Match Report 28/02/2004: Old Bradfieldians 2 Old Harrovians 8

After the dismal 1-0 win over Westminsters in an appalling game the previous week, normal service was happily resumed in the Arthurian League premier Division when the Old Harrovians travelled west down the M4 to face struggling Bradfield. The Blues were by now well clear at the top of the table and knew that they had their fate in their own hands: three wins from their final three games would mean the Championship returning to the Hill for only the second time in the League’s history.

The conditions which greeted the team on their arrival couldn’t have been further removed from the week before: a beautiful playing surface, a wide, flat pitch and no wind to speak of. The Harrow lineup also changed somewhat from the previous week: James Harper was replaced by John Fredericks in goal and Paul Molloy returned after a week’s absence to take his place alongside Quentin Baker in midfield – Rowley Higgs returned to the bench.

At 3pm the game kicked off with several Harrovian supporters in tow, hoping for another vital victory. By twenty past, they had been treated to four away goals of first-rate quality and a result that was beyond doubt.

The scoring started in simple fashion. After five minutes a Lederman corner found Harry Hoffen in the box and although the striker’s header bounced down and out off the crossbar, the referee spotted correctly that it had crossed the line by a few inches and rightly awarded the goal.

The Harrovians dispelled any thoughts of relying on the referee however, with three further goals in the next quarter of an hour. The next was a peach. Warner found Lederman down the right, who then clipped the ball into the corner for the goalscorer to chase. Harry crossed first time for the onrushing Quentin Baker to power a header into the bottom corner.

Bradfield still hadn’t recovered when they were once again picking the ball out of their net. This time, it was down the left that Harrow attacked. Piers Bourke played in Harry Hoffen who once again delivered a cross into the box. Although it missed the onrushing Rupert Hoffen and Quentin Baker, the ball arrived at the feet of David Lederman at the far post and, having dummied the defender on his right side, he cut in to fire home left-footed from eight yards out.

A few minutes later the fourth arrived. Lederman curled in a free-kick from the right, Baker flicked it in at the back post. Four-nil and it was game over to all intents and purposes.

After a twenty minute lull in the match when Bradfield finally enjoyed some possession, Harrow grabbed a fifth. Harry Hoffen played a neat ball through to his brother down the inside left channel. There was still plenty to do, but Rupert accelerated past the last defender, shrugging off the challenge, and then fired home low past the onrushing ‘keeper from a narrow angle. It was a superb way to end a superb half’s football.

It was always going to be tough to maintain such a high level of football with the result beyond doubt, but the Harrow side still won the second half 3-2, despite handing Bradfield two gift goals.

For Harrow, substitute Jamie Waugh claimed the sixth with a neat finish, Lederman fired home the seventh from a narrow angle and captain Baker completed his hat-trick with the eighth and final goal – a fluid three-man move which saw Lederman carry the ball half the length of the pitch, play a one-two with Baker, then feed Harry Hoffen who squared for QB to tap home from six yards out.

Despite the home side’s two strikes, one after Harrow failed to clear a corner and the second following a rare mistake from Tim Dalton at the back, the performance and result were of the highest order. The positive six-goal tally further strengthened Harrow’s grip on the league, meaning that it was becoming increasingly unlikely that anyone would match the Blues goal difference come the end of the season.

The performance also did much to reaffirm the team’s confidence in their ability to produce some outstanding football after the previous week’s paltry fayre.

With just two games remaining, and the news filtering through that Lancing and Charterhouse had both only managed draws, Saturday night (the early part anyway) was spent calculating what was required for a Harrovian championship. The answer: a win and a draw from the final two games against Forest and Charterhouse respectively.

Harrow (4-4-2): John Fredericks; Nick Warner, Tim Dalton, Obi Umenliyora (sub: Rowley Higgs, 60mins), Charlie Tweddle; David Lederman, Quentin Baker, Paul Molloy, Piers Bourke; Rupert Hoffen, Harry Hoffen