It took extra time to separate these two sides after a sterile 90 minutes, dominated largely by the whistle of the referee. Harefield relied mostly on long range shooting which did not trouble stand in 'keeper Tony Tilbrook, and after dominating the last quarter of the game, Hertford took advantage of their late dominance to rifle home two goals in extra time and earn a second round home tie with Brimsdown Rovers.
Glenn Draper and Phil Goss were unavailable, and Pablo Ardiles and Nicky Burt found themselves on the bench, in the following line-up: 1. Tony Tilbrook, 2. Nicky Marsh, 3. Louis Lancaster, 4. Kevin Kilroy (capt), 5. Robbie Carroll, 6. Ryan Wade, 7. Matt McArdle, 8. Ross Collins, 9. Ryan Redford, 10. Kevin Cooper, 11. Lee Roberts. Subs Used: 15. Matt Watts (for Carroll, 79), 16. Jamie Abbott (for Roberts, 87)
Harefield United: 1. Nathan Cobb, 2. Luke Eldridge, 3. Tom Lewis, 4. Gary Williams (capt), 5. Rob Coldrake, 6. Luke Willis, 7. Ben Hammond, 9. Danny Buckle, 10. Sean Sonner, 11. Craig Totton. Subs Used: 12. Alex Brown (for Eldridge, 72), 14. Paul Haines (for Buckle, 98), 15. Adam Willis (for Hammond, 112)

This twice postponed tie finally got under way on the evening when everyone else was playing the second round. There was only a sparse crowd on a bitterly cold night of Champions League television, and those who did brave the cold had to endure an extra 30 minutes, as neither side was able to break the deadlock in normal time. Such goal threats as there were in the opening period fell to the visitors. They won a 4th minute free kick but an attacker was caught offside when Ben Hammond floated in his kick. Then Kevin Kilroy put Robbie Carroll under unnecessary pressure when he squared the ball to him in front of goal, and the youngster was unable to control the ball on the bobbly surface. Hares' danger man Sean Sonner pounced on the loose ball, but skied his effort high over the bar.
Then, on 7 minutes, Luke Willis let fly from 25 yards, and a concerned Tony Tilbrook was relieved to see the ball fly a foot over the bar. Another free kick to Harefield followed a clash between Ryan Wade and Danny Gallen, both being booked for the "afters". Sean Sonner headed wide from the free kick. Craig Totton was next to try a speculative long range drive, as the visitors' plan seemed to be to test 'keeper Tilbrook whenever possible. Hertford finally began to get into the match and Harefield conceded a 15th minute free kick on the edge of their box when central defender Rob Coldrake upended Ryan Redford. Lee Roberts' free kick found its way back to Louis Lancaster, whose 30 yarder went wide of the mark.
Hares' Danny Buckle did well to penetrate the home defence single handed on 18 minutes, but then panicked and presented the ball to a grateful Kevin Kilroy. Harefield kept up their long range, off target, shooting when Ben Hammond tried his luck again from distance. Ryan Wade tried the same at the other end, and then the game was halted while the referee gave Kevin Cooper a long lecture, apparently for complaining too long about the strongarm tactics of the Hares' defenders.
As the game resumed, Ross Collins was booked, apparently for continuing the same complaint. Re-instated Nicky Marsh made a great block form a Danny Buckle shot and then Ross Collins tried an optimistic 40 yarder, which although on target unlike all the previous shots, was an easy save for Nathan Cobb.
On 26 minutes clever work by Ryan Wade saw Ryan Redford's glancing header flash just wide of the left hand post in the games best chance so far. Then Ross Collins' effort from only 10 yards was blocked by Luke Eldrigde for the game's first corner, on 32 minutes.Sean Sonner was booked for a foul on Nicky Marsh, as the fullback went on the charge. When a Lee Roberts cross came in, Cobb did exceptionally well to thwart the inrushing Collins and Redford. Then, at the other end, Tony Tilbrook made a good one handed save from Sonner, to give The Hares their first corner. When this was cleared to Kevin Cooper, he was adjudged to have handled. Craig Totton's free kick was headed behind for another corner by Robbie Carroll, which in turn led to a third. The half ended with a Danny Buckle effort high over the bar.
Half Time: Hertford town 0 Harefield United 0
There's something about these midweek cup games on bitterly cold evenings that makes extra time almost an inevitability. Little in the game so far had suggested any other outcome, and the second half continued in the same vein. Lee Roberts had a good run and shot, which Cobb saved, and then Tony Tilbrook rushed out to force Sean Sonner to lob over the bar, at the other end. Ryan Redford won a 54th minute corner which came to nothing, and then Kevin Cooper lobbed the ball well wide in the next attack. On 63 minutes Rob Coldrake was booked for barging Ryan Redford over just on the edge of the box, But Kevin Kilroy's free kick was blocked. After 71 minutes, Harefield would have broken the deadlock, but for a point blank save by Tilbrook from danger man Sonner. Then a minute later, Tilbrook tipped the ball over the bar for a corner. Harefield made a tactical change, bringing on another central defender, Alex Brown, for right back Luke Eldridge, as they went three at the back. When Hertford won a 75th minute corner, Kevin Kilroy's rasping drive went only a foot over the bar. Kilroy conceded a free kick on 77 minutes, and Harefield had the ball in the net after the referee had whistled for offside. Hertford made a switch in the back line on 79 minutes when Robbie Carroll was replaced by Mat Watts. It was all Hertford in the closing stages, as they looked to wrap the tie up in normal time. Louis Lancaster took a free kick out on the left, and the impressive Ross Collins saw his goal bound shot blocked. Coldrake repeated the offence for which he had been booked when he again baulked Redford on the edge of the box. Kilroy's free kick was blocked and the end product was another free kick from the same spot. This time Ryan Wade took the kick, but there was still nothing to show.
On 84 minutes, Hares' 'keeper Cobb tipped a Lee Roberts cross over the bar for a corner, as the Blues continued to attack the visitors. Craig Totton was next to be booked, for a foul on Ryan Wade. Jamie Abbott, back from a couple of seasons at Biggleswade Town, came on for Lee Roberts, then Kevin Cooper laid the ball back for Matt McArdle to shoot. Keeper Cobb made a smart save on the ground to keep the game scoreless. Hertford won three corners in the final couple of minutes as Harefield defended desperately, and extra time became a reality, as they held out to the final whistle .

Score at 90 minutes: Hertford Town 0 Harefield United 0

The game continued with Hertford doing all of the pressing. Cooper saw his shot blocked, then McArdle shot over from 10 yards. Harefield's Danny Buckle was added to Harefield's growing list of yellow card recipients on 93 minutes, for another heavy tackle on the plucky Redford. There was action at the Hertford end on 97 minutes when Tony Tilbrook saved from Ben Hammond, and Harefield withdrew Buckle and sent on Paul Haines immediately afterwards. Haines got a shooting chance on 101 minutes, but his accuracy was no better than anyone else's. Ross Collins made an exciting run down the right, beating defenders with his dribbling, before shooting just over on the run. Then, from a corner, Kevin Cooper hooked the ball just wide.

It was Collin who opened the second period of extra time with good approach work and a shot just over the bar. Tilbrook made his only mistake of the evening when he mishandled to concede a corner, but Harefield were unable to make it pay. If anyone was going to break the deadlock for Hertford it was going to be ROSS COLLINS, and he did so on 109 minutes, with a great srike through a crowd of players as Harefield got into a tangle. The relief was enormous, but the home side had to be on their toes as Harefield threw everything at them to try and respond straight away. Tilbrook made a good save when Sean Sonner looked like succeeding and then Hertford got the game in their grasp again. Harefield made their final substitution when Adam Willis replaced Ben Hammond, but were immediately reduced to 10 men when Danny Gallen got his second yellow of the game for a foul on Nicky Marsh that looked suspiciously like a red card offence anyway. As Harefield committed too many men forward, Jaime Abbott played the ball into the box,and Ryan Wade stepped over the ball to allow KEVIN COOPER to make the tie safe, on 119 minutes, when he rifled home for his 15th of the season.

Final Score: Hertford Town 2 Harefield United 0 We hope you will find our website helpful and informative . There is a separate "Fans Forum", for which the Club accepts no reponsibility .