3s secure promotion with rout of Brentwoods

Old Harrovians 3rd XI
6 : 1
Old Brentwoods 3rd XI
  • April 21st 2018, Merchant Taylors' School, 11am
  • Division 5 (Playoff)
  • Referee: Jason Kilby
  • Weather: Sunny, calm
  • Pitch: Fair
No. Starting XI Goals Yellow & Red Cards Subs On/Off
1 Chuka Ilogu
2 Alec Fogarty 70'
3 Connor Barrett
4 Kyle Barrett
5 Hussein Janmo 60'
6 Tom Faber 75'
7 Nick Kapoor (c) 50'
8 Charlie Bick 43'
9 Harry Bick 85'
10 Ned Callander 6'
11 Alex Smith 15', 72' 80'
Substitutes
12 Oscar Gairard 50'
13 Joss Awdry 50'
14 Cyprian Owen Edmunds 67', 81'
50'

The OHAFC 3rd XI produced a magnificent performance on Saturday to thrash Old Brentwoods 3s 6-1 in the Division Five promotion play-off and ensure they would be playing Division Four football next season. Two goals apiece from leading scorer Alex Smith and Cyprian Owen-Edmunds and further strikes from Charlie Bick and Ned Callander saw the Blues romp to victory, their opponent’s sole reply coming from a dubious penalty in the closing minutes.

Despite enjoying a stellar League season, with eleven wins from fourteen games and just two defeats, Nick Kapoor’s squad knew that only victory on Saturday would see them sufficiently rewarded for their efforts. The two sides had already met earlier in the season, the OHAFC winning 3-1 in the David Woolcott Trophy a month ago and with a full squad to choose from, optimism flowed through the ranks as the group travelled north to Merchant Taylor’s School for the early 11am kick-off.

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Conditions were close to ideal with a warming sun and gentle breeze blowing across the sloping pitch on the outskirts of the expansive school grounds. Fittingly, a decent crowd was also in attendance, with some of those present staying behind after the final whistle to take in the Junior League and Arthur Dunn Cup finals on pitches nearby.

After an innocuous opening five minutes that saw both sides fly out of the traps, Harrow produced an intricate move in midfield that led to the opening goal. Tommy Faber, surely the most relaxed current OHAFC player in possession of a football, combined with Harry Bick in the centre of Brentwood’s half, deceiving two opponents with a cheeky backheel. Bick took aim from twenty-five yards out only to see his thundering drive crash back off the bar and onto the sprawling Brentwoods goalkeeper. The ball ran wide of the far post but Ned Callander reacted quickest to fire in from a narrow angle, a trickier finish than perhaps it appeared on first viewing.

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Harrow began to assert themselves, looking the much more threatening team in attack without quite hitting the heights shown in last week’s 4-2 win away to Westminsters. Nevertheless, chances fell at regular intervals: Alex Smith saw his header well saved at the near post, minutes later a similar effort from a Connor Barrett long throw flew over. But with fifteen minutes gone, another long throw did see the Blues double their lead. This time the initial throw was cleared out of the box but Charlie Bick volleyed a first-time shot back in and Smith was alert as ever to flick the ball back between his legs and into the bottom corner: an almost identical goal to the one he scored a few weeks ago against the Amplefordians.

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Set-pieces were playing an important part of the game, with Harrow’s next chance coming from a corner, skipper Kapoor volleying wide when left completely unmarked at the far post.

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Brentwood’s only threat also appeared to be from corners and free-kicks, with several balls into the box well defended by the Harrow rearguard. Other than that, ‘keeper Chuka Ilogu remained relatively untroubled – something he was doubtless grateful for as the morning sun saw the temperature rise throughout.

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The latter stages of the first half were competitive but Brentwoods still struggled to create any clear-cut opportunities, only momentary lapses in concentration from the Harrow back four offered any glimmers of hope.

Instead, moments before the break, the Blues scored a crucial third, to all but put the result beyond doubt. Yet again, a long throw caused problems inside the Brentwoods box, the ball was never properly cleared and that allowed Harry Bick to play a diagonal ball through for older brother Charlie to run onto. The pass looked as though it had been slightly over-weighted, but Charlie did brilliantly to sprint through and apply a sliding first-time finish, the ‘keeper unable to react as the ball rolled past him and just inside the far post.

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Brentwoods almost replied immediately from the kick-off, stringing together their best move of the half that ended with a cross from the right being turned goalwards first-time by the onrushing striker. Fortunately for Harrow, the shot flew straight at Ilogu and he reacted sharply to snaffle the loose ball and maintain the three-goal lead into half-time.

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Skipper Kapoor, fully aware of the importance of the game, waited until a few minutes of the second half had elapsed before bringing on his three substitutes: Cyrpian Owen-Edmunds, Joss Awdry and Oscar Gairard replacing Janmo, Fogarty and Kapoor himself.

The second half began scrappily with the level of play deteriorating from both sides and a number of niggly fouls leading to protests from both sides towards referee Jason Kilby. There was little flow to the game and neither goalkeeper was forced to make a save of note, making Ilogu’s continual requests to his skipper to be allowed out of goal because he was ‘knackered’ all the more bizarre.

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Both sides saw efforts from long throws fail to add to the scoreline, Smith’s flick header again forcing a save, whilst at the other end Brentwood came close to opening their account when their throw eluded everyone and was fired back on goal from beyond the far post, the ball whistling just wide of the post.

With just over twenty minutes remaining Harrow scored the clinching fourth thanks to some excellent work from striker Smith, who won the ball in midfield before feeding Ned Callander down the right. Whether it was a deliberate cross or a mishit shot, Ned’s effort fell perfectly into the path of Owen-Edmunds at the back post and he gleefully thumped in, celebrating in his usual calm, under-stated manner…

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Brentwoods had a chance to pull one back soon after following some careless defensive work by the Harrow centre halves but by this stage the game was up and it was little surprise when Harrow added to their tally, Smith collecting a through-ball and showing excellent composure to round the ‘keeper and roll in.

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With a quarter of an hour remaining Brentwoods were gifted the chance to score a consolation when the referee suddenly blew for a penalty, Ned Callander penalised for an apparent shirt grab at a corner. The ball was drilled past Ilogu and his clean sheet bonus McNuggets for the evening were gone.

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Five minutes later and the final goal flew in, quite literally, when Owen-Edmunds over-hit a cross from the left wing only to see the ball sail over the ‘keeper’s head and into the top corner. The toned down nature of the celebrations suggested the effort had not been deliberate.

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A thumping win for the Blues then and justifiably excitable celebrations following the final whistle. The side have thoroughly deserved their promotion with a consistently excellent level of performance all season.

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The win also means the side face one final fixture, with the overall Division Five title on the line. Fittingly, the game pits the two regional champions together, with Division Five North winners the Old Columbans overcoming the Old Shirburnians to also secure promotion and a date against the OHAFC 3s back at Merchant Taylor’s on Saturday afternoon. Win or lose, Harrow’s season has been a resounding success.

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