FA Cup Third Qualifying Round

Harrow Borough 2-1 Waltham Abbey

Harrow Borough put their run of three straight defeats to one side on Saturday when they beat Waltham Abbey 2-1 in the FA Cup.

The Earlsmead side had lost five of their previous seven games in all competitions going into the third qualifying round match against their lower-division opponents.

Their recent poor run of results sees them lying 20th in the league, but that was put to one side with what manager Dave Anderson called the "good distraction" of the FA Cup.

And Boro got off to a blazing start, with captain Marc Charles-Smith finding the net after barely 18 seconds, set up by an accurate low pass from Lewis Driver.

There were further chances for the hosts in a first half which they dominated, while Nicky Jupp in goal was called into action just once.

Jupp was at fault for the equaliser, upending a forward in his area just two minutes after the restart.

Waltham converted the penalty but Harrow quickly went back on the attack and continued to dominate possession.

They were rewarded in the 63rd minute when a searching long pass was played forward for Steve Butterworth, who beat the last defender to the ball and made no mistake in slotting the ball low into the bottom right corner.

Although Waltham surged with time running out, they were unable to find a second equaliser, much to Anderson's relief.

He said: "I think we dominated the vast majority of the game but we started the second half sloppily; definitely a penalty. We're a bit like that at the minute - we shoot ourselves in the foot.

"Our reaction to that was really good but we were never going to be playing pretty football, because they worked so hard. They're a credit to their division."

Harrow's win, worth £7,500 in prize money, also means they are in the draw for the fourth qualifying round on Monday (13 October).

Anderson was cautious about looking too far forward despite his club now being only one win away from the main draw.

He said: "Look, we're in the hat. We'll take what we can get. But we are aware that we want our league form to pick up as well."