Harrow Lions came out on top in a pulsating Merit Table play-off fixture under lights on Wednesday evening against local rivals Old Millhillians with youth again being at the forefront of Harrows victory.
With 15 of the squad who were victorious in Saturdays Vase final after extra time selected, another gruelling encounter on firm ground against a powerful Millhillians side could have been a daunting prospect - but was met head on by a Harrow squad which has gone from strength to strength across the 21/22 season.
With a first appearance of the season in a Harrow shirt for Doug McDonald, who had an outstanding game in the second row, a splash of additional pace in the back line in the returning Will Moran , Joel Stern and Freddie Broomhead and with a sprinkle of Lawrence Armitage-Brain on top, Harrow had definitely found the recipe for success in their quest for more silverware and possible promotion to the higher echelons of the Merit Table structure.
With the crowd gathering, and the lights blazing (except in the corner where the fuse had tripped) Harrow kicked off, and after a couple of heavyweight exchanges up front, a kick return back into OM's half saw them concede a penalty just outside the 22 in front of the posts.
Up stepped Billy Argent and coolly slotted between the posts to open his account for the evening which saw a near flawless display of kicking and running and a well deserved personal tally of 19 points.
Back came OM's, and a couple of short thrusts into Harrows 22 resulted in a try just to the left of the posts and a 5-3 lead. Conv. inexplicably missed however, and the points they left on the tee across the evening were ultimately the difference in a game of such fine margins.
Next score went to Harrow, a penalty for OM's under the posts against Leo Paoletti for trying to crawl the final 5 metres to score was awarded, touch missed and a great take by Aidan Doran was off loaded out the tackle to Billy Argent - he found the ever elusive Tom Linden, who glided across the front of the OM's defence before finding David Reeder (two ee's not ea) who cut a great line to leave half a dozen OM defenders in his wake, and touching down under the posts. Conv made by Billy A and Harrow 10-5 to the good.
Harrow next try was a thing of beauty, a scrum just inside the Harrow half was cleanly won, Tom Linden found Billy A and his perfectly executed chip over the on-rushing OM's defence was expertly picked up off his toes by Loz as if he was picking daisies in a field, a quick shift of his silken hips and the final defender was drawn to allow him to put the supporting Billy Argent away and under the posts - a video review can confirm that after giving the pass Loz then proceeded to throw his arms wide open in a "thats what i can do" style, and didn't even bother following his pass as the try was such a certainty !! Conv made (obvs), and harrow now 17-5 up with 30 minutes played.
From the kick-off, Harrow also scored the next try. After a clean take by Pablo Torres, and an initial chunk up by Billy Hutchinson the ball found Des Ogboru, who carried heavily into OM's half, (it must be noted that Des's carrying was an outstanding feature of the evening, his strength and commitment have never been questioned, but he is now adding a real rugby brain and levels of dexterity to his play which rightly earned him an MOTM conformance). From the resultin ruck recycle Tom Linden picked and went from fully 40 yards out, and after ghosting past the initial tackle of the centre, then proceeded to twist, spin and turn the full back inside out so much that his labels were showing. Under the posts he went, Conv made again (still obvs) and a 24-5 lead at half-time which although all the scorers on the sheet were in the back line, the platform had well and truly been set by a dominant display upfront by a pack of eight fantastically marshalled by Pablo and the always cool headed Lavers - who has been another excellent "find" during the second half of the season.
Time to regroup - and everyone knew that OM's would not crumble, and there was an expectation that they would empty the bench, empty the tanks and give absolutely everything, which was to be expected by a team which ran league winners London Japanese a very close second across the normal season.
Out the blocks they came, and ominously scored the first try of the second half after a couple of infringements saw Harrow conceded a pen under the posts, OM's tapped and went, and from short range again crashed over. Conv missed though and Harrow wobbling a bit despite being 24-10 in front.
Harrow however were to score next, a couple of penalties saw Billy A push Harrow into the top right hand corner, and with Pablo again winning line-out ball for fun the ball was quickly spun across the back line to Will Moran, who shifted gears to drift between outside centre and winger, before rounding the full-back to score an excellent individual try in the corner. Conv missed (is was quite a tricky one) - but Harrows lead was back to 19 with 30 minutes to go.
OM's though really upped the intensity and a couple of quick fire tries, both converted (kicker change?) brought the scores back to 29-24, and still more than 15 minutes to play.
Harrow rolled the dice, Doc rolled the bench, Freddie rolled a doobie - and the Veo camera decided at that point that it would pack up recording so the next passages are done from memory and the story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed could potentially be fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.
Billy kicked a penalty 32-24, gap more than one score. OM's scored a try, missed a conversion - gap back to 3, and everyone in the Harrow camp was experiencing the 10p/5p feeling. That is until a great break up the left hand side of the pitch saw Harrow recycle quick ball and Tom Linden (now referred to as BFA aka the Baby-Faced Assassin) whipped down the left,round the covering defence and in under the posts. Conv made (normal service resumed) - and the gap back to 10 with 3 minutes on the clock (yes it does seem to be taking forever). Still time for OM's to go over once more, rushed conv missed (normal service resumed) - and now Harrow just needed to recover the kick off, manage the clock and the game was theirs. Kick off not recovered, and OM's threw caution to the wind and ran from deep - fortunately a great tackle and turnover in midfield saw a pen conceded, Billy tapped and proceeded to pump the ball into the massed throngs on the sideline.
Delirium ensued, and two sides who had fought out a great toe to toe battle for the 3rd time this season congratulated and commiserated, and retired to the showers and bar to discuss what could have been, should have been, and who in the advent of the up and coming youth was now probably a has-been.
Onto the final on the 23rd April at Ruislip RFC v Ealing Exiles - kick off 12:40, all support welcome.
Once again a huge thanks to the support on the evening, Linda for the food, Rod for the bar, Paul for pitch preparation, Doc for leading the coaching team, OM's for being worthy opposition, the referee whom without there is no game, and the cast of many players across the season who have contributed to the league performances and the 22 players who made the evening a fantastic success on the field.
On we go - and hopefully one more successful step as we finish what has been a momentous season at the club.
Team in order of time taken to finish a sudoku as follows:
Leo Paoletti ; Desmond Ogboru ; Jonathan Lavers ; Billy Hutchinson ; Doug McDonald ; Pablo "the lineout king" Torres ; Santos Rodriguez ; Jamie Logan ; Tom "BFA"Linden ; Billy Argent ; Freddie Broomhead ; Lawrence Armitage-Brain ; Will Moran ; Aidan Doran ; David (two e's) Reeder ; Joel Stern ; Sam Harper ; Florin Chiesa ; Pete Skyrme ; Ted Skyrme ; Harry Donovan ; Tom Carter.