After a hugely impressive 3-1 win over Tonbridge Veterans to open the season, the OHAFC were in high spirits heading into their second friendly of the season at home to Witan Old Boys on Sunday.

Such was the enthusiasm for some Sunday morning football, skipper Jon Wyn-Evans found himself in the rare position of actually having to ask players not to play in order to keep the squad size to a manageable level.

Opponents Witan Old Boys always provide a tough test and Sunday proved no different with an entertaining game chock-full of incident.

Indeed, it took barely ten minutes for the first heckles to be raised when stand-in referee Steve pointed to the spot for what at first glance appeared to be a pretty blatant foul by the Witan 'keeper on Harrow striker Jon Ingram. The forward, who scored twice against Tonbridge a fortnight ago, knocked the ball past the Witan custodian but fell to the turf under the challenge. Witan's defenders saw it differently however, furiously claiming Ingram had dived. The striker picked himself up and struck the penalty well enough but the Witan goalkeeper dived to his left to palm the ball to safety, much to the delight of his teammates.

The hosts dominated the early quarter of the game however and deservedly took the lead after twenty minutes when a move down the right allowed winger Lederman to cut inside and deliver a cross to the back post with his left foot. The ball glanced off a defender's head and nestled inside the far post, leaving the goalkeeper on this occasion motionless.

Harrow then had a great chance to double their lead when a stray pass from the Witan defence left Phil Bearn with a one-on-one, but he panicked slightly and saw his chip comfortably saved by the 'keeper.

Witan fought their way back into the game as the half wore on but there was little to suggest they had the wherewithal to breach a strong Harrow back four of Feather, Baddeley, Wood and Durling.

Things took a rapid turn for the worse however as the visitors struck three times in quick succession: the first came from a corner, the second after a stray pass across his own box from Lederman and the third from a counter-attack that left 'keeper Jon Sharples horribly exposed and powerless to prevent the two Witan forwards from combining to score from close range.

The opening spell of the second half saw a lull in proceedings with neither side able to create any chances of note, this despite Witan bringing on a former Wycombe Wanderers player into their midfield.

But temperatures were to rise again in the closing stages with a series of incidents. Harrow nearly pulled one back when a cross from the left sailed over Witan's substitute goalkeeper but glanced off the face of the crossbar and away to safety.

A 50/50 challenge in midfield left a Witan player clutching his ankle in pain but went unpunished by the referee much to the visitors' annoyance. And that frustration grew when Harrow did score their second ten minutes from time when an excellent ball through the middle saw Dom Danos at first denied by the 'keeper but then square the ball unselfishly for Lederman to finish calmly from fifteen yards.

There was further drama at the other end when Witan were convinced they had scored a fourth when a shot appeared to be clasped back from over the line by 'keeper Sharples, but the referee again waved play on and was again rewarded with howls of protest.

Harrow pressed in the closing stages for an equaliser but failed to find a way through and were left to rue the first-half defensive errors that saw the game snatched from their grasp.

The Vets return to action in a fortnight with another home friendly against Winchester.

OHAFC Veterans XI: Jon Sharples (GK), Charlie Feather, Mark Baddeley, Mike Wood, Ben Durling, David Lederman, Jon Wyn-Evans (c), George Thorp, Dom Danos, Gary Baddeley, Jon Ingram.

Subs: Phil Bearn, Andy Nicholson

Scorer: Lederman 2