3s cruise into DW Trophy second round with comfortable victory

Old Harrovians 3rd XI
4 : 2
Old Kingstonians 1st XI
  • January 19th 2019, Philathletic Ground, 12pm
  • DW Trophy
  • Referee: Tony Anderson
  • Weather: Cloudy
  • Pitch: Good
No. Starting XI Goals Yellow & Red Cards Subs On/Off
1 Tom Mitchell
2 Nick Kapoor (c)
3 Callum Barrett
4 Kyle Barrett
5 Alec Fogarty
6 Ali Buckley
7 Murray Barr 20'
8 Harry Bick
9 Luke Berry
10 Ned Callander 5'
11 Alex Smith 10', 40'

The OHAFC 3rd XI comfortably dispatched the Old Kingstonians on Saturday afternoon to progress to the second round of the David Woolcott Trophy in a first ever meeting between the two clubs on the Hill. The Blues cruised into a 4-1 lead at the break against the League newcomers and never looked like relinquishing their grip on the tie, despite a noticeable drop-off in performance after the break. The visitors scored a consolation second from the spot with a quarter of an hour remaining but it is Nick Kapoor’s men who progress to a home tie against Old Haberdashers in round two.

It took the hosts just five minutes to take the lead courtesy of some excellent work down the right by Murray Barr who crossed into the box allowing Ned Callander to finish into the bottom corner from just inside the box.

And soon afterwards the lead was doubled, the hosts running rampant against the Division Five side. And it was Callander once again involved, collecting Harry Bick’s long ball over the top before drawing the keeper and unselfishly squaring for Alex Smith to tap in.

Harrow’s dominance continued unchecked and they scored a deserved third after twenty minutes. A corner was cleared to the edge of the Kingstonian box and Murray Barr collected before placing a precise shot into the far corner.

At this stage the tie appeared already won, but to the visitors credit they knuckled down to their task and enjoyed the better of things for the next few minutes. They were gifted the opportunity to pull a goal back when referee Tony Anderson pointed to the spot for a fairly soft foul. Mitchell in the Harrow goal was beaten and the arrears reduced to two.

But the fledgling fightback was halted in its tracks five minutes before the break when Alex Smith scored a fourth for Harrow, collecting a corner at the far post before finishing into the roof of the net.

With no substitutes available, there was little for skipper Kapoor to do other than urge his troops not to switch off for the second half. His message was only partly heeded however, as the Blues went through the motions for much of the second forty-five minutes.

There was little cause for concern with Kingstonians unable to create many chances, the two senior Barrett brothers, Kapoor and Fogarty ensuring Tom Mitchell was well protected in the Harrow goal. But the visitors did score the only goal of the half when they were awarded a second penalty with a quarter of an hour to go, Mitchell again beaten from twelve yards. Nevertheless, the Blues saw out the remainder of the tie easily enough and take their place in the last sixteen of a competition in which they reached the semi-finals last season. They will go into the tie with Haberdashers firm favourites having already put eight past them in the League earlier this season.

*Thanks to Alex Smith for his help with this match report