Harrow Borough 3 Dover Athletic 0

Christmas came early for jubilant Borough fans after they witnessed their side make a mockery of Dover's lofty position at the top of the league with a mesmeric performance.

Two goals from Robin Shroot plus a heart-in-mouth effort from the tireless Dewayne Clarke condemned Andy Hessenthaler's men to their heaviest league defeat since February 2007, and only their third this season.

And while Dover still have breathing space at the top of the Ryman Premier Division this victory leaves Harrow in 18th position on 21 points, just eight behind rivals Wealdstone who sit in 10th.

"The lads were full of themselves after the game and rightly so," said Borough manager Dave Howell. "It was a great result but, more importantly, we delivered a good performance. I've said all along that if we deliver the performance the result takes care of itself and that is exactly what happened on Saturday. I knew that performance was in us and it was important the players felt that was the case too."

Harrow were rarely troubled by Dover's much vaunted attack and, on the few occasions their water-tight defence was breached, goalkeeper Andray Baptiste was in inspired form.

Man mountain Tobi Jinadu repelled everything that came his way while central defensive partner Danny Leech looked like a seasoned pro. The midfield triumvirate of Bobby Highton, Kwasi Frempong and the evergreen Jamie Lawrence bossed things while up front Shroot, Clarke and Gary Noel mixed

pace and panache with power and precision.

"The back four were superb, although the new lad Danny Murphy took a while to find his feet," added Howell. "Tobi and Leechy were immense and I think Tobi's presence is rubbing off well on Danny. The three in midfield were the engine room that kept us going [2014] they covered every blade of grass on the pitch."

Howell handed Noel his league bow after the youngster's brace sunk Hendon, while Baptiste returned at the expense of Gary Ross and skipper Wayne Walters was preferred to Lee Hall at right back.

After a couple of speculative efforts from the visitors Harrow surged into a

fourth minute lead. After Dover had failed to clear Walters' long throw Lawrence teed up Shroot on the edge of the box, and the Northern Ireland U21 winger first time shot caught Dover stopper John Whitehouse by surprise and crawled into the bottom left corner of the net.

That stung the leaders into action but Baptiste's instinctive save denied Sam Moore from close range. Harrow then should have doubled their lead. Shroot galloped down the left flank and drew two defenders before threading an inch-perfect pass through to Clarke. The striker's heavy touch took the ball around Whitehouse but, with the goal at his mercy, Clarke pulled his shot just inches wide of the far post from a tight angle.

Baptiste then came to his side's rescue on no less than three occasions as Dover ramped up the pressure and, against the run of play, the hosts doubled their

advantage four minutes before half time.

Jinadu's hopeful clearance down field saw Noel chase what appeared to be a lost cause. However, he nipped in ahead of Whitehouse, who inexplicably hared out of his goal. Clarke raced onto the loose ball and, after taking several touches, finally walked the ball in off the post.

Buoyant Borough fans then screamed for a penalty after the ball was blasted at Lawrence Ball's flailing arm, but the referee correctly deemed it accidental.

Given their incredible work rate Harrow were only ever going to be architects of their own downfall and it almost proved to be the case when Murphy, a new signing from Northwood, underhit a pass back to Baptiste. Veteran striker Giuliano Grazioli was on to it in a flash but he shot tamely at Baptiste, prompting Dover's chairman to query the sizeable wage he is paying

the former Barnet hit man.

Shroot, again the focal point for several scouts, was then denied by White-house before Grazioli flashed a header just wide as the game opened up.

Noel then butchered a three on two break but the 18-year-old made amends with a hand in the killer third goal on 75 minutes. After winning a free kick on the nearside, Noel darted away and took Shroot's quickly taken pass in his stride. The teenager held up the ball before playing in Shroot who curled the ball beyond Whitehouse, who had already gone to ground.

Harrow saw out of the rest of the game comfortably while giving Dover their clearest indication yet that winning the league is far from a foregone conclusion. [25a0] Harrow Borough: Baptiste, Leech, Murphy, Walters (cpt), Jinadu, High-ton, Lawrence,Frempong (Hall, 90), Clarke,Noel (Jones, 83) Shroot ..SUPL: