The OHAFC 2nd XI suffered a second consecutive defeat to a side in the bottom half of the table on Saturday when a strangely disjointed performance resulted in Charterhouse 3s leaving Harrow Hill with a 2-1 win under their belts – the sixth occasion this season the Blues have lost a game by a single goal. The visitors scored twice in quick succession midway through the first half, the second courtesy of a fortunate ricochet off a Harrow defender, but the hosts hit back through a Doug Morrison header. Disappointingly, the second half provided little in the way of entertaining football and both goalkeepers remained largely untroubled.

Both sides went into Saturday’s game fully aware of its significance: Charterhouse had just been provisionally docked seven points by the League for failing to fulfil a number of fixtures earlier in the season – coincidentally the same number of points they had earned from six games played – meaning they began the weekend looking up at everyone else in the division. The OHAFC meanwhile had been firmly brought back down to Earth after last week’s 5-0 defeat at Westminsters, the first time since the 5-2 defeat to Eton in late September the team had lost by more than a single goal. Having played more games than anyone else in the division, and with tricky visits to both Charterhouse teams, Eton and Forest remaining, it was essential Geoff Taunton-Collins’ men obtained a positive result.

There was some concern that despite naming a strong 13-man squad, several key players were struggling with injuries: Alexi Pittalis appeared worst affected with a sore back requiring a physiotherapy appointment on the morning of the game; Doug Morrison’s knee was causing him concern, as was an infected elbow for Geoff Taunton-Collins – the skipper’s own ailment an early candidate for weirdest injury of the season.

It wasn’t all bad news however, with the welcome return to action of diminutive dynamo Tass von Hirsch, who hadn’t pulled on an OHAFC shirt for over a year. Harry Bick was called up from the 3s once more, with Harry Dalzell’s loan move from China now over. Disappointingly, both main strikers Mike Okoigun and Gbeminiyi Soyinka were unavailable.

The Hill was bathed in bright sunshine as kick-off approached although the cold spell had rendered small parts of Phil 2 still slightly frozen. Referee George Patriche seemed fairly unconcerned as he delivered another magnificent pre-game speech to the hosts, by now fully aware of the hidden comedic talent the match official possesses.

Not in such high spirits however was Edmund Massey, who strolled over to the pitch in his casual clothes just as the side were beginning their warm-up. ‘Yeah…erm…some problems…’ was the oddly vague reply when questioned as to the reason for his tardiness. (It later transpired that Edmund had been unable to purchase sufficient gouda for his cheese fondue party later in the evening, an emergency his girlfriend believed should have taken priority over a crunch Arthurian League Division Two fixture apparently).

Of further concern, to a clearly disgusted Lederman, was the fact that no less than six of the Harrow squad were adorned with leggings, yet again in clear breach of the cold-weather regulations agreed upon by the squad barely a month ago. Despite being labelled ‘the Arthurian League bore’ and a ‘leggings Nazi’, Lederman persisted with his disdain for the proliferation of lycra by querying how many of the opposition would be similarly dressed. General consensus was at least three or four. As the visitors began their warm-up it became apparent that in fact none of the Carthusians had deemed it cold enough to wear anything but standard association football attire. ‘I knew it’ muttered Lederman to himself as he topped up the hot water bottle he had secretly packed himself for his second-half spell on the sidelines.

With little wind and the pitch, once more, in excellent condition, the only concern to either side at kick-off was the harsh glare of the low sun behind Kyri Pittalis’ goal. It had already proved extremely costly to the OHAFC 1st XI, who fell behind on the adjacent pitch when a high ball into the area caused panic in the defence, allowing a simple finish from close range.

The first half was an open affair with both sides attempting to make full use of the conditions and pass the ball with pace and purpose. Harrow’s back four – the first time in weeks the side has eschewed playing an additional centre-half – occasionally looked stretched, with Woolley and Ward constantly on alert as balls were played forwards by the visitors.

Initially, play was almost solely concentrated down Harrow’s right hand side, with Taunton-Collins enjoying his new found freedom as a winger and storming forwards at every opportunity. But it was the two other speed merchants in the side, Doug Morrison and Harry Bick, who proved the major threats in the early skirmishes as their pace and persistence caused Charterhouse considerable problems. These two were superbly back up by a storming performance in midfield from Pablo Hutchinson, whose almost monastic existence courtesy of Citi Bank clearly hasn’t harmed his fitness regime. The youngster was almost a one-man wrecking crew in the centre of the pitch, charging into, through and over opposition, sometimes with the ball, sometimes without. Coupled with the aerial prowess of his partner, Alexi Pittalis, the hosts won plenty of possession but couldn’t quite find the final, decisive pass.

Neither side had really carved out a chance when Charterhouse opened the scoring with a fine move down their left-hand side. A slight mistake by Ward saw his headed clearance skim off his forehead to the edge of the box, but from that point the visitors took full advantage, playing several first-time balls out to the wing before a near-post cross was whipped in and a flashing header sent flying past Pittalis.

Harrow barely had the chance to gather themselves when they conceded again minutes later, although this time there was a considerable amount of luck involved. Charterhouse attacked through the middle of the pitch but appeared to have been crowded out. A decent shot on the half-turn was heading straight towards the Harrow goalkeeper, but deflections off two Harrow legs proved fatal, the ‘keeper clutching at thin air as the ball rolled almost apologetically past him into the net.

Despite last week’s heavy defeat, there was certainly no fatalism from the Blues at their sudden predicament and they responded immediately. A swift counter-attack saw Bick switch wings and cross for Morrison inside the box. The Charterhouse ‘keeper palmed the ball out towards the penalty spot and Lederman’s eyes lit up as he timed his run to perfection to meet the ball, but with the ‘keeper and two defenders on the line he tried to be too precise and sent his effort a yard high and wide of the angle.

The miss proved a sidenote as soon after the hosts did pull the goal back that their efforts had deserved. A more simple and direct attack down the right saw Taunton-Collins deliver a superb cross to the far post where Morrison rose to head firmly into the roof of the net, the ball cannoning off the ‘keeper’s shoulder on the line as it flew in.

Neither side could force further clear-cut chances before the break but there was an interesting development from the visitors, with the somewhat sudden apparition of their speedy right-winger, who, for the early part of the game had been anonymous. As the half wore on, he began weaving his way past increasingly desperate defensive lunges and it was clear that in order to keep further opportunities for their opponents to a minimum, this player had to be stopped.

At half-time Bick was re-introduced for Lederman with the aim of reigniting the pacey attack that, for a while, had looked so threatening earlier in the first half. Initially, the plan looked as though it may bear fruit, with Bick enjoying several opportunities to run at the Charterhouse right-back.

The visitors defended well however – a notable quality many sides in this division seem to possess – and, as the half wore on, it was clear that it was going to take something special – or lucky – to break down the Charterhouse rearguard. Harrow’s play lacked fluency, with passes too often going astray, and control of the game slowly shifted towards the visitors. Charterhouse passed the ball with more confidence and purpose but they too struggled to create any chances of note, with Pittalis a spectator for the most part.

Perhaps the only thing to bring a smile to Harrow faces was a booking handed out to the Charterhouse winger for diving – Alexi Pittalis swung a boot out, the player went down and George Patriche showed no hesitation in deciding the fall had been simulated. If only the referee in last week’s game at Westminsters had been similarly brave and booked Alhadeff for the same offence…

As the final quarter of an hour began, Taunton-Collins tried everything to engineer an equaliser: the formation was switched, Hutchinson was sent forwards to try and wreak further havoc up the field and Lederman was brought back on to try and make one telling pass.

It all came to nothing however. Harrow’s best opportunity was a late counter-attack but Morrison was crowded out on the edge of the box and the chance was lost.

It was a curiously lacklustre effort from the Blues, who gave their all but failed to show enough quality on the ball to penetrate a well-organised Charterhouse defence. Harry Bick was clear in his post-match assessment that the side’s passing had been of a very poor quality and it was hard to argue. Like so many of the teams in Division Two, Charterhouse were a team fairly lacking in star quality, but well-organised, defensively sound and competent in possession – three fairly basic requirements any competitive football team needs.

Having played nearly every week since the middle of September, the Christmas break surely comes at a good time for the OHAFC 2s. The side have just six League matches remaining and are going to have to win three of them to have a realistic chance of avoiding the drop. A tall order but not an impossible one, with injuries healing and the return to action of the Curry brothers – undoubtedly a boost to the quality available to the skipper.