A Sunday morning of firsts for the OHAFC Vets this week with a venue and opponent both making their debuts on the Vets football circuit.

Thanks to some regular appearances in the OH side from a few Old Tonbridgians a first ever fixture against the Vets from the Kent school was arranged for Sunday morning.

With the usual pitch at the Bank of England Ground double-booked, the game was played at Battersea Ironsides Sports Club in Earlsfield.

Although the changing facilities fell some way short of the standards at Roehampton, the pitch itself was excellent: a large, flat surface with 'European' style goals and crowd barriers (these were surplus to requirements on this particular occasion).

If the pitch raised the spirits of the Black and White stripes, the sight of a youngish, ambitious Tonbridge side warming up in perfect synchronicity led to slight feelings of trepidation.

Nevertheless the game proved to be a highly entertaining affair with eleven goals scored and plenty of chances missed.

Tonbridge enjoyed the best of the first half and led 4-1 thanks to a couple of excellent strikes and a couple of defensive howlers from the home side's back four.

The second half appeared to be further confirmation of the visitors' superiority as further goals extended their lead. But Harrow refused to give up and suddenly burst into life in the final ten minutes, scoring three times and threatening to produce one of the greatest comebacks ever seen.

Sadly, Giles Paul's whistle brought an end to the fun with the final score 7-4 to Tonbridge. Hopefully the fixture will become a regular date in seasons to come.

OHAFC Vets XI: Wyn-Evans (c), Burley, Bugden, McCarthy, Morley-Fletcher, Danos, Ingram, Lederman, Hollins, Nicholson, Harris, Durling, Thorn