Continuing our look back through the OHAFC archives at games played on this weekend over the last four seasons – for the second weekend running the OHAFC diary was blank in 2009 and 2010

Five & Six Seasons Ago: No OHAFC Fixtures

Four Seasons Ago:

Old Etonians 1 OHAFC 1st XI 4: A fine win by the Blues at the home of the Old Enemy, especially given the fact the team had conceded four goals in each of its last two games and made a dreadful start to the match.

After less than fifteen minutes Fred Milln mis-controlled a high ball allowing an Eton striker to run on and fire home past Luke Raffety. Shortly afterwards a nasty collision in midfield left Quentin Baker in considerable pain and restricting his mobility for the rest of the game.

Despite this handicap the side responded well and were soon causing problems for the Eton defence. Milln was unlucky not to score when his header from Ed Martin’s free-kick came back off the crossbar but shortly afterwards the visitors did equalise when a one-two between Richardson and Brunt allowed the latter to cross for Milln to this time plant his header inside the post.

And Harrow took the lead shortly before the break thanks to a fine through ball from Baker that allowed Brunt to run on in the inside right channel and fire home at the near post. The second half failed to live up to the standards of the first with numerous free-kicks interrupting play and the home side losing their temper after two penalty appeals were turned down. Milln and Baker both began to struggle with injury and this disrupted Harrow’s efforts further.

But the victory was assured thanks to two excellent goals, the first saw Harry Hoffen sprint past the back four to poke home a Brunt through-ball, the second came courtesy of a perfectly-struck Ed Martins free-kick that curled into the top corner.

Some nasty challenges in the final few moments left a bad taste in the mouth but at the final whistle it was the visitors who were celebrating.

Old Brentwoods 2’s 3 OHAFC 2nd XI 1: A very ill-tempered game in Essex saw the visitors have two players sent off – the first time this had happened to an OHAFC team in living memory.

Both Joe Bone and Yunus Sert received their marching orders for second yellow cards in the second half but by that stage Brentwood were already in command and despite the positive introduction of substitute Nick Warner, who crossed for Stead to score, there was never any chance of Arjun Chopra’s side earning a point.

Three seasons ago: November 24th 2012

OHAFC 1st XI 4 Old Tonbridgians 3 – Arthur Dunn Cup Second Round: The OHAFC 1st XI reached the quarter-finals of the Dunn Cup for the second season in succession with a hard-fought win over the holders Tonbridge.

Despite an 8-0 thrashing of their opponents earlier in the season, the home side were under no illusions about the size of their task following some patchy League form that left the Dunn Cup as their only realistic chance of silverware.

And it was the visitors who made the better start, dominating the opening twenty minutes with some fine football and movement that Harrow found difficult to track. They scored once, early on, but could have led by three or four at the half-hour mark. It was to the surprise of players and spectators alike therefore when the hosts scored twice in quick succession, both goals created and scored by the same two players, to turn the game on it’s head.

A deep cross to the back post from Lederman was powerfully headed home by Defty from eight yards out and the pair combined again in similar fashion soon after, Lederman delivering a fine through ball for Defty to run onto and calmly lob the stranded ‘keeper.

The five minutes prior to the break proved vital with Harrow somehow maintaining their clean sheet thanks to some last-ditch defending before scoring a third themselves thanks to a long throw from Poulter that was flicked on for Molloy to stab home from close-range.

Tonbridge pulled a goal back five minutes into the second half when a corner wasn’t properly dealt with but the introduction of substitute Charlie Stebbings with twenty minutes remaining reaped an immediate reward when the youngster fired home a spectacular shot following a Johan Harder flick on.

Tonbridge then missed a penalty following what looked an innocuous challenge from Ed Poulter but continued to battle away and scored a third with ten minutes remaining from their own long throw routine.

Harrow managed to hold on however and earn their place in the hat for the quarter-final draw.

Old Eastbournians 2 OHAFC 3rd XI 0:

An unlucky defeat for the Harrow 3’s in Barn Elms who produced a good all-round display. The hosts scored early but the remainder of the game was an even affair, Harrow only conceding the second in the final few minutes as they pushed forward in search of the equaliser.

Two Seasons Ago: December 7th 2013

OHAFC 1st XI 1 Old Salopians 5: The Harrow 1st XI produced one of their worst performances in several seasons as they were humbled 5-1 at home by a struggling Salopian outfit.

Two innocuous long-range efforts weren’t dealt with by stand-in ‘keeper Charlie McHardy, leaving the hosts with an uphill battle. Three further goals in the twenty minutes after the break ended the game as a contest and even when the visitors were reduced to ten men, their ‘keeper having gone off injured, Harrow struggled to find a way through. Alex Breeden eventually scored with time running out but it made no difference to the quality of Harrow’s display.

KCS Wimbledon 2’s 0 OHAFC 2nd XI 2: In contrast to the travails of the 1st XI, the Harrow second string produced a fine performance to defeat Division Three league leaders KCS Wimbledon in Raynes Park – and this was after a dreadful build-up to the game that saw several players arrive minutes before kick-off, including Conti von Hirsch, who had been involved in a car accident en route!

Despite dominating the opening half an hour, the visitors had to rely on two superb saves from Pritchard in goal to keep the scoresheet blank, one of which came from a penalty, rather clumsily conceded by skipper Jack Orr-Ewing.

On the hour mark Harrow got the goal their play deserved, although in rather comical fashion: a poor corner from von Hirsch rolled all the way through to the ‘keeper who promptly fumbled it allowing a startled Main to prod home from a few yards out.

Ten minutes later and a more orthodox goal had the visitors in control of the game. George Pratt, who had played superbly on debut, flicked on a long ball allowing Owen-Edmunds to run at the last defender, beating him on the outside and firing past the ‘keeper from a narrow angle.

The side held out for the final quarter of an hour to register a rare clean sheet but, more importantly, secure the win that saw them leapfrog their opponents and go top of the table.

Last Season: December 6th 2014

OHAFC 1st XI 2 Old Chigwellians 1st XI 1 – Arthur Dunn Cup 2nd Round: The OHAFC 1st XI scraped into the quarter-finals of the Arthur Dunn Cup for the second time in three seasons thanks to a last-minute goal from an unlikely source - centre-half Will Orr-Ewing added to his first ever goal for the team in the previous round with a timely close-range effort a minute from time to settle a tie that for much of the second half the home side looked in danger of losing.

The hosts began the match on the back foot and fell behind when Chigwell took advantage of a throw-in to play a one-two down their right and cross into the box allowing a simple finish.

It took most of the first half for Harrow to find their feet but they grabbed a vital equaliser before the break when Alex Breeden crossed from the right for Jack Hill to tuck in.

Chigwell took command in the second half and pressed the hosts back. They were denied what looked a good shout for a penalty and missed several chances to put the tie to bed before Harrow struck in the closing stages, Lederman’s free-kick causing havoc in the box and the ball eventually fell kindly for centre-half Orr-Ewing to smash home from close-range to send the Blues, somewhat undeservedly, into the quarter-finals.

OHAFC 2nd XI 3 Old Berkhamstedians 8: A game of two halves on the 2nd XI pitch saw Jack Orr-Ewing’s side match league-leaders Berkhamsted for all but the final quarter of an hour of the game before capitulating in style.

The sides shared six goals before the break, several of which could have been ruled out: the visitors took a two-goal lead although the ball looked out of play for one of them. Harrow hit back to equalise, although again one of the goals could have been disallowed for a shove by skipper Orr-Ewing, the other for an offside against Olly Curry.

Galen Crawley then scored a superb solo effort to complete a remarkable recovery from the Blues, but Berks equalised prior to the break with a fairly tame shot that beat McHardy in goal.

At this stage the three points looked there for the taking and with no further goals in the opening spell of the second half the outcome was far from clear.

But the visitors’ superior fitness told in the final stages and they swept past a tiring Harrow side in style, scoring five goals without reply, several of high quality.

On this weekend…In the wider footballing world

These dates have been surprisingly devoid of any truly important or interesting events in the football world, so instead listed below are some of the more minor landmarks that have fallen on December 5th & 6th…

• Dec 5th 1863 saw the first set of rules for association football published in London newspaper Bell’s Life. The author, Ebeneezer Cobb Morley, banned picking up the ball and forbade ‘tripping and hacking’
• Dec 5th 1908 saw Newcastle United suffer a humiliating 9-1 defeat to Sunderland in the First Division – despite the sides being level at 1-1 after an hour of play! Sunderland scored eight times in the final twenty-eight minutes in what remains to this day their biggest ever League win
• Dec 6th 1992 saw Eric Canton make his Manchester United debut as a substitute in a 2-1 win over rivals City at Old Trafford
• Everton midfielder Ross Barkley was born on Dec 5th 1993
• Dec 5th 2003 saw England, Wales & Northern Ireland all drawn together in the same qualifying group for the 2006 World Cup
• Dec 6th 2010 saw Chris Hughton sacked as manager of Newcastle United