Continuing our look back at OHAFC fixtures played on the corresponding weekend over the previous six seasons – including no less than three fixtures against the Old Cholmeleians...

Six Seasons Ago: April 17th 2010:

OHAFC 1st XI 4 Old Cholmeleians 1: A comfortable win on the Harrow School Astroturf ensured that the race for the title would go right down to the wire.

A first-half goal from Piers Bourke gave the hosts the lead and settled any nerves but the Blues were forced to wait until the second half before their superiority was converted into goals, Harry Hoffen scoring twice and substitute Olly Hadden-Paton the fourth to confirm the win and ensure that the home game against Charterhouse the following week would, in effect, be a title decider.

Five Seasons Ago: April 16th 2011

Old Foresters 3 OHAFC 1st XI 1: The final game of a disappointing season for the Harrow 1st XI followed the pattern of many games before, with key players missing, including all regular goalkeepers. This meant Charlie Reid, a friend of skipper Quentin Baker, being called up on the morning of the game to play between the sticks.

Charlie coped admirably despite being peppered with shots in the first half but he was then forced to play outfield when an injury to Ed Martins meant he could only play in goal.

Harrow fought hard but faded late on and the hosts scored twice before gifting Harrow a way back into the game with a tame own goal. A late strike past Martins sealed the points for the hosts however and ensured Harrow ended the season on a low note.

OHAFC 2nd XI 3 Old Carthusians 2’s 2, Junior League Cup Final: The weekend belonged to the Harrow second string however as they produced a memorable display to beat their Charterhouse counterparts and win the Junior League Cup for the second time in the Club’s history.

Charterhouse took the lead but on the half hour a superb lob from Phil Berry brought the sides level and gave the Blues the belief that they could compete with their illustrious opponents.

Johan Harder gave Harrow the lead with a header an hour into the game but Charterhouse equalised. Straight from the re-start Harrow surged upfield and another cross into the box was superbly headed home by the tall Dane.

Harrow held on for the final fifteen minutes to claim a famous win and ensure the season was a success after all for the Club.

Four Seasons Ago: April 14th 2012

OHAFC 2nd XI 8 Old Etonians 2’s 2: Another vital win in the battle against the drop for the Harrow 2’s, but this one was far more comfortable than the game at Kings Wimbledon.

Eton clearly had less motivation on this particular occasion, turning up late and rarely looking interested in competing with a fired up Harrow team.

Johan Harder scored inside three minutes and completed a hat-trick on the hour. First half goals from Chopra and Breeden gave the hosts a comfortable lead and despite conceding two sloppy goals from set-pieces, the hosts poured on the style, with further efforts from Arghebant, Jack Orr-Ewing and substitute Trower completing the rout.

Three Seasons Ago: April 13th 2013

Old Cholmeleians 6 OHAFC 1st XI 4: A veritable goalsfest in north London despite the game being played in atrocious conditions and on one of the worst pitches the 1st XI have ever done battle on.

The Blues actually began the game well, opening the scoring early on when Hoffen crossed for Luke de Rougemont to score. But as the rain poured down, the period before the break saw the visitors fall apart completely, conceding four goals of miserable quality.

A cruel deflection from a clearance that ricocheted back over the defence and into the path of an unmarked Cholms striker allowing a simple fifth really rubbed salt in the wounds.

To the Blues’ credit they stuck to their task however and as conditions worsened somehow fought their way back into the contest. Two long throws led to two goals and the deficit being halved to two. De Rougemont capped off a fine move with his third to reduce the arrears to just one but as Harrow pushed men forward in search of an equaliser they were caught on the break and Cholms scored a decisive sixth.

Old Wykehamists 2s 3 OHAFC 2nd XI 1: In similarly appalling conditions down in Winchester the Harrow second string also lost by a couple of goals. A goalless first half was disappointing for Arjun Chopra’s men given the chances they had created.

A long range effort on the hour mark gave the hosts the lead and as conditions worsened in the driving rain a second followed soon afterwards. With a quarter of an hour remaining a perfectly struck free-kick curled into the top corner of the Harrow net, rendering Phil Berry’s close-range effort a few minutes later irrelevant.

Two Seasons Ago: April 19th & 20th 2014: OHAFC Tour to Hamburg

The Easter Tour to Hamburg saw the squad play a game each on the Saturday and Sunday with mixed results.

The Saturday saw a magnificent occasion put on by VfL Lohbrugge, complete with mascots, national anthems and a crowd that were given sparklers to wave prior to kick-off.

Harrow responded magnificently to their unusually smart surroundings with Harry Turner bludgeoning two goals inside the first ten minutes. He was so overcome by his efforts he had to run off the pitch to relieve some of the toxins ingested from the night before. He was not seen again for the remainder of the game.

Nevertheless a third Harrow goal, courtesy of a Fred Richardson penalty, saw the visitors open up a three-goal lead and led Lederman, watching on the side, to suggest the side take it easy in order not to embarrass their hosts.

He should have known better. The visitors tired alarmingly in the second half and were caught time and again on the counter-attack, conceding five goals without reply to gift their hosts a most unexpected victory.

The surroundings for Sunday’s game against FC Alsterbrueder were somewhat more modest with a shale pitch in the middle of a public park the setting for the second game on tour. In contrast to the previous day’s encounter, the tourists struggled but stole the win thanks to two fine late goals. Ed Poulter smashed home the first from a narrow angle but his effort was put firmly in the shade by a magnificent long-range strike from Saturday’s two-goal hero Harry Turner, who fired home first-time from nearly thirty yards out following a corner.

Last Season: April 18th 2015

Old Cholmeleians 3 OHAFC 1st XI 0: The final game of the season for the OHAFC 1st XI and another defeat, to end the campaign as they had started – with three losses in succession. Unsurprisingly, with relegation already assured, availability for the final game on astro in north London was poor, with several regulars having given up the ghost.

Nevertheless, those that did travel put on a decent display against a side also battling to stay up.

The crucial period came before the break with two goals conceded in quick succession. The first was unfortunate with Jonny Lalude harshly penalised for handball inside the box when he could do little to avoid contact. A few minutes later though the defender only had himself to blame as he got caught in possession on the edge of the box allowing a simple second.

Several chances fell Harrow’s way in the second half but they failed to convert and were punished for their profligacy when Lalude completed a miserable personal outing with another error at the back, the Cholms forward smashing the ball into the top corner – a fitting way to end what had been a miserable season for the Harrow 1st XI.

Following last week’s anniversary of Alan Shearer becoming the youngest hat-trick scorer in English top flight history, the Premier League’s leading scorer is at it again this week with two more milestones…

On April 17th 1996 Shearer scored twice for Blackburn against Wimbledon, in the process becoming the first player to score 30 goals in three consecutive top-flight seasons since Jimmy Dunne for Sheffield United in the 1930’s. On the same date ten years later, April 17th 2006, Shearer scored his 409th and final career goal in what turned out to be his final career game. Playing for Newcastle against Sunderland, Shearer scored on the way to a 4-1 win, but was to sustain a knee injury later in the match from which he never recovered.

On April 17th 1994 Rod Wallace scored the 1993/4 Goal of the Season with a memorable solo run and finish against Spurs at Elland Road.

On April 17th 2011 Stoke City reached the FA Cup final for the first time in their history with a thumping 5-0 win over Bolton Wanderers at Wembley, scoring three times in the opening half an hour. Tony Pulis’ side would go on to lose the final 1-0 to Manchester City.

Finally, a fitting way to end this weekend, with the first major success in Leicester City’s history. On April 16th 1997 they won the League Cup with a replay victory over Middlesbrough thanks to an extra-time goal from Steve Claridge.