OHAFC 1st XI Season Review

12 Jun 2016

After the travails of the 2014/15 campaign that saw the OHAFC 1st XI relegated from the Premier Division of the Arthurian League following just three wins all season, a concerted effort was made by skipper Ed Poulter to rouse the troops for a promotion tilt at the first time of asking. The team would be playing in Division One for the first time since the turn of the century and had to change their attitude quickly if further disappointment was to be avoided.

To this end, a more worthwhile pre-season was arranged, with regular training sessions taking place in Hyde Park on summer’s evenings and a trio of friendly fixtures organised, two against Premier Division opposition in KCS Wimbledon and Marlborough. Encouragingly, all three games were won, an Alex Gilbert brace helping defeat Marlborough 3-0, a Jack Hill hat-trick contributing to a 5-2 thrashing of Stowe and Fred Richardson and Gilbert, again, scoring the goals in the 2-0 win over Wimbledon.

Confidence was high going into the opening game of the season against Repton on the Hill in early September but, as usual, there were some crucial absentees on the first day, including, worryingly, the referee, who failed to turn up and, following lengthy discussions between the teams, saw Fred Woolley reluctantly take charge in the middle. Skipper Poulter was away, as was first-choice ‘keeper Fraser McGuinness, meaning vice-captain Fred Milln taking over from both of them – captaining the side and playing in goal. Tass von Hirsch was given the right-back slot and Jaguar Bajwa and Fred Richardson formed a makeshift centre half pairing.

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As it was, the pre-season preparations clearly gave the hosts the edge on their visitors, the navy Harrow shirts were quicker to the ball, sharper with it and lasted the game far better than their opponents. Durham University student Dan Firoozan scored the first goal of the season, added a second shortly after the break and substitute Cyprian Owen-Edmunds scored a third late on to confirm the win and lay down a marker for the rest of the season.

A second 3-0 win, also on the Hill, followed a fortnight later as Wellington were dispatched in similar circumstances but any thoughts of complacency (and, in truth, there were some) were dispelled in early October when the side lost to a late goal from a corner at Aldenham, in a game that saw the hosts dominate the first half and hold on to a more attacking Harrow side after the break. The switch from 4-5-1 to 4-4-2 proved the catalyst for the side’s better play (not for the last time during the campaign) but several missed chances gave Aldenham the chance to snatch the points at the death. Worse news followed however, with Jaguar Bajwa limping off with a serious knee injury that ultimately would see his season end without him kicking another ball.

The defeat clearly knocked the side’s confidence and they played poorly at home to Malvern in the next game, scraping a win thanks only to Lederman’s free-kick in the final minute that somehow squirmed through the ‘keeper’s grasp at the foot of the post.

Nevertheless, three wins from four saw the side sitting pretty at the top of the table prior to the visit of Brentwood, the other team relegated from the Premier Division the season before. An excellent first half display saw the hosts lead 2-0 thanks to goals from Harry Hoffen and a superb effort from Jack Hill, who fired home first-time from the edge of the box. Another goal conceded from a corner, this time with five minutes remaining, meant Harrow had to hang on grimly at the end, but the win was deserved and the side had taken an important step on the road to promotion.

The good form continued with a superb display to thrash Premier Division Marlborough 4-0 in the first round of the Arthur Dunn Cup in what was probably the most complete performance of the season. The visitors were never in the game and goals from Milln, Hill and Hoffen (2) secured a tie at home to Westminsters in round two.

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The goals continued to flow for the side as the School XI were beaten 4-2 on the Hill but two close contests then saw the Blues earn consecutive 2-1 wins: Aldenham put up another strong performance to make a mockery of their lowly League position and a week later Harrow had to come from a goal behind on astroturf in Twickenham before the introduction of Alex Smith at the break turned the tide in their favour and goals from Hoffen and Verhagen saw off Winchester.

The first week of December saw the second round of the Dunn Cup played on the Hill and what should have been, on paper, a relatively straightforward contest against Division Two Westminsters. In fact, the visitors played well and Harrow struggled to impose themselves in the game, the lack of flowing football going forwards continuing to cause concern. Dan Firoozan opened the scoring but Westminster levelled in the second half and extra-time was required. Fortunately, Firoozan took the game by the scruff of the neck and scored twice more in the extra half-hour to help his side over the line. It wasn’t pretty, but the team were in the hat for the quarter-finals for the fourth time in five seasons.

A week later saw the team’s final game before Christmas played on a boggy surface up at Haileybury and it was that man Firoozan again who made the difference. With the game goalless approaching the final quarter of an hour, the diminutive dribbler produced a moment of brilliance, dancing through several defenders before curling the ball into the top corner.

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The win rounded off an excellent first half of the season for the Blues that saw them sitting safely on top of Division One and into the quarter-finals of the Dunn Cup. Although the football going forwards lacked polish at times, the defence and goalkeeper Fraser McGuinness were proving to be a match for any other team in the League – five clean sheets in League and Cup testament to the solidity of the side.

The New Year saw the return fixture at Repton and an important game, with the hosts third in the table and still with realistic hopes of a promotion run. The game turned out to be something of a damp squib with neither ‘keeper really tested, although Geoff Taunton-Collins had the worst day of all as he travelled north, was named on the bench and then failed to get a single minute on the pitch.

The goalless draw was a decent result in terms of the League picture but rumblings of discontent could be heard from some of the senior members of the squad at the apparent lack of variety in the tactics used and, in particular, the insistence on playing with just a single striker. Some healthy debate flowed on email and it was decided that the next few matches would see the side revert to two up front in an effort to rediscover the early season goalscoring form.

A trip to fourth-placed Bradfield was an excellent test of the new attacking formation and the team played superbly in the first half to lead 2-0 thanks to goals from Alex Breeden, who was returning for six weeks from China, and Alex Gilbert, whose pace and energy up front clearly energised the previously lonely Harry Hoffen. To Bradfield’s credit, they poured forward after the break and could easily have got back into the match but McGuinness again proved his worth in goal and, as the hosts tired, Harrow took advantage to score three times late on with a flurry of counter-attacking efforts. Breeden completed his hat-trick with a couple of deflected shots and Gilbert grabbed a second. Although it was still late January, the result opened a clear gap between the top two and the chasing pack and Harrow thoughts began to turn to winning the division ahead of Brentwood, rather than merely securing promotion.

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Wellington were defeated comfortably on the Harrow astroturf thanks to goals from Milln and Breeden, again, but the following week Premier Division Shrewsbury proved far too strong in the Dunn Cup quarter-finals and Harrow were knocked out 2-1 without ever really giving the tie a real go.

Bradfield arrived on the Hill for their return League fixture a week later and a second comfortable win for the Blues looked likely when their opponents started the game with just ten men, played for half an hour with a full complement before an injury reduced them to playing the remainder of the game a man down again. But Harrow produced their poorest performance of the season and, with Bradfield considerably stronger than in the away fixture a few weeks previously, the visitors ran out comfortable 3-0 winners. The result left Ed Poulter’s men still on top of the table, but reliant on Brentwood dropping points – it quickly became apparent that this was unlikely to happen.

The Blues took out their frustration with the Bradfield defeat on their next three opponents, hammering Winchester 8-1, Haileybury 10-1 and Malvern 4-1 to boost their goal difference and mathematically confirm promotion. But any hope of overhauling Brentwood’s superiority on goal difference was categorically extinguished as they themselves began destroying teams with ever-increasing margins – the highlight being a 10-1 win at Repton in a fixture that Harrow had just done enough to earn a 0-0 draw in. It later transpired the Reptonians, by then out of contention for promotion, had decided to host a team bonding session the night before the game. Still, there were plenty of highlights in the three comfortable wins, not least Ollie Curry scoring a superb hat-trick on debut against Haileybury, including one of the finest OHAFC goals scored in recent seasons, the youngster connecting sweetly to send a thirty yard volley arrowing into the far corner from the left edge of the box.

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Easter saw a break in the League programme and the side’s final three games played in April. Any lingering hopes of Brentwood dropping points evaporated but in truth it wouldn’t have mattered anyway – with promotion secured, several regulars downed tools meaning that the two games against Radley were played with makeshift elevens. A last minute draw was secured in the away fixture thanks to James Breeden’s strike but the home fixture saw just two first team regulars turn out – Yunus Sert and Jack Hill – and the resulting 4-3 defeat thanks to an 88th minute Radley effort left a sour taste in the mouth.

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The season closed, disappointingly, with a meaningless fixture at Division winners Brentwood. Ed Poulter returned to lead a stronger side and the team performed creditably, dominating the second half but ultimately failing to overturn a two-goal handicap.

The side finished with twelve wins, two draws and four defeats from their eighteen League games, a decent enough record but one that promised much more, with two losses and a draw coming in the final three games. The season’s end was, to be honest, all a bit ‘Spursy’ with Brentwood’s metronomic consistency draining much of the motivation from the Harrow squad down the stretch.

Nevertheless, the main aim of promotion at the start of the season was comfortably secured with the OHAFC clearly the second-best team in the Division – the side finished eleven points behind Brentwood and eleven points ahead of both Radley and Repton behind them. The major disappointment was the concession of numerous goals in the closing games, somewhat ruining the superb defensive record the side had built in the first dozen games. Indeed, prior to the games in April, the OHAFC had the best defensive record in the League but the Radley and Brentwood games saw that particular honour snatched away. The side still managed to keep the goals against ratio to an even one – just – with 18 goals conceded in the League, one more than when winning the Premier Division title in 2010. The comparison with the previous season is hardly a comparison at all, the side being relegated having let in 59 goals in 18 Premier Division games. This new stinginess at the back was due to a variety of factors with better fitness and availability, fine goalkeeping, more defensive tactics and the lower standard of opposition all helping ensure the side were rarely inconvenienced at the back.

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Going forwards was more of a struggle with the reliance on veteran striker Harry Hoffen still too noticeable to provide much sense of comfort going forward. The determination to play a lone striker for much of the first half of the season solidified the team at the back but hampered efforts in the final third and on several occasions sides that should have been put away early on were still hanging on late into games. Fortunately, the cupboard is not compeletely bare of attacking talent, with the likes of the Breeden brothers, Gilbert and Smith all capable of playing at Premier Division level. Dan Firoozan is clearly going to be the fulcrum of the sides' attacking play in the seasons ahead.

On an individual front the side used 42 players during the season which is still far too many to be fully effective. What was pleasing however, was the better commitment from a number of players compared to the previous season: nine players played ten of the League games or more, seven players played in 15 or more of the 21 League and Cup games. Yunus Sert, who played consistently well throughout, and 41 year-old David Lederman, in his final season as a regular 1st XI player, both turned out 19 times.

On the goalscoring front, Harry Hoffen led the way with nine League goals from 14 appearances and two more in the Cup. Alex Gilbert and Dan Firoozan, crucially, scored six each, Firoozan’s efforts carrying the side mid-season when the goals had almost completely dried up. Lederman and the two Breeden brothers all scored five times, the two Breeden’s ten goals coming, remarkably, from just eleven combined appearances.

But in a season when it was the defence that took the plaudits it was perhaps the two players who made more starts for the team than anybody who made the greatest impact: centre-half Sert and goalkeeper Fraser McGuinness both made 18 starts and both played to a high level throughout the campaign. Fraser may miss much of next season due to work but hopefully he will return (having learnt how to kick properly in the meantime) and Yunus looks set to become a defensive leader for many seasons to come.

The prospect of competing once more in the Premier Division is something that the side should face with some confidence given the emergence of several young players, including those who have now played enough games for the team to understand the commitment and standards required, but life back in the top flight will not be easy – several of the teams have improved in recent seasons and competition in the upper echelons is fierce.

Nevertheless, the side can now relax and reflect on a decent season in Division One and look forward to the challenges that lie ahead.

Many congratulations to Ed Poulter and all 42 players who represented the side this season.