Optimism was high as Logica travelled to face West London Tigers, the side currently bottom of Division Two. The previous week’s vital victory over the nominally unbeatable Invictus had shown both a lethal cutting edge and a resolute rearguard, as well as finally ridding the club and of the long-running Captaincy Curse.

Bouyed by this new-found confidence, was able to name a strong squad as early as the Wednesday prior to the match. And whilst noting that the somewhat toothless Tigers had only scored nine goals in as many league games, none of which had resulted in victory, the rest of the week was spent guarding against complacency, an admittedly rare inhabitant in the Logica camp.

Despite such wise caution, Logica began the match with an apparent combination of complacency and lethargy. The Tigers were clearly vulnerable at the back, but possessed some skilful attack-minded players whose neat interplay was greatly aided by the visitor’s reluctance to close down quickly. The result was a fair degree of possession for the basement boys, and increasing frustration in the Logica ranks.

It was still Logica, however, that managed to muster the bigger goal threat and only some tight offside decisions early doors stopped clear goal chances. Thereafter, twice threaded passes through the Tigers defence for his strike partner to latch onto. From the second of these, cleverly flicked the ball back outside the last defender before opting to sidefoot a shot beyond the keeper’s reach but just wide of the far post.

Logica took the lead in a fashion as unconvincing as their display so far. A poor ball into the box was intercepted, but a scythed clearance was skewed only back out to the right wing where was waiting. Controlling the ball well, the returning midfielder fired the bouncing ball back into the danger area where it clearly struck a raised Invictus arm. The referee showed no indecision in pointing to the spot, obviously deciding that there was enough distance between crosser and defender to rule out the accidental explanation. After last week’s glove-bound restrictions, resumed spot-kick duties and emphatically fired his penno into the right-hand corner of the net, giving the keeper no chance [1-0].

This somewhat gifted lead still failed to shake Logica from their slumbers, as they continued to give the Tigers so much space and time that they looked a half-decent side. The bottom team’s lack of a cutting edge was evident, however, as their forwards mostly opted to try and dribble through the entire Logica back four where a snappy pass would have caused far more problems. As a result, ’s involvement in the Logica goal was limited to a handful of long-range efforts which he dealt with comfortably.

As the interval loomed, Logica’s were finally punished. This time a dribble towards the edge of the box saw a neat slide rule pass to play in a forward making a diagonal run. There still seemed little immediate danger as the player was running away from goal with a defender shadowing him. But from nowhere, the Tiger executed an elaborate back-heel that took everyone by complete surprise and somehow trundled just inside the far post [1-1]. A disappointing goal to concede, but a fine piece of skill nonetheless.

Some strong words at the break saw Logica emerge for the second half in more determined mood. They still failed to really click in terms of their play, but they controlled the game far better, and some sharper defensive play saw the home side given less space for manoeuvre.

Having restarted with more resolve, Logica were boosted when they regained the lead with a goal of no little skill. The build-up was decidedly route one, as libero belted a free-kick from the edge of his own box well over half-way. and the last defender chased the bouncing ball and it was the Logica striker who proved fractionally quicker, heading it on towards the penalty area. Without even needing to look up, instinctively caressed a beautiful lob on the half-volley from wide right that looped over the keeper and fell perfectly under the bar at the back stick [2-1]. Sent tumbling by his momentum, the Logica player did not even see the ball cross the line, but knew the moment he hit it that it was goalbound.

To their credit, the Tigers kept pressing for a second equaliser, and there were a few nerve-wracking moments and panicked clearances in the Logica defence in the remaining half an hour. But for all their possession, the home side really only created two moments of real danger. First produced a sharp reflex save to tip an acute snapshot over the bar, a stop the more meritous given the keeper’s lack of employment for much of the game. Then a characteristically elaborate dribble saw the Tigers’ goalscorer finally managed to weave his way past two defenders before srewing his shot wastefully wide with just to beat.

Logica for the most part repelled what was thrown at them, and some slightly improved attacking play saw them continue to create the best chances. A neat through-ball enabled ’s pace to take him clear, and despite doing everything right with his low curled shot that was heading just inside the far post, the home keeper stretched sharply to tip the ball away for a corner.

Some other moves just lacked the final pass, whilst turned provider with a beautifully delivered free kick that saw a powerful header arrowed a foot wide. Late on, Logica should have had a second penalty when was quite blatantly pushed to the ground chasing a bouncing ball inside the box. The referee put the whistle to his lips Mike Riley style, before changing his mind, later explaining that he was unable to see the offending arm do its deed as the defender had his back to him.

In the end it did not matter, for when the referee did blow his whistle a few minutes later, Logica had managed to extend their unbeaten run to four matches whilst was already becoming quite blasé about being a victorious captain yet again. The performance was less than impressive, but the team had at least raised their game enough in the second half to secure a valuable three points courtesy of a rare moment of Logica quality. They will need to raise it a lot further when they visit second placed Spectraprint next Sunday.