Bostik Premier: Harlow Town 2 Haringey Borough 1

Haringey Borough’s excellent 14-match unbeaten run in the Bostik Premier came to an end on Saturday following a surprise 2-1 loss at Harlow Town.

The lowly Hawks had defeated Tom Loizou’s team earlier in the season, but the north Londoners were expected to win in Essex.

Harlow proved too strong, however, and inflicted Borough’s first league defeat since October 23.

After winning manager of the month for December, Loizou would have wanted his side to remain on track, but they fell behind early on at the Harlow Arena.

Borough failed to deal with a corner and Tom Hitchcock was on hand to fire home in the second minute.

It was a disastrous start for Haringey and despite creating a number of opportunities, it remained 1-0 at the break.

Heading into the second period, the leaders were eager to build on their strong end to the half, but the opposite happened.

Town only needed 37 seconds to increase their lead as Hitchcock’s effort was saved and Emile Acquah was on hand to tap in from close range.

Borough were facing an uphill task now, but did pull a goal back 10 minutes later when Ralston Gabriel fired home the loose ball after good work from winger Anthony McDonald.

Haringey pushed for a leveller in the final half an hour, but Harlow held on and even saw Hitchcock smash a penalty over the crossbar in stoppage time before they secured an impressive 2-1 win.