Match Report: October 23rd 2004: Old Harrovians 8 – 1
Lancing Old Boys
‘A huge improvement in all areas of the pitch is
required if Harrow are to make any progress in
the League.’
It appears as though at least the team themselves read
these works of art that are the OHAFC match reports. After two extremely
disappointing results at home, the 4-0 drubbing by Brentwood and the tame 2-2
draw with Winchester, Harrow
returned to winning ways with a bang against the side that had run them so
close last season.
It was expected that Lancing would arrive on the Hill
desperate to avenge (what they considered) the unfair manner in which Harrow had beaten them 3-2 in injury time in a vital
championship-decider last season. Whilst that may well have been the case, they
arrived with such a depleted and changed side that they were powerless to
resist a strong Harrow performance.
Harrow
were for the first time this season unchanged from the
week before. A strong squad arrived with three eager substitutes waiting in the
wings: Obi Umenliyora, Dave Mutter,
and Freddy Brunt – who had been so keen to play he travelled up from Winchester when he learnt
his original fixture had been postponed.
A good early start was vital and within a quarter of
an hour Harrow were 2-0 up. First, Paul Molloy
played in Harry Hoffen down the inside-left channel and having seen his first
effort saved by a defender, Harry made no mistake with the rebound, slamming it
home with unusual decisiveness.
Then, five minutes later, it was birthday boy Rupert Hoffen’s turn to get on the scoresheet. A
short corner was worked on the right that allowed Piers Bourke time and space
to pick out a cross. Whilst his toe-poke into the box may or may not have been
intended for Rupert, the team’s leading scorer made no mistake, swivelling on a
sixpence to fire home for a 2-0 lead.
There then followed a period of re-grouping from the
visitors, who were clearly stunned at the ease with which they had been picked
off. Despite a more even twenty minutes, Bert Worthy in the Harrow goal had
almost nothing of note to deal with, such was the comfort with which the
defence snuffed out any Lancing attacks.
Despite the scoreline, everyone was well aware of the
manner in which a 2-0 lead had been conceded in the corresponding fixture last
season, so a third goal was more than desirable. As it turned out, the home
side struck with three superb efforts in the last 15 minutes of the half to put
the result beyond doubt.
First, David Lederman
curled home a delightful free-kick from 25 yards out, finding the same top
corner of the net he had picked out the previous week.
Then, Molloy found the opposite bottom corner with a
sweetly-struck half-volley from the edge of the box after a Harry Hoffen flick.
Finally, Quentin Baker got in on the act with a
typical captain’s effort, finishing off a purposeful run with an unstoppable
strike into the far corner. Lancing were stunned and
for the first time in almost a month, the Harrovians could relax, knowing that
three points were already assured.
The second-half produced moments that were both
frustratingly familiar and unexpectedly brilliant.
After ten minutes, the Harrow
defence found yet another incredibly novel way to gift their opponents a goal,
when they allowed a long throw to bounce not once, but twice, before then seeing
it bundled into their own net from a yard out by a rather clumsy Nick Warner. The Harrovian’s best performer of the
opening four games brought back down to Earth with a bump…
If that was all too familiar, what followed was not.
Harry Hoffen, who prior to Saturday’s game had shown all the composure in front
of goal of a demented weasel with toothache, suddenly reminded everyone of why
he was once thought of as the best footballer ever produced by the Hoffen
household, when he scored three goals of the highest quality.
First, he wasted little time in despatching a 25 yard
effort past a startled James Butcher
in the Lancing goal. Unfortunately, the memory of the strike was immediately
tarnished by his ‘sliding on knees’ celebration, which should only be attempted
when there is confidence in your teammate’s desire to join in. Unsurprisingly,
on this occasion, Harry turned to find that everyone else had calmly jogged
back to the halfway line…
Then, an excellent pass from substitute Freddy Brunt
found Harry on the edge of the box on the left and, having set himself with his
first touch, he then found the far top corner with a looping shot.
Harry’s fourth goal, Harrow’s
eighth, was the pick of the bunch. With Lancing now resembling a bedraggled cat
that had been left in the rain too long without food, Harry eschewed his
brother’s cries for a simple tap-in at the far post, to coolly chip Butcher,
who was several yards off his line.
It was by far the most accomplished Harrow
performance of the season, but despite the scoreline and the concession of
another sloppy goal, the solidity of the team in defence was a joy to behold.
No undue risks taken on the edge of the penalty area, no half-hearted
clearances and some strong challenges all contributed to ensuring the visitors
sights of goal were fleeting in the extreme. Much better all round.
Harrow (4-4-2): Bert
Worthy; Nick Warner, Tim Dalton, Rowley Higgs (Obi
Umenliyora, 75), Jamie Waugh; David Lederman,
Quentin Baker, Paul Molloy (Dave Mutter, 65), Piers Bourke (Freddy Brunt, 70); Harry
Hoffen, Rupert Hoffen
Goalscorers:
Harry Hoffen (10, 75, 80, 85), Rupert Hoffen
(15), David Lederman (30), Paul
Molloy (35), Quentin Baker (40)
Magnifico:
Harry Hoffen
Muy Bueno:
Tim Dalton
Bueno: Paul
Molloy
Vaya Dia! Nick Warner
Leading
Goalscorers 2004/5 (after 5 league games):
4 Harry
Hoffen
Rupert Hoffen
3
Paul Molloy
2 Quentin
Baker
David Lederman
1 Nick Warner
Jamie Waugh
Freddy Brunt