21 Oct 2026
Harpenden Town 2 Everett Rovers 2 (Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division). Photos courtesy of Harpenden Town FC.
A draw was enough to help The Harps move up to first place in the league table – but only by one point from closest rivals Risborough Rangers, who have three games in hand, writes Jess Unwin.
As pleased as Harpenden manager Jimmy Gray will be to see his team in pole position, there will also be frustration that having fought back to 2-2 at half-time, Harpenden weren’t able to add to their goal tally and claim all three points.
With Risborough in cup action, Town knew they would usurp them as leaders of the pack as long as they didn’t suffer a surprise home defeat to mid-table Everett Rovers, who were fifth from bottom and 17 points behind Harpenden before Tuesday night’s game.
However, the team from Garston started well at Rothamsted Park, going ahead through a Harley Sells goal after just five minutes. Harpenden were able to find the right response just under 10 minutes later when James Towell headed home from a cross by Charlie Smith to make it 1-1.
But on 22 minutes, Rovers took the lead again – this time it was Jonathan O’Sullivan who found a way to penetrate Town’s defence. Once again, the home side were able to recover and, on 39 minutes, goalscorer Towell turned provider, setting up the club’s top scorer Henry Jones to make it 2-2 at half-time.
It was all to play for in the second 45 minutes but the men in yellow and green could not find a way to get a winner. Points on the board are a more tangible asset than games in hand but all the teams chasing Harpenden have now played two or three games less than them.
The Harps will need to get a result away at Dunstable this Saturday (October 24) to stay top of the table, while Risborough Rangers take on Biggleswade United the same afternoon.
By coincidence, Biggleswade were Harpenden’s opponents the previous Saturday at Rothamsted Park – and the Bedfordshire outfit only had themselves to blame for their 2-1 defeat.
In front of Harpenden’s biggest crowd of the season, 349, United made the better start and after 12 minutes Liam Smyth must have thought he had put The Waders in front until the intervention of Harpenden keeper Connor Freeman with a full-stretch, left-hand save.
Harpenden’s Henry Jones was denied at the other end before a shot from Biggleswade’s Scott Metcalfe, whose pace and skill gave the Town defence problems all afternoon, was saved by Freeman. The ball then rolled along the goal line with United seemingly certain to score. Luckily, Harps skipper Sam Doolan made a last-gasp clearance.
Jones later shot wide before Metcalfe once more weaved his way into the Harpenden penalty area, skipping over despairing defenders’ challenges, only to see the ball, again, roll harmlessly across the front of goal with no one on hand to apply a finish. Metcalfe was tormenting the home side and when another of his crosses was hit home by Smyth it looked like the visitors had gone ahead, but the ‘goal’ was ruled out for offside.
Instead, just before half-time, it was Harpenden who took the lead. Charlie Smith’s header was cleared off the line, and when the ball came out to David Keenleyside, he hit home with a superb left-footed drive from outside the box.
Referee Marcus Baxter eventually gave the goal, Keenleyside’s first for the club this season, after a long chat with one of his assistants.
The second half started with chances at both ends, including two further efforts from Metcalfe – one saved by Freeman, the other over the bar. Yet it was Town who went 2-0 up on 60 minutes with Doolan heading home from a corner.
A brilliant save by United keeper Karly Daley, foiling another shot from Jones, kept Biggleswade in the game, and the visitors finally managed to get a goal back on 68 minutes when Metcalfe streaked down the right wing and sent in a low cross that was clinically finished by Smyth.
The goal set up a nervy finish for Town supporters. That was especially so when United’s substitute Markel Cousins was fouled on the edge of the penalty area in the dying moments, but Liam Brooks’ free kick was charged down and the home side hung on.
Harpenden’s assistant manager Mark Boyce told the club’s social media: “If you look at the game as a whole I feel we just had the quality to win it in the end.” He added: “Beating a good side like Biggleswade is a sign of the team’s progress – they’ve been a bit of a bogey team for us in recent seasons.”
Meanwhile, Biggleswade assistant coach Paul Donnelly admitted it had been an “infuriating and frustrating” game. “We made loads of chances but made the wrong decisions or the quality wasn’t quite right and it just killed us.”
• St Albans City play away this Saturday (24) against Whitehawk in the FA Trophy. Kick-off is 3pm. The following Tuesday (27), they return to league action and take on Burgess Hill at Clarence Park. Kick-off is 7.45pm.
