Harper hails Hampton's new year fireworks (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Harper hails Hampton's new year fireworks

11:16am Wednesday 4th January 2012 in Hampton and Richmond

Hampton and Richmond Borough provided the fireworks when beating local rivals Staines Town by 4-1 on New Year's Day.

The Beavers registered their biggest win of the campaign and manager Mark Harper was buzzing after the final whistle.

“I could feel it coming, the way we have been performing recently it’s been building up towards this and I’m very proud of the lads,” he said.

Hampton who suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Staines on Boxing Day bounced back in style and Harper revealed the secret behind their comeback.

“I got into a few players’ head by talking to them and changed the formation a little. We also had Paul Johnson coming back from injury.”

Before the derby both teams were in the relegation zone on 17 points with the Swans having a slightly better goal difference.

The Beavers chief explained: “I know quite a few people at Staines and because it’s our local rivals it feels great to win here but when you’re in the situation that we are in the league, every game is a must-win game.

“Winning 4-1 would have felt even better had we not lost 2-1 on Boxing Day.”

Hampton were 1-0 up at half-time after a tap-in from Louis-Rea Beadle and relieved that the rain didn’t stop play.

“I think the referee was fairly sensible, he assessed the pitch before the game and was quite happy with it," added Harper.

"As it went on he proved he made the right decision.

“If it had been at the Beveree the game would have been called off but the pitch here at Wheatsheaf Park held out well.

“There was a bit of water on the top but we dealt with the conditions better than Staines did. There were no dangerous tackles out there apart from maybe one.”

The Beavers adapted well to the torrential rain and things were going swimmingly in the second half.

Dave Tarpey buried a penalty on 56 minutes to make it 2-0, taking his tally to 12 goals.

Three minutes later captain Matt Ruby added to his industrious performance with a decisive header.

Highly-rated defender Dean Inman signed a new 18-month-deal during the festive period and celebrated by scoring 4-0.

Staines Ali Chaaban pulled one back from the penalty spot near the end which was little consolation for the hosts.

The Beavers hope to continue their excellent start to 2012 when they take on Tonbridge Angels at the Beveree next Saturday.