Hat-trick Harrison stuns Black Adders

Hat-trick hero Carter Harrison secured a point for Middlewood Rovers in a fiery clash with The Black Adders. 

Another trip on the road for Rovers saw them concede two early goals, the Adders winger jinking his way through the Middlewood defence before firing into the top right corner, giving the home side an early lead.

There was a slight scare when Middlewood centre half Conor Crossland smashed the ball into midfielder Jesse Jones’ face, knocking him out. Jones recovered quickly but was immediately subbed off. 

Adders then grabbed a second when a free kick found its way over keeper Ben Asquith, with the ref ignoring the away side's protests for a foul on the Rovers stopper. Harrison bagged the first of his three when Harley Reading was brought down in the box, making no mistake from the spot to give the visitors a lifeline.  

The second half saw the intensity of the game increase dramatically when a knee high challenge from a Black Adders attacker on Middlewood left back Jack Gascoigne resulted in the Adders player being given his marching orders. As the half wore on Rovers won a second penalty when Cody Mathieson drove into the box and was fouled. For the second time, leading scorer Harrison equalised from the spot to put the away team level at 2-2.

Late in the half, the home side thought they’d wrapped up all 3 points when their number ten latched onto a through ball and poked home, celebrating exuberantly in the faces of Rovers players.  

Harrison was once again on hand to spoil the home sides fun when Readings snap shot struck the arm of a Black Adders man in the box, giving the away side a third penalty. Harrison calmly fired level to take his tally for the season to 9 in all competitions and give the away side a share of the points.