The OHAFC 2nd XI earned their first point of the new season on Saturday morning with an encouraging 2-2 draw at home to the Old Etonians second string that saw the Blues miss a catalogue of excellent chances in both halves – something of a recurring theme so far this campaign.

On a beautiful sunny day on the Hill, Phil pitch 2 was put to use for the first time, although evidence of the long, dry summer was still present, with drainage channels that had been crudely sanded over and several worryingly wide cracks in both penalty areas. Fortunately, no injuries were to result from the conditions, although the visitors would suffer in other ways.

Barely five minutes had elapsed when some early pressure from the home side saw a ball crossed into the box from the left. The Eton keeper made the save but injured himself in the process, forcing the light blues to bring on a substitute who clearly was not a natural keeper. Buoyed by their early fortune, the hosts attacked again down the left, good work from Will Payne saw him tee up Miles Kellock. The winger cut inside and delivered a curling effort that appeared destined to dip just under the bar. The Eton keeper punched the ball out but, remarkably, also caught some of the netting with his fist as he did so and, on seeing this, referee Kevin Turnbull blew his whistle and awarded the goal. The Etonians closest to the incident were incensed, convinced that the ball had not crossed the line, but the official remained steadfast and the hosts had scored just their second goal of the season. Eton’s bad luck didn’t end there however, as this second goalkeeper then limped off with a groin strain from making the save. Within ten minutes of kick-off, the visitors were onto their third player in goal.

An action-packed first half saw the hosts play some excellent football, with Payne and Kellock to the fore. Both had golden opportunities to extend the home side’s advantage but either waited too long, allowing the keeper to save, or fired wide. At the other end, the Etonian skipper threw himself to the ground theatrically under minimal pressure in a bid to win a penalty. Fortunately, the referee wasn’t fooled, although the incident sparked some heated scenes between both sets of players. Frustratingly, despite having enjoyed by far the better of things in the first quarter of the match, the home side went into the break 2-1 down as the visitors scored twice inside ten minutes. Both were well taken efforts: the first a rather acrobatic volley from fifteen yards out that sped past keeper Rory Craig following a cross to the far post, the second a neatly constructed move that saw the ball slipped down the inside right channel and finished with a low shot inside the near post – Harrovian appeals for offside fell on deaf ears.

Despite the rather sudden reversal in fortune, the half-time team-talk for the OHAFC was upbeat, with the side in total agreement that they would have nobody to else to blame but themselves should they fail to pick up points. The Blues had been the better side, missed several golden opportunities to score and were playing against a third-choice goalkeeper. Skipper Geoff Taunton-Collins was unable to ring any changes, with Kyri Pittalis now required by the 1s on the adjoining pitch, so the same eleven took to the field for the second half. Much of the start of the second half proved a rather scrappy affair as both sides committed numerous fouls amid a plethora of niggly incidents. Azhar Khan was booked for hauling down the Eton skipper to prevent a dangerous break from the halfway line, no theatrics were required on this occasion.

But as the half wore on, the home side pressed and chances soon began presenting themselves. Payne, once more, spurned the best of them, being played clean through twice only to stumble and fire straight at the keeper the first time before pulling up with what appeared a muscle strain second time around. When Khan then headed over at the far post from a peach of a cross from skipper Taunton-Collins, the nagging doubts grew in Harrow minds that, yet again, a lack of decisiveness in front of goal could prove their undoing.

Fortunately, with just over twenty minutes remaining, the oldest of shoulders provided the coolest of heads as veteran midfielder Lederman collected a headed clearance from a corner on the edge of the box, took a touch to his right and, as the Etonians strove to close him down, curled a delightful shot back into the far top corner, the Eton keeper’s flailing dive never looking remotely like proving effective.

The home side created several half-chances in the time that remained, but couldn’t quite force the winner. Khan had perhaps the best of them, heading just wide from a Lederman cross to the near post following a fine flowing move down the right. Ultimately, the Blues had to settle for an encouraging point from undoubtedly their best performance of the season to date.