2s produce best display of the season to thump Forest

Old Harrovians 2nd XI
5 : 1
Old Foresters 2nd XI
  • November 18th 2017, Philathletic Ground, 11:45am
  • Division 2
  • Referee: Tini Kaja
  • Weather: Drizzle
  • Pitch: Excellent
No. Starting XI Goals Yellow & Red Cards Subs On/Off
1 Kyri Pittalis
2 Geoff Taunton-Collins (c)
3 Harry Woolley
4 Jack Orr-Ewing
5 Tom Ward
6 Emre Sert
7 Mike Okoigun 38', 85'
8 Will Swan
9 David Lederman
10 Ollie Atkinson 60'
11 Jack Alhadeff 20'
Substitutes +o.g. 27'
12 Gbeminiyi Soyinka 75' 60'

The OHAFC 2nd XI produced possibly their best display of the season on Saturday to earn comfortably their biggest win of the season: a depleted Forest 2s were soundly thrashed 5-1 on the Hill in tricky circumstances to lift Geoff Taunton-Collins’ men to the heady heights of seventh in Division Two – their highest League position of the season.

Preparations for Saturday’s game were disrupted by some shambolic organisation from the 1s, who took to the field for their warm-up with just ten players, one of whom, Jack Hill, was then to suffer a serious blow to his head in an accidental clash with Jonny Lalude. After some negotiation, Pablo Hutchinson kindly agreed to spend his allotted half-hour of playing time (he had to return to work at midday) with the 1s, allowing them to start with eleven men. The 2s would also have eleven, but now with only Gbeminiyi Soyinka on the bench, the striker’s knee limiting him to just half an hour’s playing time.

Once again, despite a few murmurings to the contrary, skipper Taunton-Collins stuck to his preferred five-man defence, with Tom Ward and Jack Orr-Ewing welcomed back into the central three alongside ever-present Harry Woolley. Taunton-Collins and late addition Emre Sert filled the full-back roles with a midfield four of youngster Ollie Atkinson on the left, Lederman and Swan in the middle and Okoigun on the right leaving Jack Alhadeff as the lone striker.

Forest began the game well and looked the surer side in possession, their central midfield trio afforded too much time on the ball as the hosts, not for the first time this season, set their defensive line too deep. The visitors began to pick holes in the Harrow rearguard with the back five soon under some pressure to defend crosses and through-balls as Forest looked to spread the play. Pittalis remained untested in the Harrow goal but there were signs of panic as Harrow failed to clear their lines properly on several occasions, the ‘keeper dealing well with a couple of corners.

The hosts had just started to come into the game after twenty minutes when they were afforded a relatively simple opportunity to take the lead. The ball fell kindly to Lederman in the centre circle following a goal kick and he spied a gap between the two Forest centre-halves, sending Alhadeff through to clip the ball just inside the near post.

Far from dampening Forest resolve the goal served to usher in another spell of pressure, with the Harrow defence being put to the test. This spell however, and the game at large, served to demonstrate the growing solidity and organisation of the side without the ball. Having enjoyed the lion’s share of the ball in their promotion campaign last season, the team has had to adapt to playing games in which the ball is much more evenly shared. On this occasion the back five were forced into a series of heroic dives to maintain the lead – Orr-Ewing and Sert both flung themselves at the ball on separate occasions to prevent shots on goal, several crosses flew across the box just evading a forward and Pittalis remained rock-solid between the posts.

At this stage the prospect of an equaliser was looming, but after some pleading, the Harrow back line finally found the confidence to push higher up the pitch and the result was a much more even end to the half, the hosts suddenly able to apply much more pressure in the Forest half. Taunton-Collins and Okoigun had enjoyed some possession on the right, the former sending the latter rampaging forwards on regular occasions with balls down the line, and from one such move Harrow were gifted a second, the Forest left-back somehow contriving to send an attempted clearance looping high into the air, over his own goalkeeper and into the far corner of the net from the edge of the penalty area. Two soon became three as Okoigun popped up on the left of the penalty area, exchanged passes with Alhadeff, and planted a powerful left-foot shot inside the near post from close-range. Oddly, having far less possession than their opponents for most of the half, the OHAFC found themselves 3-0 up.

The game was still not won however and Forest began the second half well, again passing the ball assuredly. Harrow almost conceded in the first minute when dallying on the edge of the box saw a shot fly narrowly wide of the far post. Pittalis then made two superb saves to keep the clean sheet intact but there was nothing he could do soon afterwards when Forest’s best player, a diminutive but powerful midfielder, exchanged passes on the edge of the box before firing low into the bottom corner. Forest sensed a comeback was on the cards but it was almost immediately ended as a prospect thanks to a spectacular introduction from substitute Soyinka – an excellent move down the right saw Taunton-Collins feed Okoigun and he in turn delivered a delicious cross to the near post only for the striker to head narrowly wide of the near post.

Harrow had regained their belief and, as the game wore on, looked the much stronger team. Will Swan enjoyed an outstanding game in the middle of the pitch and he deservedly created Harrow’s fourth, stealing the ball in midfield, driving forwards before playing in Soyinka down the inside left channel, the goalscorer supreme showing the requisite composure to carry the ball wide of the ‘keeper and calmly roll the ball into the net with a left-foot finish from a narrow angle.

The hosts were now rampant and looked a threat whenever they carried the ball forwards. One extraordinary passage of play saw Okoigun and Soyinka take on the Forest defence themselves but somehow contrive to miss from about five separate chances all within the six yard box, the ball hitting the bar, the ‘keeper, and even each other as they strove to apply the coup de grace. Unfortunately, in a game played in a decent spirit throughout, Forest received a red card with a quarter of an hour to go following a late tackle on a flying Alhadeff. The defender walked away from the scene of the crime, turned round to see the referee show him a yellow card before then reacting with a sense of astonishment. Tini Kaja was unimpressed and immediately brandished the yellow for a second time.

Harrow took advantage in the final few minutes with a clinically simple goal, Pittalis collecting the ball from an over-hit Forest through-ball, bowling it out to Lederman on the right and he in turn fed Okoigun down the line. Harrow’s Man of the Match stormed through on goal, shrugging off a token challenge from the last defender and, as Soyinka pleaded for a square ball, instead planted his shot through the ‘keeper’s legs to round off an excellent Harrow display.

Forest may have been missing players but Harrow’s preparations were also far from ideal. The side has now discovered a defensive resilience that was sorely lacking in the opening month of the season and if the back line can hold its nerve and shift even further up the pitch, the team should prove even harder to play through. In attack, the importance of being able to field at least one genuine striker cannot be overstated – the return to form of Mike Okoigun and the continued recovery from injury of Gbeminiyi Soyinka has given the team a cutting edge that has now seen them score nine goals in the last three League games. Contrast this with a tally of just seven goals from the first six games played and the difference is clear.

There is no room for complacency however. Despite climbing to a season-high position of seventh in the table, the team has played more fixtures than everyone else and, apparently, will continue to play each week until Christmas. Next week’s home game with bottom side Lancing is, on paper, the easiest fixture remaining and clearly one of the most important.