The OHAFC 1st XI took a significant step towards ensuring a swift return to the Premier Division of the Arthurian League on Saturday when they overcame a resilient Old Bradfieldians side in style to register their biggest win of the season and in the process move six points clear at the top of Division One.

A fine first half display saw the side lead 2-0 at the break thanks to goals from Alex Breeden and Alex Gilbert. The hosts fought back strongly at the start of the second half, pinning the Blues back and creating several chances to haul themselves back into the game. Thanks to some superb goalkeeping from Fraser McGuiness the two-goal lead somehow remained intact and, as has been the case on several occasions this season, Harrow’s superior fitness told in the closing stages and the result was put beyond doubt with Alex Breeden completing his hat-trick either side of a further effort from Alex Gilbert to leave the final score a resounding 5-0.

After stodgy performances either side of the Christmas break that had seen the side score just once in away games at Haileybury and Repton (although still collecting four points in the process) there was a lengthy discussion among the 1st XI hierarchy during the week about how best to improve the attacking potential of the side. It was agreed that the side had to pass the ball at a higher tempo across the pitch and there would be much greater use of a two-man front pairing, something skipper Ed Poulter had been reluctant to use for much of the season. With this in mind, Alex Gilbert and Harry Hoffen, the two quickest players in the squad, were selected up front with youngster Alex Smith in reserve on the bench. Alex Breeden, playing his second game during his short stay back from China, moved to the right wing with Lederman switching to the left. Poulter and Richardson manned the centre of midfield with an experienced back four bolstered by the return from injury of Fred Milln and the frequently unavailable Paul Molloy, alongside Yunus Sert and Jonny Lalude. Jack Hill had spent much of the previous week ill and was named alongside Smith on the bench.

A lengthy walk from the changing rooms led the teams to yet another boggy surface, a fact that was confirmed when the side’s warm-up began to churn up the adjoining pitch. Nevertheless, after taking a few minutes to acclimatise to conditions, the visitors soon found their feet in the contest and began to press the hosts back into their own half. Hoffen and Gilbert were clearly relishing the opportunity to play alongside each other, neither having played as much as they would have liked in recent games. Their pace and runs down the channels provided ample opportunities for balls forward from midfield and with wide men Breeden and Lederman also getting forward, the Blues enjoyed plenty of possession in the attacking third. Several corners were forced but Lederman struggled to deliver telling balls, frequently failing to beat the first defender in the cloying mud.

Some wayward long shots were the closest the side had come to opening the scoring, but Alex Breeden showed everyone how it should be done when he latched onto a half-cleared ball on the edge of the box and, ignoring calls for the ball to be played wide, thumped in a low left-foot shot first-time into the bottom corner through a crowded penalty area.

Bradfield broke sporadically, mainly through their quick, tricky left-winger but Breeden and Sert prevented him from delivering any crosses and he soon began cutting inside only to be met by a combination of Poulter and Richardson who snuffed out the danger before McGuiness could be troubled in the Harrow goal.

On the half hour the visitors doubled their lead with a fine goal, although its inception was somewhat fortunate: Molloy aimed to send a long free-kick forwards from inside the Harrow half but he too scuffed his effort and the ball barely reached the Bradfield box. It was half cleared and Richardson tidied up, feeding Lederman on the left. He slid the ball first-time down the inside left channel for Hoffen to run onto and he turned the ball inside perfectly for his strike partner to run onto. Heeding the shout of ‘time’, Gilbert steadied himself before planting his shot just inside the far post from fifteen yards out, no Bradfield defender anywhere near him.

The visitors were rampant and skipper Poulter smelt blood, urging the side forwards to try and kill the game off before the break. The side did come within inches of scoring again but, oddly enough, it came at the wrong end in a moment of high farce. A long ball over the top of the centre halves was retrieved by Lederman who was pressured by the Bradfield right winger. He turned his man easily enough and, spotting McGuiness on the goal line, laid the ball back to him to clear upfield only to see the ‘keeper miss his kick completely and the ball roll agonisingly towards the unguarded goal. Molloy was close enough to make a clearance but seemed in some sort of trance as he allowed the ball to roll all the way along the goal line before finally hacking it clear after it had dribbled past the far post.

No changes were made at the break by the visitors but the opening spell of the second half was very different to what had gone before. Bradfield put up a tremendous fight, throwing more players forward in attack and employing a much more direct passing game, consistently forcing Molloy and Milln to turn and track back towards their own goal. The Harrow back four that had looked comfortable throughout most of the first half suddenly looked panicked and unsure. Clearances were rushed and mishit and the service to the front two players dried up completely.

Remarkably, the Blues again nearly scored an own goal after only a few minutes’ play when a dangerous cross was fired in from the Bradfield right and Sert slid in at the far post to try to clear, instead deflecting the ball on goal. McGuiness was alert enough to dive to his right and turn the ball round the post for a corner and shortly afterwards he excelled himself, pulling off one of the finest saves a Harrow ‘keeper has made in recent seasons to somehow divert a rocket of a volley from only fifteen yards out past his far post. The looks of disbelief on the Bradfield players visual recognition of the quality of the save.

Further half chances were scrambled clear but in amongst the mayhem inside the Harrow box one golden chance to kill the game fell to the visitors, Lederman playing Hoffen through on goal with a perfectly weighted pass only for the veteran striker to take a heavy second touch and allow the ‘keeper to block his left-footed effort.

Skipper Poulter removed himself from the fray, a chest infection hampering his ability to cover the midfield, and Lederman too departed soon after. Hill joined Richardson in central midfield and Smith joined Hoffen in attack, Gilbert switching to left wing.

Bradfield began to tire and as the game entered its final twenty minutes it resembled something of a basketball match, with play switching from end to end. This suited the fitter Harrovian attack far more and Smith was soon making a nuisance of himself in the opposition half, holding the ball up well and nearly grabbing his debut 1st XI goal with an excellent right foot curler the ‘keeper did well to tip over.

Several breaks could have seen the side kill the game off but the vital goals arrived in a cluster as the contest entered the final ten minutes. A spell of sustained pressure down the Harrow right saw shots rain in on the Bradfield goal before Breeden, with his second effort (and courtesy of a slight deflection) slammed the ball home.

An excellent move from the back that involved half the side then saw Gilbert fed on the other side of the box and he made no mistake, planting a low left-footed shot under the ‘keeper for his second composed strike of the game.

And Breeden rounded things off in style with his hat-trick goal, the side’s fifth, in the closing minutes, his shot again taking a slight ricochet off a Bradfield defender to take it up and over the stranded ‘keeper following more good work from Smith.

By this stage Bradfield were well beaten and in need of the final whistle, which came only after a late booking for their number nine, who had been angered at an earlier refereeing decision and spent much of the second half waging a one-man war against anyone and everyone.

Harrow’s performance was arguably their best of the season against a physically strong Bradfield side, with only the Dunn Cup demolition of Premier Division side Marlburians comparable in terms of all-round play: the previous struggles in the opposition third were forgotten as Hoffen and Gilbert used their speed to good effect allowing the ball to be played forwards much quicker.

The clean sheet, on this occasion, owed much to good fortune but even more to an outstanding performance in goal from Fraser McGuiness, who this season has become an extremely reliable last line of defence. The measly four goals conceded by the side in ten League games mean that the OHAFC 1st XI can now proudly boast the meanest defence of all 58 teams in the Arthurian League. A remarkable achievement given the porous nature of the defence over many years.

Fred Richardson, having spent the majority of the previous three weeks drinking beer and eating sausages in South Africa (as well as spending time with Bobby Tindall) produced another feverishly energetic display in central midfield despite claiming he had felt lethargic throughout and the whole performance was rounded off by some clinical finishing from Breeden and Gilbert.

There is no let-up in the fixture list however, with the side’s next three games all equally important: a trip to third-placed Wellington is up next before the quarter-final of the Dunn Cup versus Salopians and the return fixture against Bradfield. Eight league games remain, victory in the next two will almost certainly assure the side of a top-two finish and promotion back to the Premier Division at the first time of asking.