Pearson pounces at death to head Harmen through in cup

An 118th minute strike from new signing Mike Pearson saw Harmen book their place in the next round of the Peter Morrison Cup.

Peter Morrison Cup Second Round:
Harmen 3 Camden Park 2 (AET)
Sunday, 9 November, 2014

Harmen failed to get going in the first half as they allowed Camden’s players all the time in the world on the ball, and duly fell behind early on to a superbly hit Rob Hershkorn free-kick. However, it didn’t take long for Harmen to level, the ball was played forward to James Gershfield, and although it looked like his first touch had taken it too wide to get a shot away, he managed to rifle the ball it into the far corner from a near impossible angle.

Camden were awarded a penalty in the 18th minute and looked very much like they were going to go 2-1 up until Max Shields flung himself to his left and pushed the ball to safety. Shields made another couple of great saves in the first half to keep the scoreline level.

The second half proved to be a different game as Harmen settled down, Marc Foster was beginning to control things once again in the middle, with David Wolff on the sidelines constantly asking “who is this number 12?” Shields was on hand again a number of times, commanding his area and his positioning was superb to stop Camden taking the lead, but there was nothing he could do for Camden’s second, a defensive slip up allowing the Camden striker to run through and have all the time in the world to slot it past the keeper.

With time slipping away, Joey Lazare was re-introduced to the pitch having been earlier taken off after running his socks off in the first half and it would be none other than the man himself who pulled Harmen back into the game with only three minutes remaining.

So to extra-time where neither team really took control, but the Harmen back line dug deep, keeping Camden at bay. All talk on the sidelines was about the potential penalties that would control the destiny of this game but there was still time for some last chance drama. Ricky Rinder who was looking lively all game cut in from the right side, delivered a perfect cross to Mike Pearson who flicked the header over the goalkeeper and into the back of the net. There is no better way to properly introduce yourself to your new team mates than to score the winner with two minutes left of extra-time and Pearson looked delighted with his contribution.

Joe Marsh said: “This was our worst performance of the year, we were a shambles at times but we dug deep and produced the goods when needed. Max Shields was undoubtedly our best player, making a crucial penalty save and a number of great saves throughout the entire match.”