...It's just possible you could save my life!' Anyone
of a certain age would remember this line from a 1980's Yellow Pages advert where the kids had held a party with the Parents
away and made an almighty mess of the family home. La Chiesa scraped victory at Valence United this Sunday, and saved
Manager Samuel Knowles from returning from work to find his 'house' looking like a bombsite, courtesy of a
last minute free kick from the lethal shooting boots of 'French Polisher' Colin Williams.
LC/DC went into the match minus several players. Defenders Warren
Hardwick and Steve McCarthy were injured, as was midfielder Benny 'G-Man' Gillham, while Knowles was unavailable
due to work commitments, the fiirst time he has been unable to attend a Chiesa fixture in one capacity or another. At Friday's
pre match press conference, Knowles had compared handing the reins over to Adam Jeffers to 'going on holiday and leaving the
kids on their own for the first time', and he wore the look of a worried parent as he boarded the
10.12 to Fenchurch Street on Sunday morning, frantically calling Jeffers and skipper Hods to check that the boys
were eating properly and had no girls staying round.
Williams lined up alongside Dean Jordan in the centre of midfield,
Iain Gay again showed his willing to sacrifice individual glory for the team cause by filling in at right back, while Dennis
Peck was on the right of midfield. Matt Gillham was given a chance to impress on the left wing. It had been three weeks since
the epic Arthur Atkinson Cup victory over May & Bakers, the last time Chiesa had taken to a football pitch, and the effects
of the Christmas festivities were there for all to see, as Chiesa struggled to find their rythm against a team that began
the game with just nine men. It was while they enjoyed the numerical advantage that Chiesa took the lead, however - Chiesa
'string vest' Jeffers annoying the Valence defence into submission before Dennis Peck stole in from the right to
bury his tenth goal in seven starts since his controversial summer move from Gidea Park.
Another success story for the LC/DC has been Mark Harris between the sticks, and it was down in the main to 'Monkey/Rolf/Chopper/The
Nicest Guy in Football' that Chiesa went into half time with their lead intact, despite not playing to their optimum.While
Chiesa were feeling the effects of the first forty five, Valence
are a side made up mainly of teenagers, and it was the energy of youth that hauled them back into the game. A succession of
corners were forced, and when their centre back was not picked up, he powered a bullet of a header past Harris for the
equaliser.
The rest of the game was a messy affair. Jeffers had a couple
of chances to give restore Chiesa's lead, while Darren Hodsell was forced to limp off injured and leave the visitors down
to ten men, lone substitute Cy Taylor having already replaced Matt GIllham. The match appeared to be meandering towards a first draw
of the season for the LC/DC, until, with less than a minute of injury time remaining, Colin Williams was upended. Any non
Chiesa fans taking a stroll through Valence Park might have supposed the danger was minimal, but they weren't to know that
Williams' long range shots come with a government health warning, and when he fired the ball spectacularly into the Valence
goal from thirty yards, Chiesa stood accused of picking Valence's pockets and stealing the points. To put a more positive
note on the day, all great teams have to learn to 'win ugly'. Chiesa have impressed football fans worldwide with their unique
brand of sexy football in the past, but they sent the travelling army of Rossinieri fans home with a smile on their face today
thanks to their new found ability to grind out a result.
Knowles, who had been secretly checking up via phone
calls to ''nosy neighbour' Warren Hardwick at pitchside, came home amazed to find his everything just as he had left
it - Chiesa's fourth straight win. with just one defeat in nine, and the promotion push picking up a head of steam at exactly
the right time. Little did he know that just minutes earlier, the whole gaffe was in danger of falling apart.
LCDC; (4-4-2) Harris; Gay, Hodsoll, Riley, Soteriou; M
Gillham (Taylor), Jordan, Williams, Peck; Jeffers, Trew
Gols - Peck Williams
Arbitro - D Champion
