The OHAFC 1st XI produced comfortably their best performance of the season to date on Saturday afternoon, handing out a 5-0 drubbing to the Old Marlburians on the astroturf inTwickenham – their heaviest defeat of the campaign.

The Blues, switching to a 4-4-2 formation for the first time this season, looked solid throughout and in Mike Okoigun and James Breeden possessed the two best forwards on the pitch – Breeden scored twice to take his tally for the season to seventeen, whilst Okoigun hit his first ever hat-trick in OHAFC colours in a superb display of centre-forward play. The win lifts Yunus Sert’s men into third in the Division One table and right back into promotion contention, with a queue of sides now lining up to finish behind runaway leaders the Old Alleynians.

The visitors got off to a dream start on the astro, scoring twice inside the opening quarter of an hour, both goals courtesy of James Breeden and both exceptional finishes. The first came courtesy of a muffed clearance from the Marlborough goalkeeper, who rushed out of his goal to sweep up a long ball forwards only to knock it straight to the Harrow striker. Breeden composed himself and fired the ball back over the keeper’s head and into the empty net from over thirty yards out.

If that finish required measured composure, the second was due to sheer explosive brilliance, Harrow’s goal machine collecting the ball on the left, cutting inside before unleashing an unstoppable drive into the far top corner past the shell-shocked Marlburian keeper.

With a two-goal cushion, the visitors could settle down and concentrate on preventing the defensive lapses that cost them dearly in their previous fixture on the same pitch a few weeks ago, the 2-1 defeat to the Radleians. They did so with some assuredness, the new, more rigid tactical structure undoubtedly providing greater protection to Fraser McGuinness in the Harrow goal. Going forwards the side continued to cause the hosts problems, the Blues looking especially dangerous from several corners they forced.

But they were made to wait until just before the break for the third and, yet again, a goal of supreme quality. Mike Okoigun bullied a defender in possession, robbing him of the ball before charging towards goal. A second defender was bypassed before the striker calmly rounded the keeper and slotted home to cap an excellent individual effort that showcased the player at his best.

With a three-goal lead and just goalkeeper-cum-left-back Emre Sert on the bench, the skipper kept the same eleven for the start of the second half with the instructions to maintain the same level of performance. His side didn’t let him down, performing with a maturity and a conviction that has been all too sporadic in most of the games played so far this season.

McGuinness remained relatively untested in the Harrow goal with the back four of Gilbert, Sert, Lalude and MacIntyre proving an ideal blend of pace and power to foil the Marlburian strikers. With Brunt and Alex Breeden, two of the most experienced players, sitting in front and providing a protective shield, the front players could continue to press for goals and twenty minutes into the half the result was put beyond doubt when the Marlborough keeper, who has no doubt enjoyed better afternoons than this, spilled another James Breeden shot, allowing Okoigun to follow in the rebound.

With the sting taken from the game, the visitors could see out the remaining minutes in relative comfort and with ten minutes left Okoigun, to the delight of the travelling Harrow faithful, completed his hat-trick, bundling in from close range following a scrappy build-up – his first treble in OHAFC colours.

A splendid win for the Blues then, and a vital one too: just two points now separate the Old Reptonians in second from the Old Malvernians in sixth. With Alleynians six points clear at the top and unlikely to yield sufficient points in their five remaining matches to allow any hope of them being caught, it appears as though the five sides below will be battling for the second, and final, promotion spot.

The OHAFC face the two most in-form teams in the division next, with a trip to fourth-placed Lancing Old Boys next, followed by the visit of the leaders Alleynians to the Hill a week later. As Brian Moore so famously opined on that balmy May evening at Anfield back in 1989: ‘It’s up for grabs noooooowwwwww…’

*Thanks to Freddie Brunt for his assistance with this match report