2s progress in Junior League Cup thanks to late goals

Old Harrovians 2nd XI
4 : 2
Old Westminsters 2nd XI
  • January 5th 2019, Philathletic Ground, 1pm
  • Junior League Cup
  • Referee: Alan Greenberg
  • Weather: Cloudy
  • Pitch: Good
No. Starting XI Goals Yellow & Red Cards Subs On/Off
1 Kyri Pittalis
2 Geoff Taunton-Collins (c) 68'
3 Harry Woolley 45'
4 Tom Ward
5 Will Monroe
6 Will Payne 77'
7 Jack Dolbey 50'
8 Ollie Curry
9 Andres Hutchinson 35'(p) 87'
10 Max Curry 20'
11 Cyprian Owen Edmunds
Substitutes
12 Pablo Hutchinson 25'
13 Jack Orr-Ewing 86' 45'

The OHAFC 2s progressed to the 2nd round of the Junior League Cup with a hard-fought win over Westminster 2s on the Philathletic ground on Saturday.

Skipper Geoff Taunton-Collins had a near full squad to choose from and was left with some tricky decisions to make to fit his team into a balanced formation. Only Woolley and Jack Orr-Ewing remain in the side from the 2011 JLC-winning squad, with the current group enjoying far more impressive depth and boasting attacking talent to spare.

An attacking trio of Owen-Edmunds, Andy Hutchinson and Will Payne forced Taunton-Collins to play himself at right back and allowed him to select both Curry brothers in central midfield. It was clear there would be plenty of goals in this OH side, and they lined up confidently knowing that the last time they had fallen at the first time of asking in this competition was nine seasons ago – ironically, Jack Orr-Ewing the sole Harrow scorer in a 2-1 defeat at Forest.

Despite the freezing conditions, everyone was remarkably punctual, leaving poor Tom Ward to wash the kit despite having turned up over an hour before kick-off. Harrow enjoyed a well-organised warm-up, with some confidence-boosting shooting practice for the attacking players being watched jealously by a confused set of defenders who had been told to warm up with a game of ‘rondo’.

The opening stages of the game were a little tentative and invited some unwanted pressure from the visitors. A couple of loose touches on a hard pitch that took some getting used to led to one of the season’s most embarrassing misses: the Westminster number 9 found himself completely unmarked on the edge of the six yard box, and with Pittalis making himself as big as his 5 ft 8 frame would allow him, he somehow plonked the ball tamely over the bar.

That sprung Harrow into action, with most of the early good work done down the left flank when Monroe, Hutchinson and Owen-Edmunds linked up to create space. A candidate for goal of the season was denied by the width of the post, as Owen-Edmunds set himself perfectly from 30 yards out and curled a sumptuous shot over the keeper and onto the inside of the post, only for the ball to bounce clear.

Harrow were growing into the game and playing some brilliant football, yet it was through a simple goalkeeping error that they took the lead after twenty minutes. Owen Edmunds’ corner was too close to the keeper, whose confident shout wilted in the frosty winds as he dropped the ball generously at the feet of Max Curry, who gratefully slotted home possibly the simplest of his 26 club goals to date.

Soon afterwards, Westminsters were gifted an equaliser thanks to a mistake from the skipper, who turned to collect a ball over the top but then criminally under hit his pass back: Pittalis had no chance as the striker snuck in and poked home to make it 1-1.

A testament to the team spirit and trust among the squad, the OHs picked themselves up immediately and were back in the lead just five minutes later. Andres Hutchinson, whose mazy runs had beguiled the leaden-footed Westminster defence all day, found himself ‘mano a mano’ with his full-back inside the box. Shifting the ball just as a defender lunged in, referee Alan Greenburg had no choice but to point to the spot. In the absence of regular penalty-taker Lederman, the younger Hutchinson was happy to assume responsibility and slotted calmly into the bottom left corner with the keeper diving the opposite direction.

Harrow went into half-time feeling confident, and Taunton Collins elected to swap his two veteran centre backs, with Orr Ewing replacing Woolley – who was then asked by referee Greenberg to run the line on the far side of the pitch – a request that went down like a fresh dose of shin splints.

And the role was soon causing the new match official problems as he was drawn into a tricky off-side decision, excusing himself from a clear mistake by screaming “I’m not a qualified linesman” back at the understandably aggrieved Westminster skipper. Father Fred immediately googled local refereeing courses so his son could be better prepared the next time Alan Greenberg takes charge.

But there were much greater concerns for the hosts as for the first twenty minutes of the half it was the visitors in the ascendency. Playing with more purpose and belief than their lowly League position would suggest they were capable of, Westminsters drove forwards in search of an equaliser, the hosts lacking any quality going forwards. And they duly levelled the scores with half an hour of normal time to go. Orr-Ewing was drawn too close to Ward at the back, leaving Taunton Collins with two men to mark on the edge of the box. The ball skimmed over Ward’s head through to Westminster’s winger, who was able to bring it down and rifle it into the far corner on the turn.

For a short time, Harrow looked worried that extra time may be forced upon them, no-one more so than Woolley, who had stiffened up like a crusty piece of uncooked spaghetti and feared being asked to stand back in for the clearly-tiring Orr-Ewing.

But as the game entered its final quarter, the visitors began to tire and the OHAFC once more took control, breaking forwards at pace with determination, and it was with great relief when Will Payne restored the home side’s lead courtesy of a wonderful strike with twenty minutes remaining. The young winger has grown in stature through the season, looking increasingly assured on the ball and using his body well in the tackle. He had much joy against the Westminsters’ best player on the right flank, always making himself available with good positioning. On this occasion, Olly Curry was the provider, curling the ball out wide to Payne on the right wing. The youngster drove into the box before unleashing an unstoppable shot high over the keeper into the roof of the net.

With five minutes to spare Harrow scored a fourth to put the game to bed. With his skipper imploring him to stay back, Orr-Ewing lumbered forward for a corner without much hope of doing anything other than distracting some of the taller members of the Westminsters defence. So it was to everyone’s surprise, not least himself, when Pablo Hutchinson’s corner sailed over the keeper and dropped perfectly for Orr-Ewing to head into the net for the 10th OHAFC goal of his career.

The win sees the 2s into the second round although their opponents are not yet known – Epsomians and Merchant Taylors play their first round tie in a fortnight, with the winners hosting the OHAFC in round two.

The Blues now return to League action with some tricky fixtures pending against sides faced prior to the Christmas break: first up, the visit of Forest 2s to the Hill and a chance for revenge for the 2-1 defeat at Ilford in early December.

*Thanks to Jack Orr-Ewing for this match report