A scrambled back-heel winner from Paul Molloy just a couple of minutes before the final whistle earned the OHAFC Veterans a dramatic victory over their Winchester counterparts in the Veterans League at Roehampton on Sunday morning. The win lifts the OHAFC to the top of the division, although there remains some doubt as to whether or not the side have played their last fixture of the season – the Old Etonians have yet to fulfil a single Veterans League match and with time running out it is unclear whether they will be able to catch up their backlog of games.

On a gorgeous spring morning in south west London, skipper John Wyn-Evans assembled a strong lineup to take on the Wykehamists, with Piers Bourke making a rare appearance alongside Molloy in central midfield. Indeed, there wasn’t a weak link to be found throughout the XI and hopes were high that the football would match the glorious weather.

For the first twenty minutes, that prospect appeared bleak however as both sides struggled to carve out any clear-cut opportunities. The visitors seemed intent on playing long from the back, towering centre-half Gordon Baker firing the ball forwards in search of willing runners and on several occasions the Harrow rearguard had their work cut out to protect Steve Stacey in goal.

The hosts also didn’t help themselves early on, with Bourke and Rupert Hoffen both guilty of squandering possession inside the Harrow half and presenting the Wykehamists with serviceable chances. But as the half wore on, the black and white stripes began to slowly grind through the gears and cracks opened up in the Winchester defence.

With neither keeper having been seriously troubled, it was the visitors who struck first against the run of play. A Harrow corner was cleared out of the box and Hoffen was caught in possession by Baker who slammed the ball forwards over the top for striker Magnus to run onto and beat Stacey comfortably.

Moments later the sides were level however, with the one controversial moment of the game: Harrow attacked down their left and a Winchester clearance was smacked into the knees of Dom Danos – the ball rebounded perfectly into the path of Daniel Anderson and he made no mistake, firing in with his trusty left foot. But the Wykehamists, and Baker in particular, were adamant that the Harrovian had been offside when the ball fell to him and some lengthy protests ensued. In fact, the arguments continued for much of the remainder of the half, with further fuel thrown on the fire by the fact that the Wykehamists' own striker was continually being caught offside himself, forcing referee Giles Paul to (correctly) penalise the visitors on several occasions.

The hosts carried on regardless, dominating much of the latter stages of the half, and they earned themselves a lead at the break, that man Anderson again with a trademark lethal finish from the left, drilling the ball into the far corner with unerring precision.

Plenty of fluids were taken on board during the half-time interval, with skipper Wyn-Evans encouraging his side to keep the passing short and to feet as the preferred method for unlocking the well-organised, if slightly one-paced, Winchester back four.

But to their credit, it was the Wykehamists who played the better football in the twenty minutes following the restart, dominating possession and pinning Harrow back in their half. Dave Mutter was impeccable at the back for the OHAFC, out-muscling the Winchester forwards whenever they broke free and reading the game superbly to mop up any balls over the top. The regular Winchester offsides continued, to the point that even his own teammates began to berate their striker.

With the Harrow rearguard holding firm, it appeared as though the visitors had missed their chance, some fluency now returning to what had been, up until that point, a poor half of football from the hosts.

But from almost nothing they were gifted an equaliser, skipper Wyn-Evans criminally under-hitting a pass back to Stacey under little pressure and allowing the Winchester forward to steal in and level the score at 2-2.

That goal sparked a flurry of drama in the closing stages of the game, with both sides pressing forwards in search of victory. The hosts regained their advantage with a superb team goal, the ball worked through midfield before Dom Danos was freed down the right and his pull back was turned in from close range by Jon Ingram for his second goal in consecutive games.

Danos then had a wonderful chance to put the result beyond doubt when he was freed through the middle but, in what seemed an eternity, his first effort was blocked before he was then forced wide and the chance was lost.

The hosts did find the back of the net once more, Anderson claiming his hat-trick with a near post finish from Lederman’s through-ball but again the visitors howled for offside and this time there was an acknowledgement that they may have had a case – the goal was chalked off and the lead remained at one.

Harrovian honesty appeared as though it may have cost their side the win however when, with five minutes remaining, the visitors broke upfield and the ball was crashed past Stacey from twenty yards out.

But there was to be one final twist in the tail when, with just a minute or two remaining, the hosts snatched victory from an unlikely source. A sustained attack saw the ball ricochet around the Winchester penalty area before it fell to Jon Ingram. His strike on goal was a scuffed one and appeared destined straight for the keeper’s grasp, but that was before Paul Molloy got a slight backheel flick on it, diverting it at the last moment and bamboozling the goalie, the ball trickling between his legs and rolling agonisingly slowly over the line before he could turn and react.

A dramatic end to what was an enjoyable and hotly-contested fixture then, the Wykehamists can count themselves rather unfortunate not to have got at least a point for their efforts, the dispute over the first Harrow goal notwithstanding.

It remains to be seen whether this victory will earn the OHAFC a chance at winning the inaugural Vets League with some doubt over whether the final fixture against Eton will be played. Lancing have one game in hand and are two points behind but the immediate competition’s future remains in the hands of the administrators at Arthurian League HQ.

*Match photos: Louise Molloy