The 2s made their way down to Orpington, a place that none of us had ever before been. For the first time in living memory, Dave Lederman was missing a fixture, but in his place and in the wider squad we had a spread of young and very keen talent.

There was much to make amends for after a 6-0 drubbing against the same opposition just four weeks earlier and Geoff Taunton-Collins had gone for a rather defensive 5-4-1 formation that included three centre halves and a sitting midfielder. The energetic Alexi Pittalis would hold, supported on either flank by Alex Gilbert (right) and Jack Alhadeff (left). Charlie Bick filled in behind Xander Whitehurst up front. The Woolley-Maydon combination continued at centre back, with the addition of the imposing Connor Barrett, while the wing backs were Taunton-Collins and Harry Bick. Kyri Pittalis returned in goal.

On the bench, there was a return for the mercurial Gbeminiyi Soyinka (recovering from a knee injury) as well as veteran John Sharples. Jack Orr-Ewing was the 14th man, purely for emergencies only after months out with a back injury.

Harrow started brightly, but the game was stopped abruptly in the third minute when Maydon and Taunton-Collins collided competing for a second header. Taunton-Collins suffered an unfortunate concussion that had him out for two minutes, talking nonsense for a further ten, but he slowly regained consciousness as the memory of the 5-4-1 formation brought him back to Orpington. Maydon was unharmed apart from a shallow cut on his forehead. After a 30-minute delay during which an ambulance was called, Sharples was brought on as a straight swap for the skipper at right wing back.

Harrow continued brightly, winning most 50/50 balls and controlling the majority of possession. However, as in previous games, lapses in judgement and confidence cost the visitors in a mad 15 minutes that saw Harrow ship three unconventional goals. The first was a confidently taken free kick that crept under the feet of the jumping Harrow wall after a foul by Woolley on the edge of the box; the second originated from a bouncing back-pass from Barrett to Pittalis which was swooped upon by the energetic Alleynian striker; and the third a somewhat dubious off-side decision leading to an unfortunate trip by Sharples and resulting penalty.

The team could easily have imploded, especially as a succession of curious decisions by the ref from the North-East seemed to go against them. However, the defence remained resolute and the home side team was unable to trouble Pitallis for the remainder of the first half. At the same time, Harrow’s midfield began to exert some pressure, with Whitehurst and the elder Bick chasing down possession and providing Gilbert and Alhadeff with some space in the wide channels. Harrow were unfortunately unable to capitalise and the sides went into the dugout at half time with the score at 3-0.

The second half saw the introduction of Soyinka up front, with Sharples returning to the bench. Whitehurst dropped into the No. 10 position, Charlie Bick to left midfield, Alhadeff to left wing-back and Harry Bick moved across to right wing-back. Harrow adopted a more direct approach and the Alleynian defenders struggled to deal with floated balls into the half. Alexi Pittalis competed brilliantly in the middle and Harrow dominated possession. Harrow were eventually rewarded with a deft volley from Pittalis after a Barrett flick from a long Whitehurst throw-in. This was followed a few minutes later with a quick turn by Soyinka, who was then fouled by the Alleynian defender. Soyinka buried the resulting penalty into the bottom right corner.

Harrow created a few more chance but none of them were clear cut. Soyinka and Pittalis went close on a couple of occasions and Charlie Bick saw his curling free-kick pushed onto the bar by the hosts' stopper. Towards the end, the game became a stop-start affair as any aerial challenges for the ball were blown up by the referee, while some more aggressive challenges on the ground were not which made it hard to build any continuity. Alleynains hit the post and saw close range efforts thwarted on the line by Pittalis and surrounding blockers. The game came to an end at 3-2 to the home side.

While another loss was once again disappointing for Harrow to take, there was a huge amount of optimism to be taken from the fixture. Winning the second half 2-0 against this opposition after 9-0 in the first three halves means that Harrow can head to the away fixture against Lancing with a great deal of confidence. The younger players brought energy and poise and the defence played with an assured confidence that had been absent in the first few games of the season.

(Taunton-Collins was later given the all clear at Queen Mary's Hospital).

Thanks to Simon Maydon for this match report.