pleased with his troops' first 45 minutes. He hauled-off Simba, Mbengui & Farhall at the interval, replacing them with Adam Kolli, Lucas Miller & Gareth Chendlik. Olu Akinode moved to join Nevins in the middle of the back four, Bailey retreated to right-back, Ibrahim switched wings and Miller went to outside-left. Kolli sat behind Chendlik up front.
Miller was soon looking lively and his early sorties caused problems. However, the first decent chance of the second half fell to Snodland when Hudson put a header wide. In spite of being a goal ahead and beginning to drop deeper, Snodland generally kept two up when defending. Miller hit a rasping drive a yard over the bar. Mr. Carter looked increasingly agitated as he performed ball boy duties along the touchline.

Jayde Crotty arrived for Ibrahim on the hour but the balance of the game changed shortly afterwards. Snodland attacked down the inside-right channel. Kieran King, with space in front of him, touched the ball well forward. Nevins lunged. His boot might not have been much more than six inches off the ground, but his studs were up. The ball had gone, the lunge was forceful & late and it caught King high on the instep of his grounded foot. The chest-jostling and pushing that followed was quite mild. The referee, who was well-positioned, had a word with a few players before going to consult his linesman, who was within ten yards or so of the challenge. There can't be too many complaints about the red card. It was Borough's first foul of the half and was worth waiting for!

Borough looked a bit unsettled. Under pressure, Bailey played a firm back-pass to TC-R, who aimed a hefty hoof downfield but completely missed the ball. Fortunately, he was outside his right post. TC-R redeemed himself with a smart catch and quick disposal from the resulting corner. The resulting quick break put Miller away, but he fired wide.

The match was just about ended as a contest on 70 minutes. Snodland had a corner, down in the valley. Maybe Nevins had been deputed to watch Kent player-manager Dymond at corners and nobody remembered he'd been sent off. Probably not, though. Dymond took up a position closest to the taker. He was maybe five yards out and three years beyond the near post. No red shirt near him. You'd have though he was there to flick-on a near post delivery, but there was no excuse for not marking him. It was not a quick corner. The delivery was fairly gentle. Straight onto Dymond's head. Nobody moved. Yozzer Hughes nod. Bang! Two-nil. Game over. "Pint of bitter for the boy" and shake hands.

Jeremy Stewart came on as a proper number #5 and looked good. Kolli was sacrificed after less than 30 minutes on the field.
Borough continued to create chances, as Snodland sensibly sat on their lead. A Miller howitzer was blocked. A left-wing cross from the same player saw Leonard in trouble and he was a mite lucky to claw the ball away from Crotty with an ungainly but effective swipe. There was some head tennis from a Borough corner and a Cole shot was held by Leonard - the first Borough shot on target since the break, after almost 40 minutes of the second half.
The hosts eventually got back into the game with little more than five minutes remaining, when a Bailey cross was headed in by Chendlik, who'd managed to drift away from his marker. The scorer then fired wide from a dropping, loopy header. Borough forced three corners inside a minute, with Miller's near-post inswinger hitting the angle of post and bar from the second. A fourth corner followed a minute later, but they all came to nought.

The coup-de-grace came more than three minutes into added time when TC-R pushed a dangerous ball out to King. He made the goal-line and cut the ball back to the unmarked Hudson, who couldn't really miss from eight yards, dead centre. 3-1. A poor defeat to a lower-level side, a strange performance and hopes of FA prizemoney gone at the first hurdle in both main competitions before August Bank Holiday weekend.
Borough won't get away with such a lack of commitment against Isthmian South Central sides, but they should have got away with it here. Personally, I prefer hopeful hoofing to ineffective tiki-taka, but it has to be accompanied by some spunk and spine... both of which were lacking here.
So, a full week off - thanks to the Trophy defeat at Herne Bay - then On to Hayes & Yeading on Bank Holiday Monday. They knocked six past Essex Senior League opposition yesterday, having beaten Harpenden in the extra-prelim. They've also edged Jersey on pens in the Trophy and drawn with Bedfont in the League. An improved level of commitment will be required.

Harrow Borough 1 (Chendlik 86')
Snodland Town 3 (Hudson 18', 94', Dymond 70')

Harrow Borough (4-3-3)
Trent Carter-Rogers; Olu Akinode, Simba Kudyiwa, Harry Nevins, Luke Brophy; Massimo Giamettei, Prince Mbengui, Lewis Cole; Will Bailey, Lenny Farhall, Tade Ibrahim.
Subs - Adam Kolli, Lucas Miller & Gareth Chendlik (for Kudyiwa, Mbengui & Farhall HT), Jayde Crotty (for Ibrahim 61'), Jeremy Stewart (for Kolli 72').

Snodland Town (4-1-4-1)
Frankie Leonard; Todd Brand, Jaydon Bolarinwa, Kevin Akpoedafe, Tyler Jackson-Hunt; Connor Dymond; Emmanuel Shoderu, Kieran King, Harry Hudson, Nathaniel Olawlole; Kian Scott.
Subs - Bobby Dunn (for Scott 81'), Gurpreet Benning (for King 94').

Stats:
Shots on target: Harrow 6, Snodland 4.
Shots off target: Harrow 4, Snodland 3.
Shots blocked: Harrow 4, Snodland 1.
Corners: Harrow 11, Snodland 3.
Free-kicks: Harrow 14, Snodland 10.
Caught offside: Harrow 0, Snodland 1.
Yellow cards: Harrow 0, Snodland 1.
Red cards: Harrow 1, Snodland 0.

Edited by Grinetohkesleker at 16:15:25 on 23rd August 2026
Edited by Grinetohkesleker at 16:21:40 on 23rd August 2026
Edited by Grinetohkesleker at 16:39:05 on 23rd August 2026