La Chiesa were knocked out of the Arthur Anthony League Cup at Woodford yesterday, but came out of the match with pride intact after a much improved performance.

With the inevitable weekly absentees making team selection before Sunday Morning an impossibility, LCDC were forced into giving debuts to two new signings, midfielder Jon Gray, and teenage striker Carl Skinner. Matt Gillham was a late withdrawal with flu, so player manager Samuel Knowles was forced into an early return from injury to play alongside Skinner up front.

If they repeated the pathetic display against Esprit three weeks ago, La Chiesa might as well not bothered turning up, but their commitment was there for all to see in the first quarter of an hour with debutants Gray and Skinner, as well as Danny Button and Terry Soteriou all flying into tackles and letting Hammers' tricky midfielders know they were in a battle. Skinner was unfortunate to pick up a booking for a challenge on the Woodford keeper whilst Soteriou and the Hammers mohicaned right back were both shown a yellow card for what is best described as 'Handbags'.

Hammers were inventive in midfield but struggled to create any clear cut chances. When they did, they found Danny Hardwick to be in supreme form between the sticks. La Chiesa's first chance fell to Knowles, who after a poor kick from the keeper, sold a dummy to the Redheaded Centre Half, but should have done better than to drag a left foot shot wide. Minutes later, Cy Taylor, who had arrived at the game half cut and warmed up by doing impressions of The Darkness' Justin Hawkins in the dressing room, went on an amazing 50 yard run which ended with his shot shaving the outside of the Woodford post. Long distance strikes from Soteriou & Gray were dealt with by the Woodford Stopper but at least LCDC were creating chances, which hadn't been happening in previous weeks.

Woodford were enjoying the majority of possesion, and La Chiesa survived a few scary moments from Corners, but the half ended goalless and it was a positive visiting dressing room that Chiesa entered at half time.

The drama was to follow in the second half, however...

Chiesa had a great chance to take the lead at the start of the half, when Skinner was put clean through, but he couldn't keep his feet at the vital moment, and the chance was gone. From then on it was backs against the wall for the side from Hornchurch and had it not been for some top drawer goalkeeping from Danny 'The Monk' Hardwick, Woodford would have had the game sewn up long before the end. A double save from a corner had to be seen to be believed, and one stop when he scampered across his line to deny a certain goal would have had Gordon Banks and Peter Schmeichel doffing their caps. When Hardwick was beaten, Mark Harris was on hand with an amazing goal line clearance. It was a fantastic rearguard effort from the boys in red and black, time and time again Captain John Riley and Warren Hardwick made vital interceptions, but the good work was undone in the 65th minute when Harris pulled up with a hamstring injury. Chiesa were not allowed to bring on any of their semi injured players on the line as they had not named them as substitutes before the game. A somewhat petty decision by the referee who refused to listen to any protest from the Chiesa players.

Eleven versus ten for the last 25 minutes then, and Chiesa were up against it. Harris' departure coincided with the arrival of Hammers sub, Mike Toner. Toner is unlikely to be offered a modelling contract or give any award winning speeches, but his talent on a football pitch is there for all to see. He made an immediate impression on the game by sweeping a cross from the right into the back of the net to finally beat Hardwick and give Hammers' the lead. Minutes later, after being foiled by a challenge from  Hardwick, his reaction sparked a 21 man scuffle that even caused the Woodford keeper to run 90 yards, before thinking better of it and scarpering back to his own area. In the melee that ensued, Hardwick was cautioned, and brother Warren was red carded for foul and abusive language.

Chiesa were now down to nine men, but could have equalised when Woodfords keeper pulled of a fantastic save to deny Skinner after a great run and cross from Gray. Extra time would have been tough for the nine men, and became distinctly unlikely when Andrew Stylinou made  it 2-0 to Hammers with 10 minutes on the clock.

An awful foul by Samuel Knowles earnt Chiesa their fifth card of the match and there was still time for the Woodford keeper to make another great save to deny the Chiesa boss, who then wasted a free kick. It would surely have been a different story had regular dead ball specialist Colin Williams not been on paternity leave.

La Chiesa finally gave their travelling fans something to cheer in the last minute, when Knowles hooked a shot over the advancing  keeper, only to see it hit both post and bar before falling to Jon Gray, whose attempt was somehow cleared off the line. Cy Taylor picked up the rebound and played a clever ball to Knowles who was brought down by the keeper for a penalty. Now it was LCDC's keepers' turn to make a dash from one end of the pitch to the other. Danny Hardwick smashed the ball into the roof of the net to cap a Man of the Match display and make the score a more respectable 2-1, with what was to be, unfortunately, almost the last kick of the game. 

If Chiesa had played like this all season, they would not find themselves propping up the Division Three table. A game that had undercurrent of bad feeling throughout ended with handshakes all round, and we wish Woodford all the best for the rest of their cup run. See You At Coopers! 

LCDC;(4-4-2); D Hardwick; Harris, Riley, W Hardwick, Lamont; Taylor, Button, Gray, Soteriou; Knowles, Skinner