La Chiesa embarrassed themselves on Sunday, turning
in their worst display of the year, and possibly in their history, at Barkingside Recreation Ground.
St Augustines Res were the opposition back in
the autumn, when Chiesa claimed their first league point, and were unlucky not to have gotten all three having led 2-0 with
twenty minutes remaining on to be pegged back by two late goals. With that day in mind, the Hornchurch Rossineri arrived with
an easy victory in mind, considering the fates of the two teams since that day. But anyone who watched the way they struggled
to overcome Stonewood a fortnight ago would have told you it was possible LC/DC were getting too big for their boots.
Conditions in East London were appalling, with
a gale force wind howling across the park, but they were the same for both sides. That said, they were a contributory factor
in the opening goal. When Danny Button, playing his first match of the year, conceded a foul near the left corner flag, the
free kick caught on the wind and somehow swirled over everyone and dipped under the bar to give St Augustines the lead.La
Chiesa had been lethergic up until the goal, but falling behind failed to install a sense of urgency in them. St Augustines
were winning every first and second ball, and by half time, their keeper had not had a save to make.
At half time the general consensus in the Chiesa
camp was that they could not play any worse in the second period. The guile wasn't working and would have to be replaced by
grit if they were to find a way back into the match, St Augustines hadn't really created any chances other than the goal,
but were by far the more effective side.
But the half time consensus was wrong. La Chiesa
did play worse, a lot worse, in the second period. The distribution from the back was ponderous and often off target, the
midfield were anonymous and disinterested in winning the ball back when they lost it, while the attack did not see enough
of the ball to contribute.
It was sloppy play in the extreme that led
to the second goal. La Chiesa had a throw halfway in the opposition half, but it somehow found it's way back to keeper
Hardwick by his own corner flag. He had time to take it back into his box or pass to a defender, but inexplicably tried
to put his foot throught the ball and sliced it straight to a St Augustines forward, who made little fuss about putting
the ball into the unguarded net. A real howler from Danny H, and a 'What Happened Next...?' moment if ever there was
one, but we must remember that his performances in the early part of the year are the main reason La Chiesa
are where they are in the table instead of still suffering from 'Bottom of the Table Blues' - just ask May & Bakers.
There were still thirty minutes on the clock -
more than enough time to recover the deficit. Skipper Darren Hodsoll came on in place of Button, and showed the
right spirit, rallying his troops to get stuck in. Warren Hardwick had a long range effort fly just over, Iain Gay drove
straight at the keeper after good work from Cy Taylor, and Sam Knowles' free kick flew straight into the wall but LC/DC could
have played all day and not troubled the scorers - if St Augustines had Steven Hawking in goal they would've still kept a
clean sheet. Forwards Adam Jeffers & Matt Gillham had no service whatsoever, though Jeffers gave his usual 120% -
where does he get the energy from?
Warren Hardwick was shown a yellow card for cynical
foul on the edge of the area, and brother Danny followed himinto the book for the foul that gave St Augustines the opportunity
to make it three from the spot. The penalty was duly despatched, and the final twenty minutes were a farcical mixture of misplaced
passes, mistimed tackles, and general whingeing from La Chiesa, who seemed to think that the best way to salvage some pride
from a wretched performance was to get on each others backs rather than roll up their sleeves.
This was a match that showed some worrying
deficiencies in the LC/DC make up. When the silky skills and short passes were not coming off, it seemed they didn't have
the heart for the battle. They seems content to blame each other rather than put their foot in, get amongst it and grind out
a result - reminiscent of a continental side playing behinfd the Iron Curtain in bad weather and not fancying it one bit.
St Augustines adapted to the conditions, took their chances, and showed the right attitude throughout, midfield playmaker
Jay was particularly impressive. They can probably play better football than they showed, but they were up for winning
the little battles that Chiesa didn't want to know about, and fully deserved the three points. Credit, where credit is due,
Referee Watts, who had been subject of heavy Chiesa criticism at Astra last month, had a good game (good game), letting play
flow as often as possible. It was feared that the bad feeling from that encounter may have overflowed into this one, but that
was not the case at all, so good on him!
La Chiesa's mood was lightened in the Chequers
later, when the came across a local lad made good (see LC/DC on Tour), and it was decided that maybe this was the kick up
the backside they needed.All that can be done now is to draw a line under this performance and concentrate on maximum points
from the remaining four matches in this, what must be remembered, their first season.
LCDC ;(4-4-2) D Hardwick; Harris, W Hardwick,
Riley, Williams; Taylor, Knowles, Gay, Button (Hodsell); Jeffers, M Gillham
Tarjetas Amarillas - W Hardwick
D Hardwick
Arbitro - P Watts
