The Old Harrovians suffered another tight loss as their promotion chances slipped ever further from the realms of possibility. Millfield represent the likeliest team to take a top 2 spot in Division 3 along with Old Berkhamsted, and started the game 2 points ahead of Harrow with 2 games in hand.

With 3 fixtures for the OHAFC on this weekend, the 2s provided support to the 3s by dropping Edmund Massey and George Pratt, lining up with 13 as follows:

Pittalis – Taunton-Collins – Gordon – Orr-Ewing – Robinson – Kerry – Bajwa – Stead – M Curry – O Curry – Dalzell

Subs – Maydon – Khan

Having implored his team to concentrate and start the game strongly, skipper Orr-Ewing got off to a bad start, taking an age to control the ball from kick off and allowing the opposition striker to close him down and get a shot off. This set the tone for a shambolic opening 15 minutes, in which a rampant Millfield team moved freely between the lines and asked a lot of the Harrow defence. Taunton-Collins was up against a tricky winger “Elo” who enjoyed a lot of early possession, while the striking partnership occupied all of Gordon and Orr-Ewing’s attention.

The opening goal felt inevitable, yet was nonetheless preventable. A ball into the left winger through the channel between Orr-Ewing and Geoff TC allowing Elo to get a strong shot off across the keeper; Pittalis made a great save, but allowed the ball to bounce tantalisingly into the air and into the path of the Millfield striker, who headed home past Robinson on the line.

Harrow then adapted to wrest control of the game; the defenders got closer to their men to stop them from turning and Kerry and Bajwa clicked into action in front of them, providing better protection and allowing Harrow to start building possession.

Olly Curry had a couple of chances to equalise, the second of which was a gift in the form of a throw in that gave the Harrow hit-man a gilt-edged opportunity – his shot was more “leave your hat on” than Ricky Hatton, and he was left with his pants down and the ball not it the net.

As half time approached, Harrow looked more comfortable in the game, with some sloppy errors disrupting the fluency of the game a little. Dalzell showed his usual skill with the ball and got the better of his opposition left back a couple of times; his best chance of the game saw him through on goal to the left of the box, electing to blast a shot with his weaker left foot just over the bar.

Dave Stead aggravated his hamstring injury and limped off after 30 mins, and Orr-Ewing rotated his centre backs to allow himself, Maydon and Gordon to stay as fresh as possible in a tiring game for the defence. As the second half began, Harrow started to use the blinding sunshine and the light breeze to their advantage, and put the pressure on the opposition in the quest for an equaliser. And sure enough, from a Dalzell corner, the elusive goal came due to a combined effort from the Curry brothers. From the melee in front of goal, Max let off a shot which was saved by the keeper, with the ball falling favourably to his brother Ollie to hammer it home with a convincing shin/shank that dribbled purposefully through a few people’s legs into the net. 1-1.

Ben Kerry, back in the side after a short break, spent the game mostly on the floor, playing like a child on FIFA that hasn’t worked out that there are two types of tackle button, and relentlessly pressing the “slide” button (traditionally the square button, often changed to the circle depending on preference). This may have been due to again playing in boots that cause his feet to end the game as a couple of bloodied stumps, but such was the vigour of his slide tackling that his knees also ended up covered in grazes like a school-yard clutz.

A reminder of the amateur nature of the game was given to the sides when referee Ron blew for the fabled crime of shouting “leave it leave it”. Then, amusingly, the man who took the free kick played it wide, shouting “leave it” to his midfielder as the ball progressed to the winger, in turn causing another free kick for Harrow.

Jaguar Bajwa also returned to the side, and played some good football. Having not played 90 mins for some months, he did well to get through a full competitive game at centre mid, but showed a few signs of rustiness that will no doubt improve in the coming weeks.

Pittalis kept the home side on level terms as the game headed into the later stages, scrambling back and athletically tipping a ball wide after a bicycle kick from the impressive opposition captain. The number 7 was a handful all day for the defenders and was unlucky not to score. From one throw in, he rolled Orr-Ewing out the way and beat the lumbering centre back for pace round the outside, crossing the ball to his strike partner who spannered it wide with the goal at his mercy.

Indeed, Harrow nearly stole a winner when Orr-Ewing shinned a corner back into the middle, with the ball bouncing off Khan’s back and ricocheting just wide. Again, Ollie Curry laid the ball back to Max, with the older brother dragging his shot wide when a winner looked likely.

But as the game ticked into the final minutes, there was a horrible sense of inevitability about the result. As legs tired and gaps started to be exposed, Millfield won a corner. Despite being well organised, the ball was played in fast and just out of the reach of the man on the front post. The Millfield centre back stole a march on his man (as yet unidentified) and leapt up to meet the ball, rifling it past the men on the line and into the net.

From the kick off, Khan layed the ball back to Robinson, who dallied on the ball and lost it to the striker. Looking up, Elo had ghosted past Gordon at right back and was a step ahead of his man when the cross was rolled across the face of goal, allowing him to tap home with ease.

At the end of the game, it came to light that Millfield had in fact played with a squad of 15, breaking a fundamental rule of Arthurian League football. While the results of the league administrators are still pending, it is not right to speculate on the outcome of arbitration in this case. An unfair advantage was gained and the result was undoubtably affected by it, but Harrow have a reputation as honest competitors to uphold and will not push for retribution (unless they get given the points in which case they’ll graciously accept them).

There were few candidates for man of the match, with Khan earning the prize due to a tidy game with fewest mistakes. However, if this side are going to realise their potential and go on a cup run of any note, it’s crucial that more players start putting in match winning performances and carrying the team through challenging times.

After the game, Khan, Taunton Collins and Orr-Ewing drowned their sorrows in a Mexican restaurant, and were all on target, frustratingly finding their form too late in the day to help affect the result of the match.