It was a windy afternoon on the Hill as the OHAFC 2nd XI prepared to face Old King’s Wimbledon. There too was a storm blowing in the mind of 2XI Captain Geoff Taunton-Collins. Despite strong performances his team were not picking up the points they deserved from matches and found themselves going in to the Christmas period in the relegation zone. In an effort to remind his young squad of former glories, star striker Mike Okoigun and former 2s Captain Arjun Chopra were recalled. After a significant hiatus Okoigun returned focussed and ready to terrorize defences as he had done so many times before. Indeed Chopra commented that Okoigun remained silent in the car journey from Baker Street to Harrow, choosing instead to stare straight out the windscreen, focussing intently on the upcoming match. Such was the intense nature of his stare that the aforementioned windscreen developed a small crack. Unable to prove the link between Okoigun’s stare and the crack, Chopra has decided to fund the repair himself.

The Harrovians warmed up with real intent and gusto. Indeed the 4 shots on target and 17 shots over the bar was the strongest ratio seen in a warm up all season. The signs were good.

As the game started the wind picked up considerably, giving Harrow a definite advantage. The half however proceeded with few chances with the Harrow midfield 3 of Curry, Beresford and Trower finding the perfect balance between absorbing pressure and pushing forward at the right time. The defence was solid with Will Orr-Ewing dominant in the air, Conti von Hirsch combative as always in the tackle and Gordon and Berry intercepting and distributing with ease. Gordon’s frequent “jinks” infield when he received the ball seemed to fool the opposition striker every time, much to the amusement of the Harrow substitutes who must be commended for finding something to keep their spirits high despite the brutal onset of frostbite that was ravaging their bodies.

Up-front Okoigun was proving to be a menace, his pace caused mayhem between centre backs and goalkeeper and on three occasions he made up at least 20 yards forcing mistakes from defenders that on another day would have led to goals. Indeed his touch and link play is also to be commended with Trower, Curry, Alhadeff and Taunton-Collins using their pace to run on past defenders on a number of occasions. Unfortunately Mike had a hamstring twinge on 40 minutes and had to be substituted with an eager Rollo Hovey taking his place. A collective sigh of relief was heard from the Kings Wimbledon team as the big striker limped off the field, still travelling faster than most of the players around him.

In a half of few chances, the best came to Curry on the 30 minute mark. After a superb cross and with the goal at his mercy Max blazed over from 5 yards. Afterwards Curry blamed the miss on his decision to toe poke rather than side foot the opportunity. It has since been reported that Max wandered off muttering to himself that he “wished he didn’t have toes” and “what use are they anyway? I don’t even use them for anything”. We have informed his ever vigilant brother Ollie Curry to keep a close eye on Max and to not let him or his toes anywhere near sharp objects.

The deadlock was finally broken on the 45 minute mark by Will Orr-Ewing who stooped down to the floor to head in a neat short corner routine by Taunton-Collins and Gordon. It would have been far easier for Orr-Ewing to use his feet, but in an homage to his very strange brother, Will wanted to make his goal as weird as possible. No doubt Jack would be proud. This was to be the last action of the first half and Harrow went in to half time deservedly in the lead.

During the half time break Captain Taunton-Collins, burnt by many strong 1st half performances that resulted in poor 2nd half performances, encouraged his team to start the 2nd period in the same vein as they had ended the first. Unfortunately the 2nd half curse struck again within a few minutes of the kick off. An attack down the right hand side provided an overlap which was comfortably finished by the opposition striker. Within 30 seconds of the restart, a mistake at the back and an unfortunate deflection off the Harrow centre back led to a simple one-on-one opportunity for Wimbledon which they took with ease. A terrible reverse had been inflicted on the Harrow team within the blink of an eye and heads visibly began to drop. 2-1 shortly became 3-1 and it became clear that perhaps the Harrovians hadn’t taken advantage of the wind as well as they could have in the first half.

A response was needed and indeed came from a majestic shot from Max Curry. Picking up the ball on the right hand side of the penalty box, Max floated a cross/shot in to the top right corner. Most of the Harrovians didn’t celebrate, presumably in awe the striker’s shot and slight disbelief that it actually went in. Harrow now had a chance to get something from the game. Sadly it wasn’t to be as Wimbldeon struck again from a powerful free kick that skipped off the muddy surface and under the excellent Griffiths. Such is the quality of the keeper that he blamed himself for the goal. However given the ferocity of the strike and the uneven, slippery surface, the keeper cannot be blamed at all. Harrow did have time to pull one back with Alhadeff benefitting from a brave piece of chasing down. A hooked clearance from the defender struck Alhadeff in the face, clearly used to being struck very hard in the face for no particular reason, Jack continued his run and slotted from a tight angle in to the open net.

Sadly it wasn’t enough and the final whistle came soon afterwards. Harrow had spent much of the 2nd period pinned in to their own half by a howling wind and were ultimately defeated by a 5 minute lack of concentration just after the restart. However the signs are positive for this young squad and despite the result, there should be renewed optimism for the remainder of the season.