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‘Though thou exalt thyself like the eagle, though thou make thy nest among the stars, thence can I bring thee down’

Harrow came into Saturday’s fixture against a struggling Lancing side high on confidence, with two wins in their previous two fixtures providing a welcome boost to their league position, and a shot of confidence after some wayward early season performances. The talk before the game centred on the need to take advantage of Lancing’s lowly confidence, with the home side having suffered through a chastening opening seven-game losing streak. Taunton-Collins led a spirited pre-game warm up, with the sensational pre-match programme provided by David Lederman, the OH’s previous run-ins with the match-day referee, and Ed Massey’s recent bulk purchase of Gruyere, Emmental and Raclette in anticipation of his annual Christmas fondue providing all manner of conversational tangents.

Once the whistle blew on this balmy, 7 degree celcius morning, however, it was to business, and Harrow started well – calm and dominant in possession, and harrying and resolute in defence. The back five of Walsh, Ward, Woolley, Barrett and Massey dealt ably with the strong Lancing number 9 – the opposition’s key threat – while Lederman and the Bick brothers looked comfortable on the ball, and Harrow enjoyed an increasingly dominant start to the half.

On the half-hour mark, a cross in from the left was deflected Massey’s way, his first time shot deflecting away for a corner. A delicious ball in from Lederman yielded as Arthurian league a goalmouth scramble as you could wish to see: repeated attempts on goal, bodies flying all over the box – pervasive and eternal cries of ‘AWAY!’ echoing in the south-westerly breeze. Eventually the ball fell to Barrett, whose underwhelming dink found the chink in the Lancing armour for a well-deserved lead.

Harrow’s tails were up. Taunton-Collins and Max Curry were combining well, with particular joy enjoyed down the left by the irrepressible Harry Bick. It was down this channel that success was again found for Harrow’s second – a delicious through ball from Curry over the top inviting Bick to score, which he did with aplomb, lobbing the keeper neatly, and eliciting an almighty ‘COME ON!’ for good measure. As if Harrow’s position was not dominant enough, a frenzied press on the Lancing right back directly from the kick off resulted in Bick being through on goal for the second time in the minute – doing well to shrug off the defender’s desperate and panicked shirt-pulling and slotting the ball into the bottom-right corner. It was a terrific minute or so from Bick – a match-winning salvo - soiled only slightly by his Akinbayi-esque shirt-removal knee-slide combo.

Lancing rallied before the half was out – the referee insisting on 4 minutes’ added time to see out the half, and then added time on top of it, much to Tom Ward’s chagrin - but Harrow saw out a satisfactory half to lead 3-0. An unusual team talk ensued, with Harrow momentarily unsure as to how to follow the best half of their season. Eventually a game plan of a continued press, a collective stand against hubris, and an acceptance that Harrow’s position, regardless of the score line, was undercut with vulnerability, was arrived at.

Harrow were now facing into the slight breeze, complicating their attempts to deal with the opposition keeper’s booming pumps up the field. Regrettably Massey, on one such occasion, his mind momentarily scrambled by the startling and sudden recollection that he’d forgotten to source a reputable baker for the necessary bread cubes that evening, elicited a mild-mannered cry of ‘Massey’s up’, and then proceeded to miss his attempt at a volley. The chaotic bouncing ball eventually found its way down the right wing, before a drilled box into the middle was met with a firm finish into the top right corner, leaving Walsh no chance. The momentary lapse served as a gentle reminder from the Arthurian League gods. Harrow, previously sailing in amongst the stars, were brought crashing down.

Lancing, the comeback now on, sprang forward with renewed vigour, while Harrow, increasingly frustrated with the sudden lack of fluidity to their passing, and the volume of decisions going against them, struggled. Lancing were suddenly dominating physically, their striker holding the ball up and causing problems, and their midfield now first to fifty-fifties all over the park. Alexi Pittalis kept up the fight admirably, flying into tackles and dominating in the air, but a tense half crept by with Harrow struggling to find their rhythm at all. Will Monroe came on at the 60 minute mark in an attempt to shore things up, and providing Massey a good opportunity to think on his sins, and Monroe did well down the left while looking solid in defence.

As Lancing continued to press, the occasional counter-attacking chance came Harrow’s way, with the best of the chances falling to Taunton-Collins who was unable to put the game to bed on the 80 minute mark. Into the last ten minutes Harrow continued to hold on, scrapping admirably and displaying excellent fighting spirit in repelling wave after wave of Lancing attacks. Well into stoppage time Lancing scored their second, a similar goal to their first, with a parry from Walsh being smashed into the Harrow net by a firm Lancing finish.

A nervy last minute to the game ensued, with Harrow forced to defend one final long ball in, but as the whistle blew Harrow could celebrate a winning score line that perhaps didn’t quite do justice to an excellent first half performance, and a gutsy second. All that remained was to celebrate the win with a resounding match tea, and after a long and tortuous journey, through back lanes, bowling alleys and closed roads, Taunton-Collins’ men were able to dwell on a good day’s work over a hearty trough of chips.

Many thanks to Ed Massey for this fabulous match report!