Harwich unlucky

An early Harwich attemp was t thwarted when goalkeeper Spencer made a good save from Ashley Wood's freekick. Arlesford took the lead in the 20th minute when Dan Martin headed in a free kick. Harwich came back strongly with Wood firing in a long range shot, Ben Elliott having a couple of chances and Matt Geen going close. However at half time Arlesford still maintained their slender lead.
After the break it was Arlesfford who got on top and in the 75th minute came the controversial decisions that put them in strong position. Firstly Harwich apeals that the ball had gone out of play were waived away by the Assistant Referee and within a second Matt Friend was adjudged to have committed a foul inside the penalty area. Again Harwich strong protests were of no avail and Ryan Lewis scored Arlesford's second goal from the penalty spot.
Harwich then sparked back th life. Manager Martin Warnes came on as substitute and was close with his effort in the 81st minute. Another managerial sub, coach Chris Rose came on and as the Shrimpers pressed, reduced the arrears with a glancing header in the 86th minute. Time ran out for Harwich and they were unable to capture the point which their efforts deserved.

As reported by Carl Allen