The OHAFC Veterans celebrated 25 years of football at the Bank of England Ground with a superb late 3-1 win over their hosts on Sunday morning.

In one of the most enjoyable veterans games for a while, both sides played some excellent football and the game was in the balance until the final two minutes when David Lederman and Harry Hoffen combined to score two excellent goals and win the game for the OHAFC.

It was fitting that, despite heavy overnight rain, the teams were greeted with a beautiful winter's morning to play the game, the fixture having already been postponed previously due to waterlogged pitches in Roehampton.

The OHAFC were also pleasantly surprised to be able to call upon both Hoffen brothers, with Harry making his first ever appearance in a friendly fixture. It was noted prior to kick-off that his partnership up front with Phil Bearn could set a new OHAFC record for the greatest disparity in pace between two forwards playing together.

At the back there were few such issues, with Hoffen Snr, Baddeley, Harris and Sharples all equally laborious in their movements around the pitch.

Andy Butler provided a sizeable barrier in goal and the midfield provided the usual mixture of clogging mud, with Wyn-Evans and Danos charged with tip-toeing through the gunk to provide wide players Lederman and Shah with service.

The first half saw the Bank of England veterans assume command with their holding midfielder, the smallest player on the pitch at just 4' 5", beautifully controlling the game and spreading play left and right at will. Although they moved the ball well, the Harrow back four remained resolute and Butler was rarely troubled in the Harrow goal.

At the other end two breakaways could and probably should have seen the OHAFC open the scoring. Lederman played Harry Hoffen through the middle and everyone was primed to celebrate but left aghast when the normally lethal striker somehow dragged his shot inches wide of the far post. A careless pass out from the back then allowed Lederman to send Phil Bearn through but the outcome this time was perhaps slightly more predictable with poor Phil unable to gather enough speed to get close enough to goal before he was closed down.

The referee then became the centre of attention when, in the space of two minutes, he gave a highly dubious handball decision against Rupert Hoffen - sportingly, the opposition returned the ball knowing no offence had been committed - before then ignoring a blatant handball by the Harrow midfield moments later. Bank appeals for the ball to be returned to them were quietly ignored.

With no substitutes to call upon and no real idea what to do, skipper John Wyn-Evans gave no half-time team-talk whatsoever. Lederman was forced to amuse himself by suggesting the Hoffens take young son Oliver to Peppa Pig World but this suggestion was strangely rejected by the head of the household, Mrs Hoffen.

The second half was at least as exciting as, if not slightly more exciting than a trip to Peppa Pig World. The Bank of England twice hit the crossbar with Butler well beaten but on both occasions the ball was hacked clear to safety. The OHAFC President then came off his line well to narrow the angle and prevent a one-on-one from being converted.

At the other end Harrow were a final ball away from breaking the deadlock with several crosses just missing their intended targets by a matter of inches.

It took a superb solo effort from Harry Hoffen to finally open the scoring as he cut in from the left wing past several defenders and curled a beautiful right-foot shot into the far corner.

The lead didn't last long however as the Bank of England hit back from an equaliser sourced from a contentious long throw, with several Harrovians spotting the thrower had clearly lifted his foot off the ground. The ball was flung into the box and after a failed attempt to clear it fell perfectly for the diminutive midfield maestro to turn onto his right foot and curl the ball perfectly into the bottom corner.

Back came Harrow and they thought they had taken the lead for the second time when Harry Hoffen latched onto Lederman's ball over the top only for the referee to rule that he had lifted his foot dangerously when challenging the onrushing goalkeeper - a decision that puzzled many.

The black and white stripes came even closer to grabbing a winner when another Lederman delivery was headed onto the post from point blank range by Pete Harris. The ball ricocheted back onto the Harrow man and rolled agonisingly along the goal line, Phil Bearn just unable at full stretch to turn it in.

With barely a minute left on the clock and the game seemingly heading for a hard-fought draw, Lederman and Hoffen combined two final times to win it for the OHAFC. The striker set the wide man free down the right hand side of the box and he turned past two players to fire a low shot back into the far corner.

Almost straight from kick-off, with the Bank players rueing their misfortune, an enormous gap opened up down the middle of the pitch and Lederman played his striker through, this time the 'keeper powerless to prevent Harry from going round him and sliding the ball into an empty net.

It was tough on the Bank of England who had possibly been the better side for the majority of the game but been unable to break through a strong back four well-marshalled by Harris and Baddeley.

Nonetheless it was a fitting way for the OHAFC Vets to end the year and celebrate their 25th anniversary at the ground with, it is to be hoped, another twenty-five years of successful Sunday morning football to come.

OHAFC Vets XI: Andy Butler (GK), Ru Hoffen, Mark Baddeley, Pete Harris, Jon Sharples; David Lederman, John Wyn-Evans (c), Dom Danos, Fasil Shah; Harry Hoffen, Phil Bearn