Their first competitive game since Sidaway had his jaw broken by the Cardinal sinner, found a very lack-lustre Logica team surrendering without a fight against high-flying Battersea. Apart from the extreme inclemency of the weather, the other obvious excuse Logica had for this non-performance was that they were still in a state of shock after the fallout from the SidGate incident. After all, it's not every day you learn that the only reputedly genuine Tier-One member in the entire squad cannot afford Private Medical Care.

The silver lining to be found around this rather large and dark cloud, was the debut of new-find Scott Fleming. Having only recently joined the company, the young Scot had immediately contacted clique supremo Clarke and identified his intention to play football for this fine company. His first outing was sufficient to demonstrate the abilities he has to offer Logica Football Club : strength in the tackle, good passing ability and tenacity. Perhaps most importantly of all though, Fleming's near-shaven pate, in tandem with that of his full-back partner Toman, offers the Logica back four a quality of coiffure symmetry not seen for many years (in fact not since the famed loose-perm axis provided by the Arnold - Oliver double-act in the mid-eighties). What Logica Football Club has to offer Fleming is less clear, and it is difficult to know what the youngster will have made of the paucity of this performance.

For the record, Logica managed to avoid conceding more than one goal in the first half, but their luck ran out in the second as three further Battersea strikes gave the score a more realistic feel. In retaliation, the mighty Logica offered not a single serious threat to the opposition keeper. The morning's only diversion was provided by the regular half-time entertainment, as Sumo once again demonstrated that he must surely have ranted at a higher level in his youth.