Soyinka strike sufficient to secure safety in Essex

Old Chigwellians 2nd XI
0 : 1
Old Harrovians 2nd XI
  • March 16th 2019, Old Chigwellians Club, 12:30pm
  • Division 2
  • Referee: David Lazarus
  • Weather: Cloudy, windy
  • Pitch: Fair
No. Starting XI Goals Yellow & Red Cards Subs On/Off
1 Emre Sert
2 Will Monroe
3 Jack Orr-Ewing
4 Harry Woolley
5 Edmund Massey 68'
6 Pablo Hutchinson
7 Doug Pratt
8 Jack Dolbey
9 Cyprian Owen Edmunds
10 Ollie Curry 67'
11 Geoff Taunton-Collins (c)
Substitutes
12 Gbeminiyi Soyinka 63' 45'

In what proved to be the windiest game this season, the OHAFC 2s produced an excellent performance to take all three points on Saturday against Old Chigwellian 2s, one of the club’s perennially tricky away fixtures in the uninviting confines of distant Essex.

The win confirms two achievements this season (with three League games remaining): firstly, the side cannot now be relegated and will be playing in Division 2 once more in 2019/20 – a third consecutive season in the top division for reserve sides in the Arthurian League; and secondly, they will finish no lower than 7th this season, which means that the team will have progressed up the Arthurian league rankings in each of the last four seasons – a testament to the side’s consistent improvement in recent times.

A cheerful tone was set to the afternoon’s proceedings when, with the full squad merrily assembled in the changing rooms and readying themselves for the game ahead, skipper Geoff Taunton-Collins took the opportunity to deliver his (very late) wedding present to OHAFC stalwart and funny-man puppy dog Jack Orr-Ewing. This consisted of a lovely painting of Jack playing football on the Phil in his OHAFC colours, the artist being the skipper’s mother, who had spent the previous six months getting a crash course in touchlines, goal nets and the club crest, with suitable photos of Jack hard to come by, and much of the work having to be completed by following her son’s rather demanding instructions.

After a slightly hurried warm-up following a late pitch change, Harrow lost the toss and would be facing into the wind for the first half. From the kick-off Chigwell immediately earned series of throw-ins in the Harrow half, but the game soon settled into a pattern. The ball lingered in the Harrovian half for spells, but this owed more to the wind’s influence than to Chigwell’s superiority, and Harrow’s back four dealt with the conditions relatively well.

Helpfully, Chigwell also took it upon themselves to serially ignore the influence the wind was having on their through-balls by over-hitting what must have been no less than a dozen passes in the final third. As pass after pass drifted off for a goal-kick, keeper Emre Sert had plenty of opportunities to show off his kicking prowess. Having told his skipper during the warm up that ‘it might be best if we play it short from goal kicks, or maybe you can take them?’ everyone was delighted to witness a series of solid punts sailing into the centre circle and towards the aptly-stationed ‘chief flicker-on’ Doug Pratt.

The source of Chigwell’s chances in the first half were chiefly crosses and balls in behind the Harrow rear-guard. A number of these were relatively dangerous and the Chigwell forwards will have rued their lack of composure at the key moments. A one-on-one was dealt with bravely by Sert, who spread himself excellently and stuck out a leg to divert the ball over the bar. Emre proceeded to have an excellent game, snuffing out numerous opportunities by bravely smothering the ball at the feet of any Chigwellians with the temerity to approach his goal. Another couple of chances slightly further out were badly over-hit and sailed serenely into the tall (and therefore incredibly useful) bush behind the goal.

At the other end, Harrow were looking dangerous on the break and generally playing the more incisive football. A powerful early cross from Taunton-Collins - having beaten his man down the right channel – found Owen-Edmunds’s head, but the opportunity was a difficult one and the winger could only glance the ball wide. Soon afterwards, a Harrow corner was met cleanly by Orr-Ewing whose header was on target but cleared off the line. Owen-Edmunds then picked up a loose ball in the area and swivelled to shoot low and hard to the keeper’s right, but the Chigwell stopper got down well to tip the effort wide. The final chance of the half fell to Taunton-Collins, who spun in behind and was found by a clever through-ball by Pablo Hutchinson: the first touch was decent enough, but the skipper skewed his shot badly wide and the half-time whistle blew soon afterwards with neither defence breached.

The half-time team-talk focused painstakingly on the doomsday-level importance of not over-hitting forward passes in the Chigwell half, in generally indulging in a bit of self-congratulation at how well we had handled the conditions so far, and in introducing Gbeminiyi Soyinka, whose gradual recovery from a knee operation had now got to the ‘45 minutes of action’ stage.

Harrow began the half positively and kept possession well, heeding the half-time advice and passing crisply across the pitch. The first shot in anger was Owen-Edmunds’, who struck with his favoured left from outside the area only to crack the ball agonisingly and squarely against the right-hand post. Shortly afterwards, the winger, who was involved in much of the side’s good play during this spell, beat his man down the left and, reaching the by-line, pulled the ball back across the area. Taunton-Collins was making a late run and took a touch before hitting the ball low with his left, but the shot was swept off the line by a covering defender. The Harrow pressure was mounting and the goal finally came, somewhat inevitably, courtesy of the side’s leading scorer in recent seasons: Mr Soyinka. A quick throw down the right by Taunton-Collins found the striker in behind the Chigwell defence. ‘Bem’ shuffled past a defender on the edge of the area and shot as he approached the six yard box. The effort was deflected by the keeper but Gbeminiyi still managed to get enough on the ball in the ensuing scramble to bundle it into the net – a typically determined finish for the man whose sole currency in life is goals.

At the other end, Chigwellians were struggling to create any chances of note and, as the game wore on, the difference between the back fours became more and more stark. Harrow were generally well organised, compact and keeping a good offside line. Woolley and Orr-Ewing, in particular, put in good displays, organising their teammates authoritatively and positioning themselves well to deal with threats to clear with head and foot. Chigwell, by contrast, became increasingly ragged at the back with defenders positioned very curiously at times – centre-backs rarely in line with full-backs thus creating an assortment of angles which Harrow could exploit. Dolbey showed good tenacity to pick off loose Chigwellian passes and Oli Curry good awareness to drive at gaps in the defence. It was Owen-Edmunds and Soyinka, though, who made the most of Chigwell’s deterioration at the back - racing forward on a number of occasions, the pair never managed to convert the opportunities presented to them to kill the game off once and for all. Thankfully, this was one of those rare occasions for an OHAFC side where one goal proved more than enough.

All in all it was a very satisfactory afternoon for the Blues, who can now look forward to their remaining three League games safe in the knowledge that their status in the division – as well as progress from last season’s 8th place – are both assured. The remaining games will see the side aim for a top six finish. First up is Citizens away, a fixture that has been has seen 21 goals scored in the last three meetings (Harrow enjoying two wins). Citizens have improved markedly this season, so it should prove to be an entertaining encounter in southeast London.

*Many thanks to Geoff Taunton-Collins for this report