MGBSFL PREMIER DIVISION
HARMEN 1 OAKWOOD A 3
Ric Blank breathed a sigh of relief after Oakwood returned to winning ways with a 3-1 success that effectively ended Harmen's title hopes.
Dave Woolman won the battle of the hotshots, with a deadly double sealing an impressive victory - Oakwood's fifth league win of the season.
Oakwood "peppered" the Harmen goal in the first half and missed four glorious chances with Max Shields producing several fine stops.
Harmen were lively going forward, with the excellent James Gershfield up front a menace throughout. His movement was excellent and his great battle between him and Levine - worth getting up on a Sunday for, according to Blank.
Oakwood started the second half creating chances by moving the ball quickly to the wings. Man-of-the-match Josh Rose was excellent on his return in midfield. The visitors were helped when Harmen were reduced to 10 men after their substitute ended a lively cameo with a red card for kicking out at Oaks goalkeeper Oren Hury, an incident which Blank "didn't see".
Oakwood then scored when a moment of absolute magic from Simon Davies sent Woolman away. His touch across the defender was brilliant and his left foot finish was definitive. It was a really classy goal.
Harmen hit back when a lovely ball into the box tempted Gershfield in and he nodded it over Oren for 1-1. That was after an unbelievable save from Hury, getting down low and wide to a powerful downward header from Gershfield.
The visitors scored a second immediately from the restart - a brilliant ball from Brad Wine found Selwyn at the far post for a simple tap-in.
Woolman then made it three with another classy finish from another Wine assist before Gershfield missed a penalty towards the end - another truly brilliant save from Oren.
A delighted Blank told JC Sport: "There was a moment in yesterday's game when a Southgate player shouted that we were 'pony' and 'there for the taking'. It seemed a strange thing to say as we were the better side from start to finish.
"We really needed that win - our league form hasn't been great and it has weighed on us all.
"Seeing David Garbacz comments about the referee shows that all managers feel the heat - even at an amateur level. I hope he doesn't get in too much trouble with the FA for those comments."
