Harris double helps destroy Bowdon’s 100 per cent start to the campaign

Khalsa earned a fine point at Cheshire -based Bowdon last Sunday, in turn denting the hosts’ unblemished start to the Conference North season .
Dave Harris scored two and set up one as Khalsa gained  a creditable point at unbeaten Bowdon in the Conference North.Dave Harris scored two and set up one as Khalsa gained  a creditable point at unbeaten Bowdon in the Conference North.
Dave Harris scored two and set up one as Khalsa gained a creditable point at unbeaten Bowdon in the Conference North.

Bowdon featured former Khalsa player-coach Scott Cordon and last season’s leading scorer Alex Idoine in a new-look team which included imports from Germany and Australia and boasted incredible flair on both flanks.

They created three successive short corners in the opening ten minutes, all of which were repelled by visiting keeper Elliot Rider.

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Khalsa almost took the lead when Gurminder Ghattaura rounded the keeper and hit the ball goalwards only to be denied by a brave block by the covering defender which deflected the ball wide.

Bowdon made the most of their escape in the closing stages of the half with a pinpoint shot from Thomas Ainsworth beating Rider to open the scoring.

Encouraged by their first-half performance despite the deficit, Khalsa made several tweaks to the team, introducing Jay Nagra in midfield alongside Sav Lall and Anit Chudasama.

A second from the league’s top scorer Ainsworth gave Bowdon a valuable cushion five minutes into the second period before the tireless running of Jack Wells threw Khalsa a lifeline, with the man of the match linking up with Dave Harris and Jas Singh to allow Harris to halve the deficit with a fine strike.

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The momentum was now with Khalsa and Gurminder Ghattaura opened his account for the season with an easy push into the corner after an assist from Harris.

With both teams pressing for a winner, the game opened up to the benefit of the home side.

Four short corners were again survived by Khalsa with Jay Nagra producing two world-class stops to deny Bowdon.

Bowdon did finally manage to break down the Khalsa defence for a third time with Zachary Brazel scoring a simple tap-in in the 58th minute.

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Khalsa threw caution to the wind in search of an equaliser and were rewarded when Harris beat several defenders and exchanged passes with Singh before coolly lobbing the keeper to earn the visitors a point.

A Ray Hung penalty flick earned Khalsa 2nds a 2-2 draw against a youthful Stourport in Midlands Division One.

Khalsa went a goal down in the tenth minute, but drew level before the break courtesy of an Adie Betts penalty corner.

Stourport retook the leadshortly after the interval but parity was again restored when Hung slotted the penalty into the bottom right of the goal.

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Khalsa 3rds won their opening game of the season 5-2 at home against Nottingham Players in the East Midlands Premier.

Raghbir Baden and Parvinder Singh Sangha both scored twice, with Sanj Hayer completing the scoring.  

The first-ever fixture for Khalsa’s 4ths ended in a Guv Sarai-inspired 5-2 win at Old Silhillians 4ths.