The OHAFC 1st XI's slim hopes of clinching the Division One title were all but extinguished on Saturday when a weakened side were held 2-2 by Radley. The Blues twice came back from a goal down, equalising in the final minute through James Breeden but it was a match they realistically had to win in order to hold off Brentwood at the summit of Division One.

With half the 1s squad having decided their work for the season was already done, the twelve that travelled to Twickenham to play on the Lincoln Field astroturf had a makeshift look about it.

Two players, Doug Pratt and Rollo Hovey, were making their 1st XI debuts; another two, stand-in skipper David Lederman and real tennis professional Nick Warner offered a combined age of 86 between them. Ollie Curry made his second appearance for the side following his superb hat-trick on debut a few weeks ago and James Breeden was fortunately down from university - with no Hoffen or Gilbert to call upon, he was the only recognised forward in the squad.

Oddly, despite this being both sides' 16th League game of the season, they had yet to face each other, with the Harrow home game postponed a month ago when Radley failed to get a side together.

The match was played in excellent conditions with a warm sun beating down on the astroturf which was in a much better state than when Winchester were beaten 2-1 in November on the same surface.

The first half was an even affair with both sides struggling to create clear-cut chances. Harrow looked solid at the back with Doug Pratt and Yunus Sert commanding at centre half and Hovey and Portal providing an energetic, physical shield in front of them. Going forward was a struggle, with Radley also proving well-organised and physically strong. Wide players Curry and von Hirsch enjoyed little change from their full-backs, despite the former bizarrely being targeted from almost every goal-kick that left McGuinness' hands.

Once that slightly strange ploy had been sidelined, the closest the visitors came to opening the scoring was from two long-range efforts: Lederman fired a left-footer towards the top corner but his effort lacked the requisite power and Curry performed the opposite trick from the left, cutting in and hammering a shot past the far post.

Harrow's play gradually improved as the half wore on, with Sert spraying passes left and right and Portal proving a one-man wrecking ball in the central areas but it was little surprise that the interval arrived with the score goalless.

At half-time it was generally agreed in the Harrow camp that the football going forward needed to be crisper and played at a slightly higher tempo but there was every confidence in another clean sheet being kept, with Radley having offered very little by way of threat.

Unfortunately this went out of the window ten minutes into the half thanks to a slight mix-up in the visitors' rearguard. Fraser McGuiness was fractionally slow off his line coming to clear a through-ball and by the time he arrived there were three players surrounding the ball. The 'keeper managed to half-clear the ball ten yards but it was returned first-time back over his head and with sufficient pace to defeat the retreating Warner and Lalude on the line.

The visitors almost hit back immediately. A corner was forced on the right and Sert powered a header against the crossbar before Warner's effort from the rebound was cleared off the line. Several times Pratt's enormous throws into the box caused havoc and Warner should have scored when the ball landed at his feet a yard out but he couldn't adjust his feet and the ball drifted wide.

James Breeden came more into the game as the half wore on and it was fine play by the youngster that brought the equaliser with a quarter of an hour remaining. Combining with Ollie Curry down the left, he beat several players and pulled the ball back across the six-yard box for Nick Warner to tap in, in the process becoming the oldest 1st XI goalscorer in living memory.

Knowing that a draw was of little use to the side's chances of winning the League, Lederman immediately withdrew Phil Berry, switching to three at the back and pushing as many players forward as possible.

The switch in formation actually had little effect on the game with neither side looking likely to find a winner. But that all changed in a frantic final five minutes when both sides scored again.

A Radley midfielder cut in from the left and fired a low effort on goal. McGuinness did well to parry the ball wide but it was then collected by a forward and curled into the far top corner from an acute angle, the Harrow pleas for offside falling on deaf ears.

In desperation, Lederman threw Sert and Portal forward and instructed the side to fire the ball long into the Radley box. The result was a spell of sustained pressure that led to an equaliser in the final minute of normal time thanks to a superb run down the right from Tass von Hirsch. Having had little impact on the game, the youngster beat several men, was allowed to continue despite being fouled, and delivered a low cross into the box for James Breeden to apply a simple finish from.

Two minutes of injury time remained but despite again applying some pressure in the final third the hosts held on to ensure the spoils were shared.

The result was a disappointing one from Harrow's point of view but a fair one in terms of chances created. The way the two goals were conceded was particularly difficult to take with Radley proving solid but fairly predictable as a football side.

Pratt and Hovey performed admirably on debut, James Breeden produced several mazy dribbles that on another day may have led to goals and Yunus Sert and John Portal both enjoyed fine games.

The side now has a week off before the final two games of the season, the return encounter with Radley on the Harrow School astroturf and the trip to Brentwood. Sadly, that game now looks unlikely to be a title decider.