OHAFC II 2 Old Aldenhamians II 0

The OHAFC 2nd XI got back to winning ways on Saturday with a comfortable win over struggling Aldenham. Having beaten them 3-0 in the away leg, Harrow were confident of getting a result, and duly delivered with a good team performance. And Harrow were boosted in the warm up by news that the Arthurian League Select Committee were likely to grant Harrow either 3 points, or another chance to beat Millfield, who had fielded 15 players in the previous week. With promotion back within their grasp, motivation wasn’t going to be an issue on the day.

With a 1s team bolstered by players returning from injury, the 2s gratefully received both Jaguar Bajwa and Johnny Lalude into their starting line-up, as well giving 3s sharpshooter Walker a 2s debut. Harrow started:

Pittalis – Massey – Orr-Ewing – Gordon – Robinson – Bajwa – Beeley – Khan – Taunton-Collins – M Curry – Lalude

Subs – Walker – Maydon

The warm up was a punctuated with fastidious checking of boots, slow rolling of the ball through a small puddle on the goal-line of Phil 2 (Alcock End), and questioning of Orr-Ewing’s decision to purchase a new Sondico branded match ball. Nonetheless the team were ready to go when the clock struck 12 and quickly got into the swing of the game.

Lalude enjoyed good possession on the left flank, releasing Khan twice into the box, only to see the shot too tame to trouble the keeper, and likely not firm enough to roll through the aforementioned puddle.

In the middle, Jaguar and Beeley worked well to keep the ball in Harrow possession, using the flanks well with Massey and Robinson enjoying some space out wide. There were few opportunities conceded, and Harrow were only opened up when a loose pass or a ricochet got behind the central midfield duo and exposed the centre backs.

The only clear cut opportunity came after the Aldenham strikers combined well to set the number 8 through on goal, with Pittalis coming out well to push him too wide to score. And before half time, Massey was cool under pressure when dealing with a cross, kneeing the ball into Pittalis’ gloves from a few feet away. Despite having most of the possession in good areas, Harrow fashioned few obvious chances and went into half time feeling confident, but aware that a more clinical style was needed to get the result they deserved.

When the half started, Curry looked most likely to open the scoring, going through on goal after a goal kick cleared the opposition defence, only to miss by a few inches. And moments later, Harrow again had Pittalis to thank for keeping them in the game; with the ball looping through the blinding sunshine, the keeper yelped “I can’t see a thing” as he hurled himself into his own top corner, saving the ball and taking a post to his jowl. Bravery and athleticism combined.

Fortunately for Harrow, they were in front a few moments later, this time from a corner. When the ball came into the middle, Walker was first to react and stabbed a shot towards goal – his effort wasn’t enough to beat the defence, but the rebound fell to Jaguar Bajwa, who extended one of his go-go-gadget legs to poke it home. Edmund Massey celebrated with the traditional “cradle arms” celebration, paying homage to his brand new niece Hope, who was born in Auckland at the precise moment the ball hit the back of the net.

With Azhar Khan dropping into midfield and Max Curry playing behind Walker up front, Harrow looked both solid in defence and dangerous in attack. Lalude looked the most dangerous coming in from the left, with one mazy run foxing a number of opposition players on his way into the box, but with the end product lacking on that occasion.

But Harrow maintained a high press and kept winning possession from the Aldenham men deep inside their own half. Geoff Taunton Collins ran tirelessly throughout the game, and was rewarded for this when his pressure and tackle on the oppo’s midfielder caused the ball to break into the path of debutant Walker – having buried 4 goals in 4 appearances for the 3s, there was no doubting the finish, which he duly applied to make it 2-0. Curry and Khan could both have made it 3-0 with headers, but didn’t quite have the accuracy and power to register the points in the ultra competitive PLT. If there were points on offer for ridiculous flair, Beeley would have deserved them all for his drag-back Rabona pass that almost led to a goal of wondrous beauty.

A heart in the mouth moment was provided when Aldenham broke from a Harrow corner, with Massey, Gordon and Orr-Ewing failing to deal with the counter attack and again needing Pittalis to come to the rescue with a good firm punch over the bar. This rounding off a well deserved Man of the Match performance.

Geoff TC then showed his professionalism, after running the ball alone 60 yards down to the opposition by line, and hammering it far into the meadows behind the goal to eat up the final minutes. The final whistle came as Harrow looked comfortable, and showed that they were able to keep their concentration and work-rate up for 90 mins. They were then treated to a masterclass first half performance from the 1s, who were on their way to a 2-1 victory on Phil 1 to round off a thoroughly good weekend for the OHAFC.