The OHAFC 3rd XI began life in Division Four of the Arthurian League with a hard-fought point away to the Old Bancroftians in north east London on Saturday. Despite only being able to field a bare eleven, and only one new face in the shape of Callum Barrett, youngest of the three Barrett brothers, Nick Kapoor and his men returned home with a sense of disappointment their endeavours had not earned a greater reward.

With several of last year’s squad attending a farewell party for Hussein Janmo, last season’s regular left-back who is spending this season away in Dubai, skipper Kapoor was restricted in his selections against a Bancroft side who finished a creditable fifth in the division last season – despite a poor home record of just two wins and five defeats from seven games.

The three Barrett brothers, with Callum making his OHAFC debut on the left, were joined by Oli Walker in the back four, Mike Okoigun was drafted into playing right wing, with the usual deadly attacking trio of the two Bick brothers and last season’s leading scorer Alex Smith in attack.

The notoriously poor Bancroft pitch lived down to all expectations and, coupled with some understandable early season rustiness, it was an untidy start to the game from both teams. Bancroftians took advantage of some Harrow sloppiness to open the scoring after twenty minutes but rather than be cowed by falling behind so early in the opening fixture in a new division, the goal only served to inspire the visitors to double their efforts and ten minutes prior to the break they earned their reward, Charlie Bick reacting quickest to a flick-on to draw Harrow level.

The second half proved an entirely different story however, as the OHAFC dominated from the outset, making light of the conditions and the scrappy nature of the game. Numerous chances were created but the most frustrating moment of all arrived late on when an Alex Smith effort appeared to cross the line by a good couple of feet – players from both sides stopped and waited for the referee’s whistle, but none was forthcoming – and play continued with the sides remaining deadlocked until the final whistle.

Although the disappointment over the phantom ‘goal’ was the overriding emotion in the immediate aftermath, when the dust settles on this, the opening weekend of the 2018/19 Arthurian League season, the point earned at such a notoriously tricky venue will, in the weeks to come, prove a more than satisfactory start to life in Division Four for the OHAFC 3rd XI.