Yet another fine Autumnal day, another good playing surface
and an injury-free squad - the omens were looking good on Saturday as the Old Harrovian 1st XI embarked on their fourth
fixture of the season, the traditionally tough visit to the Old Salopians. An early kick-off of
The first complete roll-call of the season presented the
first selection problems. Although the ‘Harrovian
Front 6’ has become almost as constant an institution as the old ‘Arsenal Back
Five’, Jamie Waugh’s impressive displays in the early fixtures, most notably
when he deputised for Rupert Hoffen
up front in the away fixture at Forest, meant that he was a strong candidate
for a starting berth. Indeed Waugh did start, but at right-back – the returning
Nick Warner generously offering to start on the bench.
The Salopians, finalists in the
Arthur Dunn Cup last year, had made a poor start to the season, but there was
little evidence of this in the opening skirmishes. Against a physically strong
side,
Gradually however,
With the game still delicately balanced at 1-0 approaching the interval, the five minutes either side of half-time provided the fixture’s definitive action. First, Rupert Hoffen finished into an empty net after his brother’s effort was only parried by the keeper, Bourke the provider after a strong run down the left. Then, straight from the kick-off for the second-half, Harrow scored their third: a long-ball from Jamie Waugh was inexplicably missed by the clumsiest of the Salopian defenders and Lederman, left with a clear run on goal, finished coolly in the bottom corner. The match, as a contest at least, was over.
The confidence of the
By this time the Salopians were playing for pride alone, but even this appeared to be denied them by Harrow’s fifth and final goal – classicly simple in it’s execution, yet devastatingly effective: from a corner on the Harrow right, Molloy made a darting run to the near post drawing the attention of the defence towards him, Lederman then delivered the ball beyond the penalty spot to the unmarked Baker, who headed powerfully home from 12 yards out. Thank you and goodnight.
Although the Blues conceded their customary sloppy goal in
the last couple of minutes, a Salopian scrambling the
ball in from a few yards out after numerous abortive attempts to clear, the
victory was as comfortable as the scoreline
suggested. The Salopians were without question the
weakest team
James Harper; Jamie Waugh,
*Breaking Team News:
The 1st XI suffered a big blow earlier this week when David Lederman was ruled out for a minimum of one month after
tearing his hamstring in a friendly game of five-a-side in