THE issue of the best football team in the borough has been comprehensively decided in this first ever league meeting between these clubs.

Boro cruised almost effortlessly to victory with a hat-trick of well taken goals from former Wealdstone player Fabio Valenti.

This was a humiliating capitulation for Stones, who were second best in all departments all afternoon. There are very few Wealdstone players who should be holding their heads up after this.

Valenti, Brian Haule and Abdul Yoki were lively all afternoon and Dean Marney, despite taking plenty of abuse from the hostile home crowd, was a defensive rock.

That is not to say Wealdstone did not have their moments. Poor Richard Jolly has lost all confidence in front of goal this season and continues to snatch at the chances that his intelligent running continue to create. Marvin Morgan will always be a nuisance to defences, but a regular goalscorer he is not.

Early exchanges slightly favoured the home side, not that Keita Karamoko had a shot to save, but Matt Carvell headed over, Jolly scuffed a chance wide, and a last ditch tackle by Perry Norman stopped the Stones striker in the act of shooting.

Carvell was playing his first game of the season, replacing the suspended Danny Wolf. Possibly the lack of understanding between him and Chris Cahill can explain the disappearance of the Wealdstone defence for the first two of Valenti's goals where a cruelly exposed Andy Carter was beaten by a clever lob and a shot into the far corner.

Two new Wealdstone signings, Adam Shaefer and Younes Nabil were introduced into the fray soon into the second half and a cut out pass from the latter led to Valenti scampering away, unchallenged again, to round Carter for the third.

The game was over now, and Wealdstone did have some late efforts on goal, most notably a header from Dave Ryan that Karamoko saved at the foot of a post but from the blue side of the borough, this was a terrible day and diaries are already noting down the date of the Earlsmead return-February 5.

It cannot be this bad again.

Wealdstone: A Carter, Shaw, Michnowicz, Ryan, Carvell, Cahill, Bubb(Shaefer), McKeown, Morgan, Jolly, Williams(Nabil).

Harrow: Karamoko. Neilsen, Lopez, Walters, Norman, Marney, Dyer(Newton), Dogbe, Haule, Valenti, Yoki.