The old men tottered out of the pre-match meal, to be greeted by Crow Lane at its autumnal best, bathed in warm sunshine. The world-famous vista towards Queens Hospital and the Cemetery was speckled with green and gold. The usual howling gale from the golf course had been given the day off.

Our opponents Harlow are top of the league. Park are ninth. Enough said. The bookies in their booths along the car park found few takers for a Park win - even at outrageous odds.
Harlow scored twice in the first five minutes, first by using the full width of the pitch for their winger to score, and then straight through the middle of our defence, with two badly missed tackles. 0-12.

Romford’s faithful feared a massacre. Some were even wondering if a more sensible use of the afternoon might be to return to the half drunk bottle of port in the club house.
Those who stayed on the touchline were rewarded. The bottle had been nicked, and Park began to stage a recovery. Our team got some possession, steadied, and ran through the pattern of quick ball to the pack’s runners, creating space for the backs to run onto. The Redmen helped by losing control of their line-out. I have never seen so many throws not straight. But the large Harlow pack was dominant at the set-piece scrum throughout the game.

Assisted by a penalty, Park made their way to the Harlow line. Red, black and purple bodies were scattered on the ground everywhere. Mitch Noyce received the ball, and surveyed the mess in front of him. There was no way through, so he opted for the aerial route, and dived over the top like a dolphin to score. 5-12.

Park levelled soon afterwards when some good hands all along the backs put Dylan Wood over for his first Park try. His tackling has been ferocious these last couple of games, and it was good to see him get on the scorecard. George Smith perversely nailed a conversion from the touch line after missing a much easier one five minutes earlier. 12-12.

The Redmen took the lead again through their winger just before half time, but overall Park had every reason to be pleased with a half time score of 12-17. Particularly after that terrible start. The first twenty minutes of the second half were evenly matched, with neither side able to get the upper hand. But eventually the weight of the Harlow scrum began to tell, and Park were also punished for their indiscipline. The game was now entirely in the Park 22. Despite a couple of close escapes, we could not clear our lines. The Redmen finally scored in the corner through their 8 peeling off the back of a scrum, and
repeated the move five minutes later. Then good use of the width of the pitch again put their winger over. 12-34.

Park pulled one back towards the end. The Harlow defence got sucked in by the Park pack and, when the ball was released to the backs, Logan Petrie took advantage of a massive overlap to roll over the line and score.

A final score of 17-34 means that Park left the field with no points again, but we gave Harlow a decent run for their money, and this was a respectable performance against the league leaders. Admittedly Harlow were not at their best. Their lineout was in a bad way. And their back three butchered four or five good chances presented to them on a plate by the centres. I doubt that this generosity will be repeated when we make the return journey to their palatial facilities at Latton Park.

But playing like this, one of these days we will surely win a game. Meanwhile, many thanks to the minis who bring on the water for the home games – much quicker than the subs and coaches ever managed it.