The OHAFC 1st XI’s increasing optimism for the remainder of the season following three wins from their previous four League and Cup games was jolted with a disappointing display in a resounding 5-1 defeat away to Division One leaders the Old Wykehamists on Saturday afternoon. Although their opponents have enjoyed a strong start to their campaign with just a solitary defeat from their first seven League fixtures, the manner and margin of the defeat was disappointing – especially since in the first meeting between the teams this season, on a sunny September morning on the Hill, the Blues had been the better side only to miss some glaring chances in a 2-1 defeat.

Seven of the thirteen players who featured in that defeat were in the thirteen-man squad named by skipper Dan Firoozan for the 12.15pm kick-off on the rather old fashioned astroturf surface at Club des Sports in Acton. Firoozan was one of the six players not available on the opening weekend of the season and whilst everyone else has featured for the club at some stage or another this season, there was one player making his season bow – the very welcome sight of winger Will Payne, back in OHAFC colours having suffered a worrying bout of pneumonia since early September. Pronouncing himself fit to play the day before the game, ‘Payno’ was named on the bench alongside Jack Dolbey, Firoozan opting for a flat back four with George Taylor spearheading the attack, Hayes and Jordan the wide men.

The two teams observed a minute’s silence prior to kick-off but it didn’t take long for the hosts to hit the front. Although the OHAFC, in their change white shirts once more, made a decent start to the game, they found themselves trailing inside five minutes. Not for the first time in the afternoon, the goal came from a Winchester counter: both Harrow full-backs were caught upfield when possession was lost in midfield, the ball played down the inside right channel and the Wykehamists left winger, an old foe of the OHAFC, collected on the goal line, cut inside and flashed a shot inside Alex Fraysse’s near post, the keeper doubtless expecting a cross given the initial acute angle.

This goal set the tone not only for the first half but for much of the game: the OHAFC looked comfortable in possession, strung some very decent passages of play together but struggled to break down a deep-lying Winchester block and always appeared vulnerable on the counter. The hosts doubled their lead after twelve minutes, this time the goal coming down the Harrow left. A quick throw down the line caught the men in white napping, the winger collected and fed the ball inside to the edge of the area where a midfielder produced a fine cross to the far post, the ball being turned in by the striker from six yards out.

The visitors still pressed forwards and still looked the better side in possession but Winchester’s tactics – rarely seen in the Arthurian League – continued to frustrate, Harrovian attacks floundering in the final third against a packed rearguard. When a third goal was conceded after twenty minutes, Harrow’s fate was all but sealed for the day. The tall, troublesome winger, having now switched to the right, played a superb crossfield ball to the opposite side of the pitch which was headed back across goal for the striker to grab his second from close range. Again, a lack of pressure from the visitors on the ball was cited as one failing, a lack of basic marking inside the box another.

Skipper Firoozan had seen enough and made a change on the half-hour, Payne making his long-awaited first appearance of the season in place of Ciaran Jordan on the left. The diminutive winger’s arrival seemed to stimulate the visitors’ attack briefly and the extra cutting edge finally produced a goal that the visitors probably deserved on the balance of play. It was little surprise that the substitute was the catalyst, latching onto Chester Robinson’s ball down the right to play a square pass inside which Taylor finished unerringly into the bottom corner with a sweep of his right foot.

Jack Dolbey was brought on at the interval in a straight swap for left-back Cyprian Owen Edmunds – the two players would be seen the next day at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium cheering on different teams – Dolbey joined in the away end by the Harrow goalscorer. But here there was plenty of work to do to claim a positive result for their common cause.

Unfortunately, the pattern of the second half matched that of the first, almost to the minute. Again the visitors started the half on the front foot but once more they conceded a goal inside the first ten minutes: another long throw from the right skimmed off the top of Ed Nicholson’s head and was slammed in at the far post by the left winger. Then, with an hour played, a fifth for the hosts, again coming on the counter after a Harrow attack had floundered. The Winchester winger drove forwards down the left against a retreating, outnumbered defence, exchanged passes ten yards outside the box before unleashing a piledriver of a shot that flew just inside Fraysse’s far post. It would prove the final significant act of the match.

At times, the OHAFC played some excellent, free-flowing one and two-touch football, especially down the right with Firoozan, Robinson and Hayes all prominent. But the withdrawal of striker George Taylor with a nasty looking studmark above his ankle on the hour hampered attacking efforts even further and the visitors, frankly, never looked like troubling the Winchester keeper. Credit must go to the hosts for executing a clear gameplan with such efficiency – it may well prove sufficient to carry them to promotion back into the Premier Division after a three-year absence.

The Blues, meanwhile, must go back to the drawing board ahead of three very winnable home games in a row against the Salopians, Chigwellians and Radleians. A good set of results in this trio of matches is imperative if the side are to travel to the Old Bradfieldians on December 14th for the second round of the Arthur Dunn Cup.