All momentum from the previous week’s first win of the season evaporated in spectacular fashion on Saturday morning as the Old Harrovians 3rd XI were put to the sword by the Old Epsomians – or, more accurately, by their star player, Callum Holland. Holland has rarely featured for the Epsomians in previous campaigns, but made his presence felt here, playing up front and scoring five goals of the highest quality to fire the visitors to a 7-2 win – despite playing the entire game with just ten men. Defeat leaves the 3s still rooted to the foot of the Division Four table having now played half of their League programme.

In truth, the appearance of a regular starter for the League Representative side in Division Four should raise a few eyebrows, but as a bona fide Old Epsomian the visitors were perfectly within their rights to field Holland, a midfielder by trade but the lone forward in a 4-4-1 formation that was deployed from the outset here. The hosts were not helped by an early hamstring strain suffered by centre-half Si Nicholson which saw the veteran helped from the field by two teammates. By this stage, however, the hosts were already 3-0 down and suffering.

A fairly even opening quarter of an hour saw some decent football from both sides but Holland then took control with a couple of very different, but equally superb goals. The first, a controlled long-range striker from around twenty-five yards out that sailed over keeper Hassan Hammad and into the top corner, the second saw a quick exchange of passes with a couple of teammates on the edge of the box before the goalscorer waltzed around Hammad and walked the ball in. If there was little to criticise the hosts for with those two efforts, the third goal on the half-hour could have been dealt with better, a free-kick swung in from the Epsom left was headed in by an unmarked player from the penalty spot. By this stage the game was up and the two Harrow debutants, Will Bryant and Kit Davidson, must have been wondering what they had let themselves in for.

But the hosts continued to battle and were rewarded for their efforts when a decent move down the left freed midfielder Matt Ede and he drove into the box before firing low past the keeper from a tight angle. The anger of the visitors at conceding a goal just before the break hinted that, just maybe, there was life in the game yet.

But those concerns were quickly put to bed in the second half as Holland again showed his class with three more fine efforts, one left foot, two right, all three taken with a composure and sureness of touch rarely seen at this level. With the lead now five, the visitors decided that the result was beyond doubt and the star man was duly obliged to take his turn in goal, punishment no doubt for highlighting the inadequacies of his teammates by comparison.

To the hosts’ credit, they continued to battle until the end and, in fact, as the ten men tired, began to dominate the final fifteen minutes. But by this stage Epsom had added a seventh and so Ede’s second goal of the game, coming in the final few minutes after closing down another Epsomian keeper, mattered little.

The Blues must put this defeat behind them knowing that plenty of other sides will succumb to the same fate should the Epsomians continue to field a similar team, although next week sees the 3s face another 1st XI in the form of the Old Shirburnians, victors by four goals to one when the sides met on the Hill back in September.