A scuffed free-kick from veteran David Lederman with just five minutes remaining was enough to earn the OHAFC 1st XI a much-needed win against bottom of the table Old Malvernians on Saturday.

Despite dominating for much of the game, the Blues were forced to wait until the 85th minute for the breakthrough and even that arrived with a large slice of luck - Lederman's curled effort over the wall was somehow fumbled into the net by the Malvern 'keeper via the post.

Having suffered their first defeat of the season away at Aldenham a fortnight ago, Ed Poulter's men knew that they could ill afford a slip-up against a Malvern side that had not secured a point in three games and was rooted to the foot of Division One.

Both current and former vice-captains Fred Milln and Fred Richardson were absent but Paul Molloy was available for his second appearance of the season and there was a further boost with the welcome return of Jonny Lalude who had hobbled off with a pulled hamstring in the opening game of the season.

Given their opponents' struggles to date and the (yet again) perfect Phil pitch at their disposal, the Blues opted to play 4-4-2 from the start with Bemini Soyinka given his first start of the season alongside Harry Hoffen up front. At the back, Hugo Trower returned to play at left-back with Sert and Molloy the centre-halves and Tass von Hirsch at right-back.

The hosts made an excellent start to the game, settling quickly and putting their opponents under pressure. Two gilt-edged chances to take the lead were spurned with both centre-forwards firing straight at the 'keeper in one-on-one situations. Further opportunities to score arrived from set-pieces: Molloy saw his bullet header from a corner blocked a few yards from goal and Soyinka rose well at the far post but saw his header from Lederman's free-kick rebound off the crossbar to safety.

Despite the home side's dominance, the game was an open one and the visitors posed a threat throughout, especially on the counter-attack. Fraser McGuiness in the Harrow goal was forced to make one superb save prior to the break, diving to his right to palm away a fierce drive.

At half-time Lederman was replaced by Lalude, who moved to right-back, Tass von Hirsch pushing into midfield. And the substitute was called into action several times in the opening spell of the half when he made some excellent interventions to thwart promising Malvern attacks.

Harrow's rearguard was dealt a blow with half an hour remaining when Yunus Sert twisted his ankle trying to turn and he was replaced by Giles Newton, himself struggling with a sore knee following a training ground challenge from Fred Richardson.

With neither side able to dominate proceedings there was little goalmouth action to speak of until Malvern came within inches of breaking the deadlock with a little over twenty minutes remaining. A ball into the box wasn't dealt with properly and a thumping shot flew past the stationary McGuiness, smashed into the crossbar, bounced down a foot in front of the line and, after numerous attempts, was finally hacked clear.

The scare forced skipper Poulter into a last throw of the dice, bringing Lederman back on to the right wing with von Hirsch moving to the left and Gilbert moving up front, Soyinka the man to go off.

Although there was a brief injection of energy into Harrow's play the Malvern 'keeper remained untroubled - helped on two occasions by fairly crude challenges on the front pair of Hoffen and Gilbert when they looked to sprint clear of the back four.

Just five minutes remained in the game when a foul five yards outside the box gave the hosts a late opportunity to test the under-worked Malvern custodian. Lederman had been presented with a similar chance to snatch a point in the previous game at Aldenham but there his effort was a poor one and had hit the wall.

His effort here was better, but only marginally so, the ball curling over the wall and bouncing a yard inside the post in front of the diving 'keeper, who somehow fumbled the ball onto the woodwork and then into the goal after several attempts to collect it.

Harrow didn't care, the relief at having scored their first goal in 195 minutes of football was palpable. The goalscorer was immediately replaced again by Soyinka for the final five minutes as the hosts sought to close the game out. Thankfully there were no further alarms meaning a third win in four and, impressively, a third clean sheet in four and just a single goal conceded all season.

The match again proved that earning promotion back into the Premier Division will not be an easy task, with all ten of the teams in this division clearly competitive. That said, the Blues know very clearly where they need to improve. A record of one goal conceded in four games (albeit with a large slice of fortune here) is as good as any side in the Arthurian League; the record of a solitary goal scored from a scuffed free-kick in the last two games, despite creating a hatful of chances, is poor and had the side taken their chances here in the first-half against Malvern, the result would have been beyond doubt by half-time.

Next week against leaders Brentwood there will be no room for such profligacy.