Remember that fantastic day last April when the whole
of Hornchurch spent the day at Thurrock to watch La Chiesa fall at the final hurdle in the 04/05 Arthur Atkinson Cup final?
The result was wrong but it was a day to remember for the banter and the great feeling of being with your buddies... THERE
WILL BE NO SUCH DAY OUT THIS SEASON!
Chiesa crashed out of the cup this Sunday in a topsy turvy game
that saw the pendulem swing in both teams direction before eventually settling in St Augustines favour.
In what is now becoming the norm for La Chiesa, frantic phone
calls had to be made early Sunday morning to ensure eleven men took the field... Colin Williams was unavailable due to family
commitments, Dean Jordan at work, Iain Gay was suffering from damaged ankle ligaments, Mark Harris had a pulled hamstring,
not to mention certain other long term absentees. On the plus side, Danny Trew returned for his first taste of action this
season, and Benny G made a rare cameo appearance.
Chiesa fell behind inside the opening ten minutes when a corner
was not dealt with properly and, despite claims of a foul on keeper Danny Hardwick, the ball was forced home and the goal
was given. Five minutes later, it was two. Chiesa felt they were robbed of the ball inside the St Augustines half by
foul means, but again play was waved on and as Chiesa stood about complaining, St Augs played to the whistle and took a two
goal lead.
The Hornchurch Rossoneri were stunned. Having enjoyed the majority
of possession they found themselves with a mountain to climb in order to remain in the competition that gave them so much
pleasure last time around. St Augustines veteran striker Ron Ruberry was forced off with a leg injury, but nevertheless, it
would take a comeback of biblical proportions to turn things around...
Adam Jeffers had been working tirelessly with scant reward in
the past month, but when Cy Talor burst down the right and crossed into the box, Chiesa's chief sniffer of close range goals
was on hand to convert the chance. Belief restored, the LC/DC levelled things up before the half hour mark, Trew finding
Jeffers on the edge of the box, and Chiesa's number eights first time shot fizzing in off the upright... 2-2!!
In the blink of an eye Chiesa had taken the lead.Chiesa won
the ball in the centre of midfield and when a defence splitting pass landed at the feet of Jeffers there could be only one
result - 3-2 to the Hornchurch Boys, and maybe the start of another cup run. A great chance for Benny G to make it four was
denied by an amazing goal line clearance, but Dennis Peck did give the away side a two goal cushion on half time. Deputising
for Colin Williams at left back, Chiesa's utility man Peck fired an unstoppable free kick into the far corner from
fully thirty yards to prove Williams is not the only member
of the side who can launch heet seeking missiles.
You would have been forgiven for thinking that Chiesa were in
the ascendancy. They had been by far the better side and fully deserved to be in front, and surely St Augustines were too
demoralised to come back?
The last twenty minutes had been no more than a false dawn.
Although Chiesa continued to knock the ball around for the first quarter of an hour of the second half, a contentious decision
on the hour mark was to change the course of the tie. When a long ball split the Chiesa defence, the linesmans flag appeared
to have come to their rescue. The referee waved play on, and although a Saints forward had a clear run on goal
it seemed as though he had been denied by a last ditch tackle.
To HX amazement a penalty kick was given. Darren Hodsoll was booked in the argument that followed, and the penalty was converted
to pull Augustines back into the game.
Chiesa wore the expression of condemned men from that point
on, despite still being a goal to the good. That advantage was wiped out within five minutes when a deflected cross was turned
in from ten yard by Saints left winger.
Hodsoll went close with a quickly taken free kick, but Saints
had the momentum now, and took the lead when Chiesa stood still and allowed the ball to bounce from a long clearance. The
green and whites were first to react and a clinical finish saw them regain the lead.
By now LC/DC had almost fallen apart. Jeffers, hat trick hero
from the first half, had a chance to make it five each but blazed over from the edge of the area, but the Hornchurch Rossoneri
were doing little more than argue with each other and Referee Xenos. Playing football was now just a minor distraction.
St Augustines had the last word in the dying moments when a right wing cross was fired past Hardwick, who was left a heap
in the net, six-four.
So Chiesa's cup dreams are over for another year. With league
form inconsistent at best, the club are going through an uncertain spell. Can we possibly turn this season around???
LCDC; (4-4-2) D Hardwick; Hodsoll , McCarthy, W Hardwick, Peck; Taylor, Riley, B Gillham, Gray;
Jeffers, Trew
