The OHAFC Veterans claimed the Derrick Moore Veterans Cup for the second time in five seasons on Sunday afternoon thanks to a nervy, hard-fought 2-0 win over Brentwood at the Bank of England Ground.

The victory came courtesy of breakaway goals in each half from Rupert Hoffen and Quentin Baker but in the main was due to some heroic defending from the team, who had to weather an onslaught from their opponents in the second half.

In truth, the football on display from both sides was not of great quality despite the main pitch at Roehampton being in a fairly decent condition.

The OHAFC Vets welcomed back Tim Dalton for his first ever official outing with the side and he slotted in seamlessly alongside Mark Baddeley at the heart of the back four with Nick Warner moving to right-back. With Phil Berry on the left and Jon Ingram in goal it was unquestionably one of the strongest back fives the club has ever been able to field at this level.

Disappointingly, Harry Hoffen was unable to play through work, which meant his brother Rupert partnering Dom Danos up front. The midfield had a familiar look to it with Wyn-Evans, Molloy, Baker and Lederman providing plenty of quality and industry.

The opening spell of the match was fairly evenly contested with neither side able to create any clear-cut chances. Brentwood sent a couple of dangerous crosses in but these were fairly comfortably defended. At the other end, one well-worked move saw Hoffen played in down the right hand side of the area but his curling effort drifted wide of the far post.

As the half wore on, Brentwood enjoyed more possession but looked most threatening from long balls over the top - several times indecision in the Harrow rearguard led to moments of panic but still Jon Ingram's goal remained relatively untroubled.

With little sign of a breakthrough, it took some excellent opportunism from Rupert Hoffen to give Harrow the lead on the half hour. A goal kick was flicked on first by Wyn-Evans, then by Baker and as Danos challenged for the ball it was inadvertently hacked backwards by one of the Brentwood centre-halves. Hoffen reacted quickest, shrugging off the attentions of the other central defender to run on and plant his lob over the stranded 'keeper.

No changes were made at the break but it became clear early in the second half that Harrow would have to adopt a fairly defensive mindset and play on the break with Brentwood dominating possession and preventing their opponents from enjoying any possession whatsoever in the attacking third.

Harrow struggled to clear their lines and when they did the ball was quickly won back by the Brentwood rearguard, leading to prolonged spells of play in the Harrow half. Despite this, the rudimentary nature of much of Brentwood's football, with long balls fired continuously over the back four, actually played into Harrow's hands, with Baddeley and Dalton happy to out-muscle and out-pace the Brentwood strikers.

Brentwood's best opportunities came from set-pieces, with headers from corners twice cleared off the line, once by Ed Thorn, who had replaced skipper Wyn-Evans with half an hour remaining, the other by Lederman. The only save of note Jon Ingram had to make was from a free-kick that was curled over the wall and destined for the bottom corner, but the big man got down swiftly to tip the ball round the post.

With twenty minutes remaining and the game in the balance, Harrow produced a fine counter-attack to double their lead and force Brentwood into desperation mode. Lederman and Hoffen exchanged passes in midfield, the latter chipped the ball into Molloy in the centre of the pitch and he in turn volleyed it on for Baker to chase through the middle. The former 1st XI skipper made no mistake with the finish but there then followed a prolonged discussion between referee and linesman about the validity of the goal, the linesman having half-raised his flag in error as Dom Danos made his way back from an offside position. Despite vocal Brentwood protests the goal stood and Harrow were within sight of the silverware.

The closing stages were seen out in relative comfort with several long shots flying wide of the Harrow goal the closest Brentwood came to making a game of it. Tim Dalton made some superb interceptions at the back, making a mockery of his pre-game warning that he hadn't played for five years, and the rest of the Harrow team did what was necessary to keep a second clean sheet in succession in the competition - no mean feat considering the quality of the opponents, Eton and Brentwood.

John Wyn-Evans hoisted the Cup aloft to the delight of the Harrow side and its ever-loyal band of supporters and concluded a relatively successful season for the Club with the 1st XI regaining Premier Division status and the 3rd XI narrowly missing out on a play-off spot in Division Five.