Old Berkhamstedians 3 OHAFC II 1

The 2s unbeaten run came to an end this weekend, succumbing to league leaders Old Berkhamstead 3-1 in a tight game. Harrow knew they were in for a tough match, sitting 7 points behind their opponents despite a good start to the season. Having not conceded in 225 mins prior to kick off, the visitors were confident of keeping it tight and getting a result. However, much of their dominance in recent weeks had come due to large, flat pitches in fair weather allowing Harrow to dominate with better technique and footballing ability. When they arrived at the Barn Elms pitch on Saturday, it was clear that football would be kept to a minimum, seeing torn up turf, no width and a howling gale.

Chopra and Maydon came back into a defence that had excelled in recent weeks, and the pre-match talk exhorted the team to continue their intensity and concentration. The starting line up was:

McGuinnes – Gordon – Orr-Ewing – Maydon – Taunton-Collins – Kerry – Pratt – Khan – M Curry – O Curry – Dalzell

Bench: S Crawley – Chopra

Harrow started playing into the wind, which was worth an extra 20% effort. Penned into their half, the defence coped manfully with the onslaught of the Berkhamstead team. Their wiley striker, a veteran of the AL, caused trouble for the defence and pressured them at every opportunity to clear. With a small pitch, there was no space to be found, and every clearance wafted a feeble few yards before coming back with pace and danger. McGuinnes was the busiest player on the pitch, mainly trotting off behind his goal to retrieve the many long-shots with deliberate sluggishness so as to limit the amount of playing time with the meteorological disadvantage.

This was aided by the referee, whose insistence that every contact should lead to a foul was as consistent as it was utterly disruptive to any semblance of fluid football. Added to this, pointless “having a word” moments and precise recording of the rolling subs slowed the game up even more. This was as welcome in the first half as it was frustrating in the second.

Spencer Crawley and Arjun Chopra came on after 30 mins for Curry and Gordon, and Crawley immediately showed his mettle, hammering into a tackle and then rising to head clear a corner soon afterwards. It remains to be seen whether we’ll see him again this season. Curry’s hamstring continues to cause concern, and should probably get a rest next weekend to fully recover. His skipper was not filled with confidence when he asked to return to the pitch and play in the 10 as “there wouldn’t be any sprinting”. Chopra was amused that McGuinnes kept calling him Joe, a blunder caused by the right back wearing his skippers training top in the warm up with the initials JOE on it.

Harrow fashioned few chances throughout the half, with an Olly Curry shot too tame to trouble the opposition stopper. Ben Kerry put in a mean challenge to injure his opposite man, howling “Ben’s in” as he scythed through the ball and the man’s shinpads with some ferocity. As half time, and respite from the elements, loomed, Harrow switched off for a vital minute and conceded an unnecessary goal. Orr-Ewing was too wide in support of Chopra and Crawley down the right flank, and got too square to the ball ahead of him. The Berks striker ran in behind him, leaving Maydon exposed in the central position. Keeping a cool head, the striker cut inside and fired a good low shot inside McGuinnes’ right hand post.

At half time, Harrow were upbeat, knowing they’d done well to concede just the single goal and that they were still in the game. Crawley moved to the left flank to utilise his long throw with the wind behind him, and Harrow started the half strongly. The difference was clear from the kick off, with the ding dong battle moving from Harrow’s box to the opposition final third. Kerry and Pratt, who had battled through the first half extremely well, were allowed to win some possession in more advanced areas, and pressure from the wingers forced the home side to miss their clearances and build pressure on themselves.

The pressure finally told as Harry Dalzell, whose work-rate throughout the game ranged between a light jog and a ponderous walk, scored directly from a corner. He had been practicing his corners in the warm up, aiming for the danger area in front of the keeper; luckily for Harrow, his intention failed and the mis-hit corner beat the crowd on the line and levelled the score at 1-1.

The next phase of the game was a vital one, and one that Harrow will rue as a missed opportunity. In the ascendency, they failed to turn pressure into chances and didn’t trouble the opposition keeper. Olly Curry tussled all afternoon with the opposition skipper, whose impressive defending was let down by his 5-years-too-late commitment to the boring faux-charitable fad of Movember. The wind then dropped and the game became one of territory, not football; the ball was clobbered from one end to the next, with neither team able to pass with any confidence or fashion obvious chances. When Harrow were broken, Mcguinnes was on hand, and made a string of second half saves that earned him a man of the match for the PLT.

As the game entered the final 5 minutes, Harrow started to consider the valuable point seemingly there for the taking, and yet still pushed for a goal that looked unlikely. A silly challenge from Gordon in the right wing position gave away a foul, and the resulting free kick was won in the air by the lanky left winger. Their striker, the best player on the pitch, latched on to it behind Chopra, and looked up to square the ball – he found their generic-European midfielder, whose shot was well taken and beat Mcguinnes’ dive. Harrow were devastated as their unbeaten run was snatched from them.

In the final seconds, as Harrow launched a desperate final attack, Berks broke in numbers and overwhelmed the scattered defenders, scoring an easy goal with 4 queueing up to beat McGuinnes. A sorry end to an “almost” day.

After the game, Azhar Khan threatened to write a letter of complaint to the league, complaining of being treated “like an animal” by opposition teams whose catering did not match that of the Alcock. His pen was stayed at the last minute, when a platter of delicious sandwiches, well-cooked chips and a range of condiments were served. He was particularly impressed by the steel crockery, real plates and napkins that accompanied the meal, and stubbornly used them to prove a point while his team-mates ate with their fingers direct from the platter.

He then got out of Orr-Ewing’s car, leaving his skipper to do the kit for the third time and collect his PLT points gladly. Khan will continue to be docked points until he eventually mans up enough to give the kit to his sister to wash for him.

Super Geoff made his first error of the season by leaving his valuables with Khan and Gordon, which turned out to be sorry cry for friendship as he returned to sheepishly join his fellow teammates for the aforementioned platters and a beer.

Arjun Chopra left his boots in the changing room, which now means his has no football equipment left available to him. He’ll be playing in tennis shoes, with prep diaries for shin pad, when we take on the school next weekend.