On another incredibly blustery day on the Hill, the OHAFC 2nd XI twice surrendered a two-goal advantage, ultimately having to settle for a rather disappointing 4-4 draw at home to the Old Aldenhamians. The two sides shared four goals in each half, with Jack Dolbey giving the hosts the lead inside the first five minutes and Max Curry completing an excellent hat-trick. But the hosts struggled to contain the visitors at set-pieces, conceding twice from long throws and the final indignity, a very soft penalty with less than ten minutes remaining that ultimately earned the visitors a share of the spoils. Nevertheless, the point extends the Blues’ fine run of form and keeps them in fifth place in Division Two with four games left to play.

With several absences to contend with this weekend, skipper Geoff Taunton-Collins was forced to shuffle his pack, with the headline news the return of flying winger Andres Hutchinson to the squad for the first time this season – a combination of a weak ankle and other clubs contending for his signature meaning the 2s had, until today, been deprived of one of their main attacking threats over recent seasons. He lined up on the right and Will Payne on the left, Taunton-Collins reverting to the common modern day deployment of inverted wingers. Elsewhere, Giacomo Grasso was paired with Ed Nicholson at centre-back, the youngster’s only previous experience at the position coming in the humbling 11-1 defeat at home to the Old Etonians on the opening weekend of the season.

In keeping with the previous two weekends on the Hill, the sun was out, but so was another strong wind, this time blowing straight down Phil pitch 1 towards the Alcock Pavilion. The Blues kicked into the wind in the first half, and with a low sun also making life difficult for defenders, a tricky first forty-five minutes lay in prospect.

But the home side dealt with both these handicaps, and a slightly uneven playing surface, with consummate ease in an excellent opening half an hour that saw the Blues take a deserved 2-0 lead. Within five minutes, Hutchinson had shown he was still a threat to be reckoned with as he collected a ball on the right, cut inside before squaring across the box for Jack Dolbey to run onto. The midfielder controlled his shot superbly, striking it cleanly into the roof of the net with his trusty left foot, the home side up and running. The lead was almost doubled soon afterwards with a superb move, again down the right. A spell of possession saw the Aldenhamians outnumbered and Lederman and Taunton-Collins exchanged passes, the former freeing the right-back into space down the right wing. The skipper produced a peach of a first-time cross to the far post but somehow, with the goal at his mercy, Hutchinson could only send his header wide of the target from five yards out.

The miss did not prove costly as the hosts continued to dominate proceedings and, with twenty minutes gone, the lead was doubled, Lederman whipping a cross into the wind towards the left side of the box. Max Curry adjusted his body superbly, contorting his right leg to somehow make a solid connection with his knee and send the ball looping over the Aldenham keeper and into the net.

The Blues were dominant, Payne and Hutchinson enjoying plenty of the ball out wide and threatening a shaky Aldenham back four. But as the half wore on, the visitors slowly began to wrestle back control of possession and began driving at the Harrow back four. Nicholson and Grasso coped superbly, preventing any efforts on goal. A free-kick conceded just outside the box threatened to change that, but the effort was disappointing and sailed harmlessly over the bar. Several corners were conceded but well defended. Then, almost from nowhere, the Aldenhamians pulled a goal back in highly unusual circumstances, a long throw sailing on the wind towards the Harrow goal and David Griffiths, under slight pressure from his own defender, could only punch the ball into the roof of the net. Blue shirts waited for a whistle of some kind, but none was forthcoming.

The OHAFC were now under pressure, Jamie Jordache introduced from the bench in a bid to stem the tide. But as half-time approached, the visitors levelled, again in scrappy circumstances. Further pressure outside the box saw the defence fail to clear their lines a couple of times and a mishit shot found its way through to the six yard box where it was turned in with several helpless defenders on the goalline. Disappointingly, a half which had seemed under Harrovian control, ended level at 2-2.

With the elements in their favour in the second half, the Blues expected to have an easier time of things, with the majority of the game hopefully taking place in the Aldenham half. Ed Massey replaced Will Monroe at full-back.

The second half started slowly for both sides, with the wind swirling and play inevitably scrappy. Few chances were forthcoming and after ten minutes Taunton-Collins had seen enough, summoning Lederman from the bench in a bid to introduce some calm to proceedings. But play continued to ebb and flow without any real pattern, neither goalkeeper tested beyond a few corners and that troublesome Aldenham long throw – by now apparent this was clearly their most dangerous weapon.

The game appeared to take a decisive turn midway through the half when the hosts struck twice inside five minutes, both goals courtesy of the excellent Max Curry. Both wingers were involved, Andres Hutchinson seeing his shot parried by the keeper allowing Curry to turn in from close range, before a jinking run from Will Payne down the left ended with him picking out a perfect pass across the box that took out the entire Aldenham back four. Curry composed himself superbly to bide his time before planting the ball into the bottom corner, Harrow’s two-goal lead fully restored.

With less than twenty minutes remaining, the expectation must have been for the hosts to go on and claim the points. But to Aldenham’s credit they continued to battle, Griffiths making a couple of decent saves to maintain the advantage, Nicholson and Grasso continuing to combat any long balls played forwards.

As the game approached the closing ten minutes, the Blues let it slip in frustrating fashion. A long throw again caused havoc at the near post, Taunton-Collins stabbed the ball clear but it fell kindly to the Aldenham sub and he planted a low shot into the bottom corner. Barely two minutes later the Harrow skipper was involved again, clipping the heels of a winger as he turned inside the box. Aldenham appealed for a penalty, referee Neil Cooper, who had been excellent to this point, hesitated before pointing to the spot. To say it was soft was an understatement, with the player having already gone down fairly theatrically several times during the game. Nevertheless, the spot-kick was duly tucked away and, for the second time in the game, the hosts had seen a commanding lead slip through their grasp.

Both sides came close to winning it late on, a spell of pressure down the Harrow right saw Jamie Jordache beat a couple of men before squaring to the near post where Curry was unmarked, his shot flashing just past the near post when his fourth goal seemed likely. At the other end Aldenham came even closer, a corner in the dying moments saw a centre-half storm towards the back post and thump a header smack against the crossbar.

In the end, it was difficult to know whether the home side should be pleased or not with the point, but the loss of a two-goal lead in both halves undoubtedly left a bitter taste in the mouth. The draw does keep the Blues in fifth places in the table, just ahead of the Old Aldenhamians, although the side aren’t quite out of the woods yet. Four tricky League games remain, including fixtures against three of the top four in the table, and one more win is still required to ensure safety. But the excellent run of form continues, the side’s 5-4 defeat away to the Radleians in January their only loss in League and Cup since mid-November.

The 2s can now park their League battles to one side for a few weeks, with the Old Brentwoods 2s due on the Hill next Saturday for a huge Junior League Cup quarter-final. It would be wonderful if the game could be played without a strong wind as an accompaniment!