Continuing our look back at OHAFC fixtures played on the corresponding weekend over the previous six seasons – including the infamous ‘Battle of the Blizzard’ against Eton in 2013…

Six Seasons Ago: March 27th & 28th 2010

OHAFC 1st XI 2 Old Kings Wimbledon 1: A fixture pile-up for their opponents saw Harrow asked to play on a Sunday but the inconvenience was minimal with only Lederman from the regular squad unable to play.

Despite playing the day before, Wimbledon provided a stern challenge and the game was in the balance right up until the final whistle.

Quentin Baker opened the scoring on the half hour, the visitors equalised but Ed Martins scored the vital winner five minutes into the second half to ensure the points stayed on the Hill and ensure that Harrow were still in contention for the League title going into the final few weeks of the season.

Old Brentwoods 2’s 2 OHAFC 2nd XI 2: A late Johan Harder goal earned the OHAFC 2nd XI a point away to their Brentwood counterparts. The visitors were forced to come from two goals down but did so thanks to Bemini Soyinka’s goal and Harder’s late strike, ensuring the trip back round the M25 was a little more bearable.

Five Seasons Ago: March 26th 2011

OHAFC 1st XI 5 Old Brentwoods 1: A fourth win in five games saw any lingering relegation fears comprehensively dispelled by the Harrow 1’s who put in a fine display to thrash Brentwood.

Fred Richardson and Freddie Brunt both scored their first goals of the season, Ed Martins grabbed a brace and David Lederman completed the scoring from the spot to ensure a comfortable win for a side clearly benefitting from the return from injury of some key players.

OHAFC 2nd XI 4 Old Amplefordians 2: The Harrow 2nd XI also enjoyed a relatively comfortable win on the Hill, seeing off Ampleforth 4-2. Kamil Amin and Joe Bone both scored inside the opening half an hour and the win was confirmed in the second half with an own goal quickly followed by an Ed Arghebant strike.

Four Seasons Ago: March 24th 2012

OHAFC 1st XI 2 Old Etonians 1: The OHAFC 1st XI completed their home league programme with a win over Eton, in the process completing the double over their arch rivals.

A stunning spring day and Conference level referee set the scene for an enjoyable game of football, even if the surface was rather bobbly, and both sides put in strong performances in the first half with little to choose between them.

Harry Hoffen came closest to breaking the deadlock early on when he fired just over with a left-foot volley but he made no mistake on the half hour, superbly converting a hopeful punt forward, showing great strength and perseverance before rounding the ‘keeper and slotting home.

But Harrow failed to capitalise on their goal and the narrow lead at the break suggested a tough second half in prospect.

The hosts had plenty of chances to double their lead, Baker heading over from six yards out and Hoffen himself spurning to further one-on-ones when played through on goal. But the nerves were finally settled when a long throw was only half-cleared allowing Baker to fire home a left-foot volley into the bottom corner.

The visitors were handed a lifeline with a quarter of an hour remaining when Fred Milln was very harshly adjudged to have handled inside the box, the ball being drilled against him with his arm by his side. But the Eton left-back made a hash of his spot-kick, sending it high over the bar. Milln’s vocal celebration earnt him a caution.

With time running out Eton did pull a goal back, a fortunate ricochet inside the Harrow box falling perfectly for an opposition striker. But the hosts held on to complete the win and their eighth home win of the season from nine games – the only defeat coming on the opening day of the season against a poor Winchester team.

Three Seasons Ago: March 23rd 2013

Old Etonians 1 OHAFC 1st XI 4: Despite this being an away game, the fixture was actually played on the astroturf at Harrow School with heavy snow showers rendering all grass pitches unfit for purpose. Indeed, it was the first time in living memory that an OHAFC game was played in a blizzard, with players struggling to see their teammates on opposite sides of the pitch.

Nevertheless, in spells in both halves Harrow produced some enterprising football, spurred on by the return to form and fitness of two of the veteran members of the side: Quentin Baker, who must have been used to the conditions having only arrived back from a skiing holiday an hour before kick-off, and up front Harry Hoffen continued his progression towards full sharpness with two well taken first-half goals to put Harrow firmly in control.

The first, after twenty-five minutes, came from a simple through-ball from Ed Poulter, who split the Eton centre-halves perfectly to tee up Hoffen. He calmly rounded the 'keeper and rolled the ball into an empty net.

Harrow continued on the front foot and doubled their lead in almost identical circumstances ten minutes later, this time it was Lederman's turn to pick a pass through a square back four for the front man to run onto and tuck past the advancing 'keeper.

Both sides had chances to score and with twenty minutes remaining it was the Etonians who struck first, a counter-attack that allowed a through-ball to split the retreating back four.

But there was no sign of panic in the Harrow ranks and they made sure of the points with two further goals in the final quarter of the game: Poulter and Lederman combined for the latter to feed Baker down the right and he finished calmly past the ‘keeper; schoolboy Ogyen Verhagen then made an instant impact, coming off the bench on his debut to collect a pass from Poulter and outstrip the defence before beating the ‘keeper at his near post.

Two Seasons Ago: March 29th 2014

Old Carthusians 3 OHAFC 1st XI 1: A chaotic week of preparation prior to the toughest fixture of the season did not bode well for the Harrow 1st XI and they took to the field in Godalming with one of the youngest sides in twenty years, no less than three schoolboys making their Club debuts. Matters were not helped when a police roadblock meant that with five minutes to the scheduled kick-off time there were six members of the team present and no kit.

After a two-minute warm-up it was little surprise that Charterhouse were immediately on the front foot and they deservedly opened the scoring after half an hour with an excellent passing move down their right.

Charlie Walsh was a busy man in the Harrow goal but to the visitors’ credit they at least forced their opponents to shoot from range, restricting the number of clear opportunities to a minimum.

Sadly, a second cheap goal was conceded immediately after the break when the marking at a corner went awry allowing a simple header. All concerns about the result were put in perspective with half an hour remaining however when Walsh collided awkwardly with a goalpost having made a fine diving stop. The collision resulted in a dislocated knee and left Charlie in considerable pain behind the goal and the game to be halted for ten minutes.

On the restart, the injured Harry Hoffen agreed to go in goal, the decision having been made to see out the remainder of the game and turn down the hosts’ generous offer of calling an end to proceedings.

Charterhouse did score a third but to their great credit the visitors kept plugging away and were rewarded for their efforts with an excellent goal of their own, a neat passing move allowing Lederman to feed Breeden inside the box and he turned the ball home first-time from a narrow angle. The three schoolboys all acquitted themselves well even if their first experience of Arthurian League football was not one that will live long in the memory.

Old Cholmeleians 4’s 4 OHAFC 3rd XI 1: The Harrow 3rd XI fell to a heavy defeat in north London, conceding four to the Cholms’ fourth string side. Alex Elwell provided the sole moment of cheer for the visitors, scoring after half an hour, but the remainder of the game was one way traffic and the hosts ran out comfortable winners in the end.

Last Season: March 28th 2015

Old Brentwood 2’s 2 OHAFC 2nd XI 1: A disappointing defeat for Geoff Taunton-Collin’s 2nd XI in his first game in charge following Jack Orr-Ewing’s decision to step down.

The Harrow 2’s fielded a strong side for the trip to Essex with 1st XI regulars Poulter, Lederman, McGuiness and Lalude all helping out. But the poor state of the Brentwood pitch meant the game rarely flowed and the visitors were unable to make their superiority count.

Harrow did take the lead midway through the first half when Orr-Ewing rose superbly at the far post to head home a Lederman corner but from practically their first attack of the game Brentwood equalised, Theo Gordon committing a dubious foul on the edge of the box and the free-kick was superbly curled in over the wall.

Just before the break the hosts scored what turned out to be the winner from a mix-up between the goalscorer and McGuinness in goal. A simple clearance should have been effected but instead confusion reigned and a simple chance was presented to a grateful Brentwood player.

Old Bancroftians 1 OHAFC 3rd XI 1: A crushing defeat for the Harrow 3rd XI that all but ended their promotion challenge from Division Five North.

Traffic chaos on the North Circular meant only a bare eleven players made it to the ground and those that did probably wished they hadn’t. A scrappy first half sprang to life shortly before the break when Bancroftians scored a controversial opener, a free-kick into the box led to a rough challenge on ‘keeper Harry Turner that left him on the floor in a heap but play was allowed to continue and the ball was stabbed home from close range – Harrow were more incensed by the blatant offside of the goalscorer than the challenge on their ‘keeper but either could have been penalised.

Nevertheless the visitors regrouped after the break with Gilbert and Smith up front proving more than a handful for the Bancroft back four. The equaliser duly arrived a quarter of an hour from time with Turner feeding Gilbert down the channel and the striker calmly slotting home. Despite their best efforts to secure a winner the game finished level and the side were left to contemplate the long journey home.

On this weekend…In the wider footballing world

This weekend has usually been reserved for international friendlies and qualifiers but we start with a special moment in the Premier League and the Goal of the Season for 1999/2000.

Love him or loathe him, controversial Italian striker Paolo di Canio was never out of the headlines for long: his dubious political ideas, assaults on referees and histrionic tantrums were a sports editor’s dream. But for lovers of football he was also capable of producing moments of undoubted genius and one of his most famous highlights occurred on March 26th 1999.

West Ham faced Wimbledon at Upton Park in a fairly meaningless Premier League game. By the time Match of the Day was screened, fans around the country were talking about one of the most remarkable goals ever seen. Trevor Sinclair drilled a long ball towards di Canio on the left edge of the penalty area. The Italian leapt off the ground and, with perfect balance, executed a scissor-kick that flew into the far corner of the goal past a startled Neil Sullivan.

As well as being voted Goal of the Season, di Canio’s effort was also voted one of the ten best goals of the decade.

Several notable moments on this weekend from International fixtures:

March 26th 2008 saw David Beckham win his 100th cap in a friendly against France at Wembley. It was, coincidentally, also Michael Owen’s last cap for the national team, his 89th. England lost 1-0.

March 27th 2000 was Kevin Keegan’s first game in charge of England and he saw his charges beat Poland 3-1 at Wembley in a Euro 2000 qualifier thanks to a hat-trick from Paul Scholes. England would go on to qualify for the finals thanks to a play-off win over Scotland.

Two years later to the day, March 27th 2002, Scotland also had a new man in charge for the first time but things didn’t go quite as well for German Berti Vogts. Scotland travelled to Paris for a friendly with France but were thrashed 5-0. Vogts offered little by way of encouragement for the Tartan Army, suggesting that ‘we have to look to the next game and hopefully we will play better’.

Finally, March 27th 2015 saw Harry Kane make his senior England debut on the back of his remarkable first season in the Spurs first team. Given his sparkling form, it was almost to be expected that he would score, but no-one could have foreseen it would take him just 79 seconds after coming off the bench to open his account against Lithuania at Wembley.