In the end, a sixth defeat in the last seven League games didn’t really matter for the OHAFC 1st XI who fell to a late goal and lost 2-1 away to the Old Foresters on Saturday morning. News filtered through an hour after the final whistle had blown in east London that their Division One status had been assured for next season courtesy of a win for the Old Etonians over the Old Wykehamists. The Etonians may yet snatch the second promotion spot into the Premier Division from the Foresters – the two sides meet on the final weekend of the season with the Etonians likely to need victory to overhaul their rivals. For the OHAFC, just one more fixture remains – a now relatively meaningless trip to face the Old Kimboltonians in Hatfield this coming Saturday.

Despite the defeat, there was much to applaud in the Blues’ performance on this occasion, not least considering the rather makeshift side which travelled for an early 9.30am meet at the Old Parkonians ground adjacent to Fairlop tube. Despite this being the only OHAFC fixture on the day, the thirteen that travelled included 2s regulars Alexi Pittalis, Geoff Taunton-Collins and striker Owain James, with Lederman as a serviceable option from the bench if required, alongside the returning Jack Dolbey. The pitch at Parkonians appeared at first glance to be in fine fettle, but a few tentative passes prior to the warm-up showed it to be a surprisingly firm, bobbly surface that made playing progressive football a chore for both sides.

This set the tempo for the match, unfortunately, with neither side able to string together many flowing passages of play, the ball constantly being delivered long into opposition territory as a consequence. The visitors coped well, however, and deservedly remained level in a first half-hour high on effort and defensive resilience, low on quality and clear-cut chances. Indeed, the closest either side came to breaking the deadlock arrived courtesy of a handling error from Harrow keeper Tom Mitchell, who spilt a relatively simple claim from a corner inches wide of the far post. Other than that there was little to alarm the men in blue, Harry Bick the standout player with a tough, aggressive performance at left-back, laced with several probing balls down the channels.

The visitors eventually took the lead ten minutes before the interval, but not before they had survived an almighty scare at the other end. A cross from the Forest left was met with a looping header from the penalty spot that beat Mitchell only to rebound off the crossbar. A second Forester followed up only to send his header also against the bar, this time the ball bouncing over to safety.

Five minutes later the hosts were left counting the cost of their profligacy when the Blues stitched together their best passage of play in the first half, working the ball down the left wing to Harry Bick. His dangerous cross to the edge of the box was collected by Arthur Leney, but although he lost out the first time to the tall Forest centre-back, the forward continued to battle away and earnt full reward for his tenacity, snatching the ball back before somewhat stumbling into the penalty area to fire low past the keeper.

The closing stages of the half saw the visitors hold on but not without a couple of alarms as both Leney and Ed Nicholson were caught rather dawdling on the ball in the middle of the pitch, Foresters failing to hit the target with the resulting efforts. No changes were made at the break, with Dolbey champing at the bit to come on in a game that seemed tailor-made for his no-nonsense, combative approach.

The opening quarter of an hour of the second half was without incident until a Harrow counter-attack produced a glorious chance for Leney to double the lead. Owain James sprinted away down the left wing and although the last defender did well to cut off the angle, the cross into the middle still found the Harrow forward surging into the penalty area. Unfortunately the keeper also timed his narrowing of the angle to perfection, forcing the Harrow man well wide of goal to the extent that when the shot did arrive, it lacked power and was easily cleared from the goalline.

Then, moments later, the hosts levelled courtesy of their best move of the game so far. A series of short, sharp passes down the left wing created space in the middle, although the Forest player was left in far too much space on the edge of the box and he had no trouble in arrowing a finish into the near top corner. Harrow’s only change of the match duly arrived shortly afterwards with Nicholson the man replaced, Alexi Pittalis dropping into the back four with Dolbey joining the midfield trio.

The goal spurred the hosts forwards and for the next fifteen minutes they were in the ascendency, nearly taking the lead when evergreen winger James Dunne latched onto a through-ball down the inside left, carried the ball around Mitchell only to see his effort from a narrow angle roll along the line before being hacked clear.

At this stage, a second for the hosts appeared inevitable, but to Harrow’s great credit they fought back well and with a quarter of an hour remaining it was hard to predict which side might emerge victorious. Two chances, five minutes apart, would ultimately determine the outcome of the points. Harrow had the first effort courtesy of a magnificent run down the right wing from Leney, who skipped past two challenges before nutmegging a third defender. His pass to the edge of the area found Owain James with his back to goal, but with his second touch he fed the ball out to the left and the fast arriving James Walduck. Faced with just the keeper to beat, the midfielder found the ball slightly caught beneath his feet and could only fire straight at the keeper, the ball rolling wide for a corner.

It would prove a pivotal miss. With seven minutes remaining the hosts snatched victory with another beautifully crafted move, again down their left-hand side. Again the ball was moved at pace, one or two-touch passes that made light of the tricky surface. The Forest number twelve was left clear on goal just to the right of the penalty spot and made no mistake, firing into the far bottom corner on the stretch to spark jubilant scenes of celebration.

It was tough on the visitors who had given their all and fully deserved a point for their endeavours in tricky circumstances. Fortunately, the defeat means little in the overall picture, but a run of one win from seven games since Christmas hardly augurs well for next season and a strong effort will be required next weekend at Kimbolton to ensure the season doesn’t end in the most timid circumstances imaginable.