The OHAFC 1st XI, including the youngest player ever to play for the Club, battled to a 0-0 draw away to the Old Marlburians on Saturday afternoon, in the process extending their unbeaten run to four games.

In a game of very few chances, much of the drama was concentrated in the closing stages, with Harrow twice having strong penalty appeals waved away by referee Chris Phillips, before he then disallowed a late Marlborough goal for offside. In the end a draw was probably a fair result between two evenly-matched sides.

With an ever-lengthening injury list and regular Alex Breeden unwell, Harrow skipper Ed Poulter was forced to ring the changes once more, with a goalkeeper the main necessity. In the end there was little choice but to call up sixteen year-old schoolboy Harison Saunders for his debut; fortunately Harison had been scouted during the week whilst on duty for the school against Eton in the Boodles Cup so there was no doubting his readiness for the step up.

At the other end of the spectrum, 42 year-old veteran David Lederman was recalled for his debut 1st XI appearance of the season and he was required to start when striker Harry Hoffen raised doubts over the fitness of his calf and Will David arrived only a few minutes before kick-off. Nevertheless, the eleven that started possessed a good mixture of youth and experience with plenty of pace going forwards from the likes of Duah, Morrison and Gilbert.

Conditions in Twickenham were perfect for football with no breeze and hazy sunshine, although the 3G astroturf surface was extremely spongey with piles of rubber crumb, in places, making the ball roll rather slowly.

Nevertheless, after a frantic opening ten minutes the visitors settled the better of the two teams and were soon passing the ball with confidence across the pitch. Poulter and Scarborough provided a solid base in midfield from which to work and soon balls were being threaded down the channels for Gilbert, Morrison and Duah to run onto. A combination of a lack of a final pass and the ball not quite rolling, sometimes quite literally, for the forwards meant that the Marlburian goal remained untested. Several times Gilbert and Morrison found space down the right but the former fired over with a fierce drive, the latter twice pulled balls back from the goal line but could find only Marlburian feet. Morrison then connected well with a Lederman corner but saw his header fly over the near post.

At the other end the youthful Harrow back four looked in control for the most part. There were a few alarms, with poor marking at two corners allowing free headers for the hosts, before a couple of short passes into midfield led to the ball being lost midway inside the Harrow half but on each occasion the Harrow defence managed to regroup in time to protect Saunders’ goal. Hamish MacIntyre enjoyed a running battle with the pacey Marlburian right-winger but coped well, sliding in to make some vital challenges on the touchline.

Jesse Duah was forced to go off midway through the half after injuring his eye when tumbling to the turf in search of a ball over the top but he was able to return to the fray at half-time, switching to the right with Lederman making way and Harry Hoffen going up front. Will David also came on and rotated throughout the second period with Morrison and Scarborough spending time on the side.

Disappointingly, the second forty-five minutes saw the quality of football from both sides drop and for long spells the game became a scrappy affair. Harrow seemed comfortable enough for the first ten minutes but it was the hosts who then stepped up the pace and looked the more dangerous, winning plenty of second balls but, again, unable to trouble Saunders in the Harrow goal. There was one heart-in-mouth moment when the youngster spilled a cross from the right but he did superbly to recover the mistake, palming the ball away from goal just as a Marlburian prepared to prod home.

With the game entering the final twenty minutes and neither side looking capable of breaking the deadlock, an injection of pace from Jesse Duah on the right sparked some much-needed drama into proceedings. After several dangerous runs had come to nothing, another surge into the box took him up against one of the centre-halves. The youngster cut inside his man and then tumbled to the turf, a clear noise as shin contacted with shin. To most players’ surprise, referee Chris Phillips waved play on, Harrovian protests earning bookings for skipper Poulter and, a few minutes later, Yunus Sert.

The visitors were then denied a second strong claim soon afterwards when Duah again meandered his way inside the penalty area only for his progress to be halted when the ball struck a Marlburian arm. Again every Harrow player appealed, again the referee remained stoical in his refusal to award a spot-kick.

If the visitors could count themselves unlucky on both occasions they soon had every reason to be grateful to the official when, with just a couple of minutes remaining, he chalked off what looked a Marlburian winner for offside. The ball was worked down the hosts’ left and delivered with pace to the back post, before being headed firmly back across goal leaving Saunders with no chance. The Marlburians turned to celebrate but were stopped in their tracks by an immediate whistle from the referee who decided the striker was offside. It was to be the closest either side came to breaking the deadlock.

It was another encouraging display from the OHAFC with several of the younger players to the fore: Hamish MacIntyre and Felix Orchard both enjoyed excellent games at the back, looking solid and composed against a physically strong Marlborough side. Going forwards Doug Morrison and Jesse Duah provided plenty of pace and guile and, on another occasion, perhaps on a better surface, scoring goals would not have been quite the conundrum it was here.

The side have now gone four games unbeaten, having lost their opening four fixtures of the season, but the run will be tested by a tough trip away to reigning champions the Old Tonbridgians next week. Nevertheless, things appear to be coming together nicely for the OHAFC 1st XI as the run-up to Christmas begins.