The OHAFC 1st will want to banish the memory of last weekend’s humiliating 10-0 defeat to the Old Carthusians as quickly as possible and there could be no better way of doing that than with a win away to the Old Tonbridgians on Saturday.

The less said about the Charterhouse defeat the better. Needless to say, the champions were in rampant mood and showed a shell-shocked Harrow side little mercy in the closing stages, running in half a dozen goals in the final twenty minutes as resistance from the visitors faded badly. The Tonbridgians, on their own ground, promise to be just as stern a test, the OHAFC 1s having lost all four League meetings there since their opponents were promoted to the top flight back in 2012.

But the hosts themselves have suffered a disappointing start to the season, with a couple of 1-0 defeats, both at home, seeing them propping up the Premier Division table and, more disappointingly, eliminated from last season’s postponed Arthur Dunn Cup in an agonising semi-final defeat to the Old Bradfieldians last weekend.

Although it’s still very early days, the Blues need to fashion a result of some kind on Saturday if they are to steady the ship after last weekend’s dismal outing. Callum Barrett and Ed Beecham are set for their 1s’ season debuts, whilst Rory Miller is set to make his first ever competitive OHAFC appearance.

The OHAFC 2s were rather unfortunate to come away from their trip to Merchant Taylors with a 2-0 defeat last Saturday. Despite struggling for most of the first half, the Blues improved after the break and had good chances to level at 1-1 before suffering moments later from an incisive Taylors counter.

The visitors were clearly hampered in their efforts to reply to Taylors’ opener by the game-ending injuries suffered by skipper Geoff Taunton-Collins and winger Andres Hutchinson. The former is out for several weeks with strained ligaments, whilst Hutchinson returns to the squad for this weekend’s trip to Eton, albeit he is unlikely to be fit for ninety minutes.

Having scored just a single goal in their two games so far, and that a Tom Ward header from a corner, there is no disguising where the problems lie for the 2s. And Saturday will see a third different centre forward in three games given an opportunity, with a welcome return to OHAFC action for former 1s star Charlie Stebbings. The big man has been away for a while, so there could be no better occasion to mark his return than a trip to face the Old Enemy.

Charlie Walsh and Ed Massey make their first appearances of the season, Tristan David returns to add some much-needed pace out wide having missed last weekend’s defeat.

Just as with the 1s, the OHAFC 3rd XI must put their last performance firmly behind them when they travel to south London to face the Old Alleynians 3s just down the road from Dulwich College.

Fortunately, the Blues have had a two-week break since the 12-0 mauling suffered at the hands of Cholms 2s on the Harrow School astroturf. A series of unfortunate injuries left the hosts playing the majority of the second half with just nine men, a situation that was totally unsustainable against a strong Cholmeleians outfit.

And Saturday’s trip could prove just as daunting, with the Alleynians having enjoyed a 100% start to their first season in Division Four, having beaten Kings Scholars 4-2 last weekend and Lancing 2s 3-2 the week before. The two sides have never met before, although interestingly the OHAFC 3s enjoyed a strong record against the Alleynians 2s in their recent meetings, having won four and drawn one of six prior encounters.

Several players are set for their OHAFC debuts in this one: Matt Bailey, Will Grinstead and Tarquin Strickland – who becomes the first ever Tarquin to represent the OHAFC – many congratulations for that and good luck to all three, as well as the rest of the squad, for what promises to be another tough fixture.