by TERRY FRANCIS

HARWICH AND PARKESTON 2

BENFLEET 1

Thurlow Nunn League

division one south

IN front of another three-figure crowd, Harwich sent their supporters home happy with a victory that sees them climbing the league table.

The opening stages were evenly contested.

Then, after 28 minutes, Jordan Heath had his effort blocked but the Shrimpers' leading scorer reacted quickly to put his team into the lead.

Harwich goalkeeper Sam Felgate made a couple of smart saves as Benfleet came back while the visitors' keeper, Florent Gislet, also proved himself, handling the ball confidently when the Shrimpers attacked.

The second half started with defender Joe Knight coming forward to head just wide from Shaun Kioussis' dangerous free-kick.

Harwich were caught out in the 65th minute by a ball over the top of their defence.

Rob Lacey ran onto it and lifted his shot over the advancing Felgate for Benfleet's equaliser.

Jordan Heath set up striking partner Sean Gunn but he could not get a good contact on his shot.

The game was hotting up and following a reaction to a tackle, Harwich's Jake Kioussis and Benfleet's Lewis Hunt were sent-off.

Benfleet had made it a close contest but Harwich's aces were their attacking pair and another fine pass from Jordan Heath picked out Gunn, who beat two defenders cleverly to find space to shoot the Shrimpers back into the lead.

In the last five minutes, Harwich missed two good chances to put the game beyond Benfleet's reach but they were celebrating at the final whistle.

On Saturday, Harwich, who have climbed to fifth in the table, travel to Haringey to meet Hashtag United.

Harwich's reserves were within moments of gaining their first point at Kelvedon but lost 2-1.

The young Shrimpers' scorer was Adam Strange.

This weekend they are due to entertain Oyster.