Old Bancroftians 1 OHAFC III 0

Few would have predicted at the beginning of the season that the 3s’ visit to Bancroft would have been a tussle for top spot in the league. With fond memories of our last trip to Essex still fresh in the minds, the squad took on the length of the central line to make the long journey to Roding Valley.

As with last year’s corresponding fixture, conditions were not football-friendly. However, the swirling wind was fortunately not accompanied by rain following a deluge in the early hours of the morning. With puddles for penalty spots, proceedings kicked off, with Marbella’s finest only making it onto the pitch five minutes in having been reluctant to leave the comfort of his white ‘Onyx’ Range Rover.

Any punter could have predicted the score line of this feisty encounter from the very kick off; it was merely a case of which side could grab the deciding goal.

The two halves somewhat merged into each other, with chances as scarce as a confirmed sighting of Lord Lucan. Adam Graham had the best chance of the first half for the visitors, perhaps put off by the brilliant sheen of the Bancroft keeper’s veneers. Not for the first time this season, the Harrow defence was rock solid, with Fife and Stirrat particularly dominant in the middle.

At half time the camp was full of positivity, along with minor bouts of frost bite. Beautiful it was not but mightily effective it certainly was. A side order of more of the same was requested for the remaining 45 minutes.

Another sterling effort in the second half saw tempers flare somewhat. Kapoor had come in for particular slack all day and was scythed down by some fairly ungainly challenges. Fife, Kapo’s bodyguard from last year’s game, once again took exception to the treatment of his comrade, kicking out at a rather burly hulk in Bancroft’s midfield. Being the reasonable, mild mannered chap that he had shown himself to be throughout the game, said member of the opposition responded in kind, lashing out and catching Fife square in the chops.

To add to all of the confusion, the Bancroft full back then unleashed a venomous cross-field back pass which his keeper kept out of his own net at full stretch, bending the rules slightly as the referee tended to the ensuing melee. Two minutes of utter chaos in an otherwise fairly turgid affair.

Sadly, it was Bancroft that stole the elusive goal. Their striker did well to manufacture a yard just inside the box, shooting on the turn and slicing his shot which helped the ball to loop into the top corner. As the 1937 novel by James Curtis would suggest, There Ain’t No Justice.

A really harsh result for a Herculean performance, but a lot of positives to be taken nonetheless -namely that we only have one more fixture left in Essex this season!

View lineup and stats here.