Play-off chasing Harlow put the Redbridge goal under pressure straight from kick off and forced 2 corners before 5 minutes were on the clock. However both efforts were easily dealt with by the Redbridge backline and they were quickly on the attack themselves which resulted in winning a corner. Paulius Ditkevius floated over a dangerous corner from the right that had to be cleared in the 6 yard box by Sam West, who was under pressure from a clutch of Redbridge players.

After such a fast start it was no surprise when the deadlock was broken with barely 9 minutes on the clock. It was Harlow who took the lead when a Ryan Melaugh cross into the box found Junior Dadson, however his initial shot was parried by Chafer. Unfortunately for the Redbridge keeper Dadson was able to poke the rebound home from close range. Redbridge almost replied with a goal of their own 2 minutes later when another dangerous corner from Ditkevius picked out Charlie Parrish whose header only just missed the target.

Further Redbridge pressure midway through the first half almost bore fruit when a Joe Gent pass played in Billy Drake but the Harlow defence were able to scramble the ball away. Drake was also involved in the next Redbridge attack when he attempted to bustle his way onto a through ball but the combined defensive work by West and Soniko was able to snuff out the Redbridge charge.

Harlow remained an attacking threat, at least in their midfield work, but their final product near the Redbridge goal was lacking. A couple of free kicks were drilled into the Redbridge box but on both occasions were no threat as they were fired straight at the Redbridge custodian. Dadson could also have done better when he connected with a loose ball but his shot was way off target.

There was just enough time for Redbridge to have the final word in the first half when a Ditkevius shot produced a quality save from David Hughes who was at full stretch to tip the effort away for a corner. The resulting corner was handled by Hughes after coming under .pressure from Michael Akande

Harlow opened the second half as they opened the first, camped in the Redbridge box. Moments after the re-start Chafer had to cut out an Alex Read header. Read also fired a shot wide and was involved in another attack when a pass from Dadson to Read ended up playing in Melaugh who slammed his effort well wide of the target.

The Redbridge defence were able to get to grips with things and the game then moved into a midfield battle with few chances until Joe Benjamin almost doubled Harlow’s lead but his shot on 76 minutes hit the post. That near miss perked Redbridge up as they looked to try and get something from the game. Jay Knight, who entered the fray from the subs bench, put himself amongst the Harlow defence and chased every ball that came into the Harlow half. His endeavours almost paid off in stoppage time when he got his head onto a corner that was cleared off the line. Moments later Harlow, who had almost seen their hosts grab a dramatic injury time equaliser, very nearly scored at the other end as they launched a quick counter attack which resulted in Dadson firing his shot wide.

Report by Scott Lanza