Hello, and welcome to another end of season review. It only seems like yesterday that I was writing the last one! In fact the season past went as fast as an English summer, and it was an important one for Logica FC. It was imperative that we built on the miraculous relegation escape and at the very least re-establish ourselves in the division. As it turned out we spent most of the season competing in the top half as opposed to the bottom half, which was refreshing after our Houdiniesque exploits of the previous season (2003-04).

After the initial rebuilding of the preceding season, club stability had to be achieved. The board wouldn’t have accepted another season battling it out in the basement. New signings were acquired in the hope of giving us some strength in depth so in came (centre-back), (left-back), (anywhere), (midfield/striker), (defence/midfield), (winger), (right-midfield), (defence), (winger), (defence) and (defence). All the new signings quickly bedded into the team, particularly and , who were quite simply outstanding throughout.

So what of the results? The season started reasonably well. The first game saw us take on Sporting Brixton at home although we had to play the game on their turf at Wandsworth due to uncompleted building work at the Stade. The game started brightly with both sides playing some good football but it was Logica who took the lead with a header from just 10 minutes into his debut. In typical Logica fashion, though, the lead didn’t last long and Brixton were soon on level terms and worse was to follow as they took the lead just before the interval.

Some harsh words at half time did the trick, not to mention the introduction of . Logica managed to get themselves in front with goals from and . With the clock ticking down it looked as though Logica would claim victory on the opening weekend when disaster struck and Brixton got a goal out of nothing after a defensive mix up. Still, a point had been secured which was one more than we had after 4 months in the previous season.

Next up were Invictus, who were completely outplayed but still managed to beat us 3-2. Technically however it should have been 3-3 as scored a perfectly legitimate goal, which happened to literally burst the net and as such the referee decided that it hadn’t actually gone in.

This defeat was followed by the first victory of the season in front of a packed and re-opened Stade. Broadway were the unfortunate victims and on his debut proved to be the thorn in their side as he ran the midfield and even scored a long range free kick. and joined on the scorers' rostrum to secure us a 3-2 victory.

The highflying Eagles were our next opponents in a frustratingly tight game where the ball rarely got out of midfield, and with both defences standing resolute, chances were few and far between. The Eagles did manage to get their beaks in front for a while, but managed to convert for Logica and thus earn another point.

The bread and butter of league football was placed on the back burner for the next game as Logica played Notting Hill, top of the (First Division at the time) in the Ron Halfacre Trophy. Logica have a history of upsetting teams in the Cup and this game was to be no different. We started very brightly and after a few chances had been spurned, fired home to give Logica a deserved lead. This galvanised Hill into action and they managed to scrape a scarcely deserved equaliser before the break. However, the second half saw Hill assert their dominance on the play which left Logica defending for dear life. But when Hill did break through a resolute back eight, they found in imposing form. Hence, the game finished with a score line of 1-1 and extra time beckoned.

It would prove to be a momentous period of extra time as we repelled everything that Hill were chucking at us whilst occasionally catching them on the break, mostly through . Then disaster struck. The Hill striker was put through on goal and had no choice but to race out and bring him down. This resulted in an instant red for the Logica stopper. was man enough to don the keepers’ jersey and he proved to be an able replacement as he defied Hill again and again. After 120 minutes the score remained level, the 10 men of Logica deservedly feeling proud of their efforts to hold on for nearly 25 minutes. So to penalties, and it was to be who proved to be the hero of the hour, saving the final sudden death penno and thereby giving Logica another big-name scalp.

After the euphoria of the splendid Cup win, it was time for the Football Gods to restore parity and bring Logica back down to earth. A sequence of poor results followed with very few highlights to speak of. First was the league game against Croydon, which was an instantly forgettable game. Neither team really created anything as they cancelled each other out. Fortune eventually favoured Croydon as their striker mis-hit a shot into the corner of the net to record the only goal of the game. There followed the first of three encounters against Supercala. The game was reasonably entertaining with chances being created at both ends, but it took an unstoppable shot from to open the scoring. Typically however we couldn’t hold on and Cala eventually snatched an equaliser and the game finished 1-1, which on reflection was probably a fair result overall.

Bragança, our bogey team, were the next opponents and as usual we were totally outplayed and outclassed by the struggling Portuguese team who proceeded to romp home to a very comfortable 3-0 win at Riverside Lands. The particularly irritating thing about this side is that no one else seems to have a problem beating them comfortably, as the final league table would eventually show. The closest we came in this game was a chance for , but alas he couldn’t quite get the connection required and the chance went begging.

Round 2 of the Cup followed and we’d been paired with another table-topper, Supercala from our own Division. The day started badly and would proceed to get even worse. First of all the team bus broke down which led to a severely delayed kick-off which the ref was particularly unhappy about and resulted in him being terribly biased towards our opponents. We started the game with eight men and did well for 15 minutes before the remainder of team arrived. Typically we then promptly conceded a penalty whilst everyone was still trying to ascertain where they were playing. The award in all honesty was a joke. Debutant was adjudged to have pushed a Cala player in the back during a throw-in which was ridiculous - there weren’t even any appeals from the opposition players! But the ref had decided it was time for Cala to score, so all protestations were waved aside. Justice however was seen to be done as pulled off a cracking save to keep the game all-square. You could almost see the annoyance in the ref’s eyes.

Cala eventually took the lead through a well-worked goal, which required no refereeing assistance at all. After a stirring half time speech, we decided there was nothing to lose and to just go for it. To be honest I thought we played Cala off the park in the second period and it wasn’t long before had fired in the equaliser. Unfortunately this was as good as it got as chance after chance went begging, usually because the ref kept blowing up for off-side when it quite blatantly wasn’t - rather unusually, the Cala linesman tended to agree with us! With the clock winding down and extra time looming, the ref decided to intervene once more. A Cala striker finally made it into the area and the ref decided that the wonderful tackle executed by was again in fact a foul and gave Cala another penalty. This time they didn’t miss and ran out 2-1 winners rather unjustly. Here ended the Cup dream for another season.

Things weren’t about to get any better, although the game against Spectraprint was an absolute belter giving full value for money to a packed Stade. Print were clearly fired up and shot into a comfortable 2-0 lead. Or so they thought, for at this point Logica decided to start playing football and remarkably scored three times in a blistering Liverpool-esque 12 minute period in the second half through , and . It would have perhaps been wise to shut up shop at this juncture and see the game out, but that is not the Logica FC way. Enthusiastically pushing forward for more of the same, we in fact ended up conceding three late goals ourselves leaving Print to run out 5-3 winners.

Christmas loomed with just one fixture left to play in 2004 - the return match against Brixton. The match saw the annual reappearance of , and the French ace didn’t waste too much time in scoring the Logica opener. added a second but as in the first game of the season, some defensive sloppiness at the death allowed Brixton to snatch an undeserved point.

As we moved into the New Year those teams that are administratively wobbling tend to reveal themselves and as such they tend to fold (usually Logica have beaten them twice before this happens). Duke of Edinburgh proved to be one such team; it was therefore no surprise when our scheduled January fixture was awarded to us as a walkover.

The Invictus return was next and there was a great desire at the Stade to put them to the sword after their blatant net-bursting dishonesty earlier in the season. The home crowd were not to be denied as Logica struck three times, a brace from fan favourite sandwiching a brilliant goal from one man party machine .

The possibility of back-to-back victories was thus on the cards as Logica visited bottom club West London Tigers. Typically we played woefully against very average opposition but rather uncharacteristically we still won as the long serving oiled the hamstrings and struck twice (including a superb execution of his trademark lob) to give us a 2-1 victory and break the Tigers hearts.

Things were getting crazy now as all the talk by the press was of unbeaten runs and possibly grabbing one of the promotion spots. The league may have been beyond us, but promotion wasn’t a million miles away.

Second placed Spectraprint were the next to be shown the firm end of the Logica pointy stick. They were naturally confident of repeating their earlier victory over us at the Stade, but this was a different Logica FC. This Logica FC had belief coursing through its very veins and, as it was, Spectraprint weren’t man enough to tame the rampaging beast personified by .

Collectively this was probably the finest performance of the season. Logica attacked from the off and apart from an early scare we dominated the entire match. and ran the Print back line ragged, creating the necessary space for a marauding who had obviously had his Weetabix prior to the match. Usually the lad can’t hit a barn door, but this murky winter morn he pummelled it three times and still had time to have one cleared off the line. With Print well and truly beaten, took full advantage of a dodgy off-side trap to knock in a fourth and give Logica a thoroughly deserved 4-0 victory, their biggest of the season, and take their tally to 13 points from a possible 15 since December. Bragança, who were up next, had better watch out...

So as to not let us get too big for our boots the Football Gods decided to empower Bragança with the ability of an international team, and they once again comfortably beat us 3-0. Even the ever-reliable spot king couldn’t find a way past their goalie as a penalty awarded in the second half was missed twice, the first cannoning back off the bar and the second saved after the ref adjudged the keeper had advanced off his line too soon. So the unbeaten sequence came to undignified end, and with it any real hope of grabbing second place.

As the season approached the final strait, our next scheduled opponents Duke of Edinburgh quickly folded as predicted. Their record was expunged, and our three free points from the earlier match award were lost as easily as they had been gained. But as just about everyone else had beaten the Dukes, it didn’t really have any great effect.

The more significant impact of this cancellation, combined with the vagaries of the fixture computer, was an two-month period without a game. By the time Broadway visited the Stade in April, the finely-tuned lethal machine of that 5-match unbeaten run had completely wound down. Broadway had recently put a good run together and looked to be finally over their early season slump. Hungry for more points to escape the relegation quagmire once and for all, they duly left with all three after thumping us 4-1 ( with the solitary Logica reply).

Second spot and promotion was now beyond us mathematically, and so all that remained was to try and spoil someone else’s party, which we accomplished with no little style. A trip to Croydon followed the Broadway game and a determined Logica played some neat football to win 2-1 in what was a deserved victory despite a late Croydon surge. Part-time stopper was superb between the sticks dealing with everything that was thrown at him, and when he didn’t the post and cross bar did. had just been made skipper, and turned in a real Captain’s innings with both goals poached in great striking fashion, and an all-round superb display. This result in effect handed the title to Supercala, much to Croydon’s dismay, with the former now just needing one point from their last three games. Croydon would however gain some consolation by finishing as runners-up to join Supercala in the First Division next time out.

All the remained now was play out the final fixtures with a mid-table finish practically secured. The return fixture against the Bald Eagles proved to be a non event as we didn’t really show up and ended up on the wrong end of 4-1 spanking, goalkeeper with the lonely late reply. Relegated Tigers followed and were dispatched comfortably enough despite the referee’s best efforts. One particularly galling moment which I’m not sure I’ll ever get over was at the start of the second half. With Logica winning 1-0 after had exorcised his personal spot-kick demons, the ref decided to even things up. After a heroic face block on the line by , he awarded a penalty to the Tigers after insisting I’d handballed it despite me having a bloody mouth and the word “Umbro” imprinted on my cheek. Fortunately justice was eventually done when put Logica back in front - a rare and cherished goal from the ultimate utility man, the defender having cast off the gloves to star in a central midfield role. In the final minutes, volleyed home to wrap up the points with a goal that would ultimately see him share the Golden Boot in a remarkable three-way tie with and . Each striker bagged just a half-dozen, but it was at least good to see the goals being shared around.

And so to the final game of the campaign. Supercala still needed that point to secure the Championship, and this they duly achieved with a 3-0 win over a scratch Logica side. They were, however, made to wait until the second half and suffered quite a few scares before we finally allowed them to score!

So another season drew to a close, and Logica left the field of play to sounds of champagne corks popping and much cheering. Unfortunately it was the Cala faithful that were celebrating and not the long suffering Logica support.

Was it a successful season? I feel the club made a lot positive progress with us firmly re-establishing ourselves in Division Two, with a sixth place finish out of eleven starters reasonably respectable. Most importantly, all the new players have now been bedded into the side which will give us a good solid platform from which to base an assault on promotion next season.

Until next season,

SEASON AT A GLANCE:
Most Appearances: (19+1 out of 20 games max)
Golden Boot: (6 goals in 7+4 games), (6 goals in 17 games), (6 goals in 19+1 games)
Players' Player of the Year:
Goal of the Season: vs WL Tigers
Football Writers' Player of the Year:
Biggest Victory: 4-0 v Spectraprint (a)
Heaviest Defeat: 1-4 v Broadway (h) and Bald Eagles (a)
Number of Players used: 39
Goals Scored: 33 goals in 20 games (average 1.65 per game)
Goals Conceded: 42 goals in 20 games (average 2.10 per game)
Clean Sheets: One in 20 games (average one every 20.00 games)