BARNES 4, HASLEMERE 5

HASLEMERE held their nerve in a nine-goal battle to record their third win of the season and advance to seventh in the Hants/Surrey 1 table.

The Blues led fifth-placed Barnes 4-1 at one stage, only for the home side to storm back to 4-4 before Nic Cope scored the winner in a frantic finale.

It had been a highly-charged encounter, with ‘defence’ seemingly a concept for other teams.

Boosted by the arrival of Army goalkeeper Nick Bull, Haslemere held off a couple of early Barnes forays and it was the visitors who went ahead.

Breaking down a Barnes attack, Oscar Robertson played an early ball down the wing for Cope to pick up in the corner and cross for a sliding Andy Powell to score.

The game then settled into a period of prolonged goal-to-goal activity, with both teams pressing high and the sticky surface causing problems for the defences.

Barnes were the first to benefit from one of the many defensive lapses and a rasping shot from Sam Hawkesley gave Bull no chance.

Haslemere then hit a purple patch and chances came aplenty as they moved the ball swiftly around the pitch.

Graham Stopher showed his experience in being in the right place at the right time to restore the lead, following smart work by Cope.

Goal number three came from coach Rob Dilworth, following up on a good penalty corner by Cope.

And Haslemere were in dreamland when an excellent flick from Chris Fox rocketed into the roof of the net for the fourth.

It seemed an unassailable lead, but things are never quite that simple in this very tightly-contested league and it was now the turn of Barnes to run riot.

The Haslemere defence went into a phase of wanting too much time on the ball and not taking quick and simple options, not playing ‘ugly’ so to speak.

Barnes capitalised in no uncertain manner upon these failings and with the Haslemere defence in chaos, goals from Hawkesley – his second of the match – Deeyam Patel and Danny Wills squared the match with five minutes to go.

Luckily for Haslemere, they have just the man for these tense situations and, having gone close on several occasions, Cope rifled an unstoppable shot high into the net for the decider.

There was more helter-skelter action before the finish, but Haslemere just held on in this nerve-jangling game.

There were plenty of lessons for Haslemere to learn, but what could not be faulted was their attitude. Urged on by Dilworth and skipper Barney Green from the back, there were tremendous tracking efforts from Powell and Jacob Hall up front, unceasing lengths of the pitch from Campbell Hancock, Elliot Hall and Rob Grech, touches of class under pressure from Fox and Grant Roberts and another cool display from the ever-improving youngster, Alec Morgan.

The Blues are on the road again this Saturday and Epsom are sure to allow them no respite.

*Haslemere 2nd XI continue to struggle in Hampshire 1, losing 4-1 at home to Southampton University on Saturday.