The Greatest Game Ever Seen At The Showground?

Monday 15th March 2004
North West Counties League Division Two

GREAT HARWOOD TOWN 6 HOLKER OLD BOYS 7

MONDAY 15TH OF MARCH saw one of the most amazing games in the club’s history as Great Harwood Town scored six times and yet still lost this second division encounter.
Holker Old Boys came to the Showground with a dreadful away record which included a 6-0 thrashing at Colne just seven days earlier.
Lying fifth from bottom before the start of the game, the visitors defence soon showed why they have been conceding plenty of goals on their travels this season. Hesitancy and ineptitude were displayed with alarming regularity as the Harwood attack tore into them right from the kick-off.
Surprisingly, it took five minutes before The Robins broke the deadlock when a deft touch by Paul Mashiter, took him past his marker and as he homed in on goal, he unselfishly crossed for Neil Zarac to side-foot the ball into the bottom left hand corner of the goal. Sensing a ‘goal fest’, the Robins attacked in numbers and after Brian Fogarty was foiled by keeper Paul Hewson when one on one, Paul Mashiter gleefully knocked in the rebound. With barely 12 minutes on the clock, the supporters were eagerly anticipating a cricket score as Harwood looked capable of scoring in every attack, but on 20 minutes Swarbrick pulled one back for Holker with a deflected shot in their first attack of the game. Even at this early stage of the game, it seemed to be nothing more than a consolation as Mashiter and Zarac continued to lead the visitor’s defence a merry dance. But in Holker's next sortie into the Robins half, just three minutes later, Holker’s leading scorer Southwood burst through the middle only to be brought down by Neil Kennedy just inside the area. Luckily for Harwood, the red card stayed in the referee’s top pocket but the result was a penalty which Southwood put away with the minimum of fuss. Incredibly, on 27 minutes, the visitors took the lead as Murphy was left unmarked in the area, and with the home defence static, he made no mistake from around five yards.
At this stage, both teams looked capable of scoring in every attack but it was Holker who increased their lead when once again the home defence stood admiring while Southwood hit his second just after the half-hour mark. Four minutes later Bruce made it five as the Harwood defending plummeted to new depths with a display of cluelessness never before seen at the Showground.
With the Holker defence still looking shaky, another goal before the break would give Harwood hope for the second half and it duly arrived after 44 minutes when a corner from the left rolled free and Zarac crashed the ball home from fifteen yards. Harwood were now in the ascendancy and the half-time whistle came as a relief to the Old Boys despite their two goal advantage.
The half-time talk in the Harwood dressing room was one of optimism, with both the players and management team believing that the game was still there to be won.
The second period began rather scrappily although Harwood looked like the only side capable of adding to the score. Over twenty minutes passed before the next goal and when it came it was Holker who scored. With virtually their first attack of the second half, Paul Southwood completed his hat-trick on 67 minutes condemning the Robins to a crushing home defeat, or so we thought. Two minutes later, a free-kick was awarded on the edge of the Holker box and Mashiter, who had been magnificent all night, curled the ball into the top right hand corner, Thiery Henry style, to reduce the deficit. Surely there was no way back for Harwood. With just minutes remaining, a great piece of skill by man of the match Neil Zarac, saw him cut in from the right, waltz past three defenders and put an inch perfect cross to the far post for substitute Neville Nelson to volley the ball home putting the Robins within touching distance of an unlikely point.
Holker had employed time wasting tactics for almost the whole of the second half so the Harwood players must have been aware that there would be several minutes of injury time.
In fact the Holker physio was the busiest man on the pitch as he tended the dubious ‘injuries’ to visiting players on at least six occasions. As the red and black tide continued to swamp the Old Boy’s defence, shots rained in from every angle and with 90 minutes on the clock, Paul Mashiter burst past the defence 35 yards from goal, side stepped the advancing keeper on the edge of the box, and slipped the ball into the empty net to level the scores at 6-6 and send the crowd into raptures.
With an estimated 5 minutes of injury time to play, Harwood went for the kill, and Holker struggled to contain the rampant forwards. Several shots and corners followed as the final few minutes were played out entirely in the visitors half. With 94 minutes on the clock, Darren Rogers received the ball on the right wing. He cut inside and headed towards the corner of the penalty area. A defender came to challenge him and was passed with consummate ease. Another Holker player tried and failed to halt Rogers who then side stepped a third before unleashing a bullet-like left footed shot which whistled towards the top corner of the net. The crowd held their breath as the Holker keeper leapt like a salmon to push the ball over the bar as it was about to cross the line a couple of inches under the crossbar. The game continued until 9-35 when a Holker midfield player and Nelson challenged for the ball just inside the Harwood half. With both players making a similar challenge, with their feet rather high, the Referee for some unknown reason, blew for a foul and awarded a free-kick to Holker, much to the disgust of the Harwood players and especially Nelson who was booked for his protests. With Bobby Harris in the Harwood goal, feeling the first effects of rigamortis setting in after his almost total inactivity in the second half, one could almost sense what was about to happen. The ball was launched towards the Harwood area, a scramble ensued, and Paul Salton buried the ball into the net with the aid of another deflection. It was now the turn of the Holker players to dance with delight although everyone else in the ground was stunned into silence. Straight after the re-start the final whistle blew and the players and crowd stood in utter disbelief. What would probably have been the greatest come-back in the club’s history had been cruelly taken away.
The defensive performance of the team, especially the back five was appalling. The attacking performance was truly magnificent, and only some bad luck and fine goalkeeping prevented the Robins from clocking up double figures. The team looked capable of scoring every time they had the ball in their opponents half. The strike force pair of Paul Mashiter and Neil Zarac gave one of the finest displays of attacking football seen at the Showground for many years. Sadly, it counted for nothing after Holker’s only two shots of the second period ended with goals.
A smaller than average crowd of 87 were fortunate to witness such splendid entertainment in a game which will go down in the history books.
The dressing room was not the place to be after the game as manager John Hughes ‘blew his top’, letting the players know in no uncertain terms what he thought of the result.
After he’d calmed down, he had this to say:
“What can you say? It is the same defence as we had at the start of the season but Holker had seven attacks and scored seven goals. We were 2-0 up inside 12 minutes and I thought this was okay. Then at half-time it was 5-3 to them.
We got it back to 6-6 and then they scored in the final minute. I lost my temper after the game with a few of the players but what good will that do anybody? It is the highest scoring game I have been involved with but it was a disgrace.
There were seven 18 year-olds out there and perhaps it shows that I need to add more experience to the side. But it is now a test for the lads to show their characters. We seem to do okay against the top teams, it is the bottom teams who we seem to have the problems with and I don’t know why. We are making it harder and harder for ourselves. We were on course for a top four place at least, but now it is going to be tough.”
GREAT HARWOOD TOWN:
Harris, Green(s), Kennedy, Parr©, Coonan, Dean, Fogarty, Rogers, Mashiter, Zarac, Pope, Subs. Goulthorpe(for Green-45), Nelson(for Pope 80 mins)

If you’ve any memories of great games from the past, please email me.

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