Old Cholmeleians IV 2 OHAFC III 2

Match day didn't get off to the greatest of starts - there was an early morning call from Harry Gibson who informed the stand-in skipper Benjy Sewell that he would be unable to attend the game due to needing to go on a strong course of immodium starting asap having had a long night clutching the porcelain throne. This was shortly followed by a message from Hussain Janmohammed who pulled out in mysterious circumstances...

The team began to assemble at the Old Cholms ground, only after Nicholas Kappoor had made most of the lunch-time kick-off by settling into a quick Maccy-d's in Brent Cross en route to the ground. Having begun the warm up it became apparent that there were a potential 2 further absentees, leaving the squad rather depleted and down to 10 men. Alex Elwell turned up in the nick-of-time, cunningly avoiding any form of warm-up. The squad lined up in a 4-1-4-1 formation with Dewan and Zundel making their club debuts on the right wing and filling in at centre back respectively. Both players put in great shifts and could become real assets for the club moving forward. The game kicked off and Harrow had the most of the possession, with Kerry and Feather pulling strings, supplying the wingers with the space they needed in order to exploit the width of the pitch. With Harrow pressing high this left the defence a little exposed and Cholms almost capitalised only for Stirrat and Elwell to make some great last ditch tackles. Kappo and Alex Smith had some good opportunities, especially when the Cholms keeper spilled several shots. Half time came and Benjy 'the tinkerman' Sewell felt something had to change - He decided to pull himself off for the greater good of the team in favour of the fresh arrival Karl Obi.

The goal came soon after. Alex Smith used great instinct to latch onto a loose ball in the Cholms box a blast the ball into the top corner from 6 yards. Sewell began to ponder a career in management only for Cholms to bag one back straight away. A soft penalty was given from a barge on a player from a corner - no one is yet to own up though Fife looked very sheepish. Chaz McHardy did his best to put the penalty taker off though unfortunately did not do enough and the score was level again. Harrow once again began to press and soon won a free kick deep in the opposition half. Despite Feather looking like he would be more at home in Dexy's Midnight Runners, he decided to step-up and whipped in a fine delivery where Kerry met it with aplomb, looping a header into the net.

Cholms needed to press and began the barrage and assault on the Harrow defence, Fife and Zundel combining well on the right side of defence to quash the attacks with McHardy being his usual imposing self. With five minutes left on the clock Cholms were awarded a soft corner. The corner was taken short and Harrow were unaware - chaos soon enthralled in the area and the ball soon found an unmarked player on the edge of the 6-yard box - he wasn't going to ask for a second invitation and buried it past the out-stretched McHardy.

The referee blew the final whistle much to the delight of the Cholms players. Harrow seemed dejected, however they should take plenty of positives from the game baring in mind the opposition had a plethora of rolling subs keeping their players fresh.

A big thanks to Turner for organising the squad despite himself being unavailable; and also to McHardy and Kerry for stepping in at the last minute.

Team lineup can be viewed in the Results section.