The OHAFC 1st XI once more had James Breeden's goals to thank for another goal-laden victory as their bid to end the 2017/18 season with promotion to the Arthurian League Premier Division continued with a 7-4 win over the Old Malvernians at Brunel University.

Despite the nature of the scoreline and the clear gap in class between the teams, this was, ultimately, a strangely frustrating afternoon for Yunus Sert's men, with the late arrival of the team, the weather and pitch conditions, the referee and some disappointing play all contributing to making the afternoon less enjoyable than it should have been.

Some heavy traffic en route to the ground in Uxbridge led to most of the team still not being at the ground shortly prior to the midday kick-off time. Fortunately, the Malvernians agreed to delay the start by fifteen minutes.

It was a decision they were soon regretting, with Harrow three goals to the good inside half an hour - James Breeden's two efforts, the second of which was a fine free-kick, sandwiching a scruffy Alex Gilbert effort.

Malvern reduced the arrears shortly before the break courtesy of a disputed penalty, Fred Richardson struggling to read a long ball over the top and he was penalised despite claiming to have made no contact with the attacker. The dispute continued at the interval, with the Harrow vice-captain and referee Pasquale Acierno exchanging further words, much to the chagrin of the match official.

And Harrow frustrations continued in the second half as the tricky artificial pitch and horrible weather led to some poor passages of play with misplaced passes commonplace.

Despite this, the goals continued to flow and Harrow got the ball rolling, James Breeden completing his hat-trick, in the process reaching the magical 30-goal mark for the season, just five minutes into the half to extend the lead to 4-1.

The Malvern skipper pulled one back on the hour with an excellent goal of his own, but that was quickly snuffed out by yet another effort from James Breeden.

At this stage any scoreline looked possible, but two goals in five minutes for the hosts suddenly left the result in the balance.

Thankfully, Harrow scored twice in the final ten minutes to seal the win, Alex Breeden denying Harry Hoffen a first goal of the season when he poked home on the goalline after the veteran had lobbed the 'keeper, before Josh Adejokun completed the scoring, finishing off an excellent team move that saw James Breeden cross from the left.

It was a deserved win for the Blues with seven goals scored but clearly this was not one of their best displays of the season. Preparations were poor and conditions prevented the side reproducing the flowing football that had seen them hammer the Wellingtonians last week.

Remarkably, despite not having reached mid-February yet, the side have just two fixtures left this season. A two-week break precedes the visit of Cholmeleians to the Hill before the campaign ends with a trip to Aldenham the week after. With Brentwoods and Berkhamstedians still having two games in hand, it remains to be seen whether two wins will see the OHAFC claim the second promotion spot behind runaway leaders the Old Bradfieldians.

*Many thanks to Freddie Brunt for his help with the match report and Harry Hoffen for the match photos