Finally, after a long delay, the weather gods saw fit to allow the much-anticipated Derrick Moore Veterans' Cup quarter-final between Harrow and Charterhouse to proceed. Ian Wall and his team at the Bank of England had got the heavy roller out, and the Brook pitch was snooker table flat with mercifully little evidence of the bog that often replaces the centre circle. It looked like a morning for champagne football.

Owing to the absence of Paul Molloy and Ed Poulter (cruelly abducted by his girlfriend at short notice), skipper John Wyn-Evans and defensive mastermind Nick Warner announced that the available personnel required the use of a Chelsea-style back three system, with Warner, Tim Dalton and Mark Baddeley as the defensive pillars. Badds professed himself keen to assume the role of David Luiz, but not having either the pace, skill or, most crucially, the generous coiffure of the Brazilian, this looked an unlikely aspiration. Maybe Nick Warner with his early-millennium afro could have just about got away with it. This new structure required Rupert Hoffen and Ed Thorn to operate in the unfamiliar role of wing-backs, with Quentin Baker and Wyn-Evans providing the defensive screen. This would allow David Lederman to roam free, with Harry Hoffen and Dom Danos resuming their attacking partnership previously seen in last season's semi-final victory at Eton.

They say you can't teach old dogs new tricks, and the same appears to be true for old footballers. After about ten minutes it became apparent that Nick Warner had a parrot on his shoulder continually repeating the phrase "It's not working. It's not working. It's not working". Closer inspection revealed a constant stream of whingeing from right wing-back Ru Hoffen, whose brain had evidently been scrambled by this new-fangled formation. And maybe he had a point. OCs were dominating possession, and although Baker and Wyn-Evans were successfully breaking up attacks down the middle, the opposition were finding acres of space wide and raining in crosses. Still, most of these were either dealt with by the central defenders or safely gathered by 'keeper Jon Ingram. The main consequence was a stream of corners, which set the pattern for much of the match. Although no official stats are available, your correspondent's guess is that the full match corner count was something like 30-2 in favour of the Carthusians!

Possession may be 9/10 of the law, but doesn't butter many parsnips in a football match, and it was Harrow who scored the first goal about half way through the first period. Lederman and Baker combined to release Harry Hoffen, who squared the ball for Danos to slot home to the goalie's left - a near carbon copy of the goal that saw off Eton last year. The question now was would Harrow hang on nervily for the rest of the match for another 1-0 win. The short answer - no! Within 5 minutes a long ball found the tricky OCs number 17, who twisted and turned before sending a cross/shot into the six-yard box. There seemed little danger, but the ball hit Ed Thorn's hand and the referee pointed to the spot. The debate still rages about whether or not Ed's hand was in an unnatural position, and also if his hand was moving towards or away from the ball, but the penalty stood, and we should just be grateful that Mr Butler of Dulwich (for it was he) didn't award a scrum, which would have been altogether more embarrassing. No 17 duly tucked away the spot kick. 1-1.

The pattern continued for the rest of the half, with Harrow, if anything, creating the better chances on the break, and Charterhouse enjoying more possession and corners. Tim Dalton was called into action on several occasions, but with the slide-rule precision worthy of a Maths beak, his famously telescopic right leg won possession every time. Ed Thorn manfully snuffed out the trouble on the left, and Warner swept up the few crumbs that got past Dalton and Baddeley.

Charterhouse also had a long throw expert, who, while not in the Rory Delap class, could propel the ball into the six-yard area on the first bounce - and well might you ask why the ball was allowed to bounce. Be that as it may, Ingram's height and alertness came in most useful as he punched away several incoming deliveries that looked destined to squeeze in at the near post. After one of his more salmonesque leaps he returned to earth by landing squarely on Dom Danos's little toe. Very painful. Dom soldiered on for another 90-odd minutes with what turned out to be a broken toe, and he will be sorely missed in the next round.

So 1-1 at half-time. The second half was almost a copy of the first, just played at different ends. Wyn-Evans won possession in midfield and launched a speculative ball towards Harry Hoffen. Nobody headed it, the bounce fooled the defence, and Harry was away. Once again he unselfishly squared for Danos to restore the lead, but OC's were level again within minutes, this time from a corner, finally, with number 17 making a very late run into the box to connect well with his head. There were few clear cut chances after that, so we arrived at extra time, a concept dreaded by all Vets, but still preferable to the pain of a penalty shoot-out.

Just a minute into the first period there was a collision of bodies in the centre circle which left Danos flat on his face and both sides claiming a free kick. Butler saw no foul (maybe he thought a ruck was developing) and only Baker was alert enough to waltz off with the ball. Following an interchange of passes with Lederman and Harry Hoffen, he popped up again on the edge of the box and found himself with only the 'keeper to beat. He then proceeded to give an object lesson in how to score in a one-on-one situation, shimming past the flat-footed custodian before rolling the ball into an empty net. 3-2. We all hoped Harry Hoffen was taking notes. He had already missed a gaping net in a similar situation before the ref had spared his blushes by calling off-side. Of course Harry owned up immediately, admitting that he was at least 3 yards off, but in another, parallel universe where he actually scored he has pursued Butler into the changing rooms, the showers, back home and into work on Monday morning complaining at the injustice of the decision. Still, Harry was observing Quen's finishing style, and soon Harrow had the cushion of a two goal lead as Harry rounded the 'keeper to slot home the fourth.

There was a brief scare towards the end of the second period of extra time when a Charterhouse shot was deflected off Baddeley's shoulder and went agonisingly wide of the post. At the other end Danos had another one-on-one chance to settle things and complete his hat-trick, but pushed the shot wide. Let's blame that on the broken toe. David Lederman, playing his second full game in less that twenty-four hours, was cruelly hacked down with just ten minutes remaining and limped off to be replaced by Jon Sharples making his cup debut. Meanwhile Rupert Hoffen was getting the hang of the wing back thing, and making marauding runs down the right to deliver some excellent crosses. With just a couple of minutes remaining he received possession close to the OC's corner flag and, not seeing a prone opponent to smash the ball into, proceeded to display some fine skills in running down the clock. He was soon joined by brother Harry, and the pair really started to aggravate the opposition with their fancy footwork in the corner. Apparently they recently came second in a poll of the most annoying brothers on the same team, narrowly losing out to the Neville brothers, if only on the basis that their grandparents had declined to name their son Hoffen Hoffen.

When the final whistle blew one could sense that the Carthusians were somewhat perplexed as to how they had lost, but we know that Harrow's cup spirit is indomitable, and we have a better class of supporter. Thanks to Fred, Jackie, Giles, Chris Carline, Twedds and Becky Warner for your encouragement. We now face a visit by Lancing in the semi-final, which promises to be an even tougher test.

The final word went to Dom Danos's son Freddie in the changing room. Observing skipper Wyn-Evans peeling off bits of tape, padding and compression socks he asked; "Are your legs falling apart?" The weary response: "No. All of me is..."

*Many thanks to skipper John Wyn-Evans for the match report