The wait for a win for the OHAFC 1st XI continues after this rather disappointing defeat at home to the Old Marlburians on Saturday morning. In glorious conditions on the Philathletic, the Blues were dealt some early bad luck when two players were forced off injured before half-time. George Reid cancelled out an early strike from the visitors and the Blues looked to have weathered the storm despite playing for nearly half an hour a man down. Somewhat perversely, as soon as Doug Pratt and Alexi Pittalis joined the action fresh from playing ninety minutes for the 2s on the adjoining pitch, the home side conceded twice in the space of five minutes and the game was lost.

Fortune deprived the Blues of their first player inside ten minutes when Oscar Gairard, making his 1st XI debut, caught a ball in the face and was unable to continue. Fortunately, Kyri Pittalis made the switch from the 2s bench to replace the stricken Gairard and the 1s were back to their full complement of players. But within five minutes they fell a goal behind, the Marlburians slipping a ball down the inside left channel and, following a neat one-two, a low first-time shot was curled inside the far post past the outstretched arm of keeper Fraser McGuinness.

Although the visitors enjoyed more of the ball in the opening period, the home side still looked dangerous on the break, with George Taylor and Ollie Atkinson combining well down the right and Ciaran Jordan narrowly failing to equalise when he closed down the back four and won possession only to fail to beat the keeper with his effort.

As half-time approached, the hosts’ luck took another turn for the worse when Felix Tritton, who had enjoyed a solid game at centre-back, was then forced off with a knee injury. Down to ten men and with no prospect of further help arriving, prospects looked gloomy for the OHAFC. But moments later the Blues defied their misfortune to draw level, Felix Majumdar whipping in a corner that was spilt by the Marlburian keeper under pressure and George Reid was on hand to tap into an empty net.

Half-time allowed skipper Dan Firoozan to rejig his troops, Ciaran Jordan dropping back into central defence in place of the stricken Tritton, and he was immediately called into the action to make a superb goalline clearance. But that proved to be something of an isolated Marlburian attack as the home side made light of their numerical disadvantage to take the game to their opponents. George Taylor was superb in midfield and although chances proved hard to come by, the Blues gave as good as they got.

Once more, however, the Blues were handed a further hurdle to overcome, although this time, at least, they were made aware of the impending issue well in advance of kick-off: Felix Majumdar had to leave with twenty-five minutes remaining, reducing the home side to nine men. The hosts dug in and preserved parity until reinforcements arrived ten minutes later in the shape of Alexi Pittalis and Doug Pratt, two players who had just completed a full ninety minutes for the 2s.

But just as it seemed as though the Blues were in a position to earn, at the very least, a somewhat miraculous point, disaster struck. A through-ball caught the newly-aligned back four square and as the attacker ran through on goal, McGuinness rushed out, clattering into him and sending him sprawling. The resultant penalty was tucked into the bottom corner and the Marlburians led with just over ten minutes remaining.

They added a third from a simple corner a few minutes later, an attacker timing his run to perfection to head in from five yards out at the near post and the points were safely secured. Despite the valiant efforts of those in blue, the defeat is the 1s’ third in four this season and, remarkably, their eighteenth in their last 22 League games. Somehow, somewhere, this sequence badly needs to be broken. A trip to the Old Chigwellians next weekend would be the perfect place to start.