Despite this being the fourth meeting with Sheen Royals this season, there was an air of fresh enthusiasm as the Logica players assembled outside Kew Gardens tube station for their first fixture of the new decade, and indeed their first match under new Supremo . This was not an air shared by , who discovered on his arrival that in every other goalkeepers' absence, he was to be the man between the sticks again. In contrast had flown back from Austria at 3am that morning especially for the game. This typified the excellent spirit in the squad. Even murmured something about an alcohol-free Saturday night. This quiet confidence seemed to justify many of the experts' predictions that the men in the rather tasteless jade shirts would be the team of the nineties. The only blot on the horizon was 's purple trousers.

This early morning confidence remained as the team began the game in impressive style. The Royals had little possession, although individual runs were more a feature of Logica attacks than the crisp, fluent passing style with which they were usually associated. and both had three-quarter chances which they squandered. was confronted with a goalkeeper on his line, and having discounted the possibility of the 'instinctive lob', instead curled a soft shot into the keeper's arms. 's firmly hit shot was too high, and some of the onlookers may have been forgiven for thinking that the burly striker's eve-of-the-match abstinence had back-fired.

The deadlock was finally broken by 's perseverence. He chased a long hoof down the left, and, beating a defender to the ball, he crossed deftly over a stranded, two-minded goalkeeper. was unmarked and doesn't miss open goals with his head from ten yards (well, not this week anyway). followed up this excellent work by scoring himself. and swapped passes ("got, got, not-got, got" etc.) before released with an accurate through pass, which was firmly struck home.

Logica were now playing very well indeed, and the defence in particular gave Sheen not the slightest glimpse of the goal. Unfortunately, at this point Sheen scored. A reluctance to clear eventually led to a Royals forward slotting home from eight yards.

Logica responded well. The strong tackling of the youngster , and good runs by , created further chances for and . A long free-kick was missed by the last defender, and at last found himself in a position to lob. The much practised execution was perfect, but as the gaunt striker turned to celebrate, the Sheen 'keeper, arching backwards through the air, somehow managed to claw the ball onto the bar. in his astonishment was unable to react to the rebound.

A 2-1 lead at half-time was disappointing, but the many chances spurned had to be forgotten. Logica aimed to bag a hatful in the second half, as in three previous meetings Logica had only netted seven against the bottom-of-the-table side still awaiting their first point.

Throughout the second half, Logica struggled to play to their full potential as moves frequently broke down with a stray pass. Sheen, though, had few chances, with the experienced winning everything in the air, and the perceptive mopping up anything he chose to leave. was as missilic as ever at right-back, and making his return to the team was likened in elegance to Robin Cousins by a knowledgable onlooker who happened to be passing with his dog.

Finally Logica breached Sheen's defences. A succession of corners had caused problems due to skillful variation. Now, one to the back post found charging in to send a bullet header goalwards. Then a near post corner was flicked on deftly by for to head home after a well-timed run into the box.

Logica now dominated and two further goals were added in the last ten minutes. First broke clear to rifle home a shot which gave him a well-deserved hat-trick. Then with seconds remaining, amended for a poor second half with a clinical finish. played a splendid pass into 's feet on the edge of the box. The striker turned his defender sharply and beat the keeper with ease.

So Logica remained unbeaten in 89/90. had well and truly banished those critics who thought his ten-month barren period had signalled the end of his career. And now the match the following week against our old adversaries Sarkpoint could be eagerly anticipated.