Close season punditry was of an unusually singular mind that the solid if unspectacular platform established during the preceding season (mid-table mediocrity representing a significant improvement on that dramatic Houdini escape) could, and indeed should, be used as a springboard for a serious promotion challenge. New stars such as and were soundly bedded into the Logica Way, and many reckoned the club had their most talented squad for years.

The previous campaign had demonstrated a team that could beat anybody on its day, largely built on a very solid defensive foundation. An enviable array of last-line talent (including four world class central defenders in the shape of the and , and , and a top-notch and regular keeper in ) would ensure that one end was taken care of. All that was required was an improvement at the other end where a modest 33 goals had been bagged, and where the decrepit , fast approaching his fifth decade, still somehow held down a regular first team place.

So much for considered analysis. After a gentle warm-up against the regulars of the local in the inaugural Victoria Challenge Match, Logica opened their second division campaign with an emphatic 8-0 defeat at the hands of eventual runners-up Broadway. The anticipated rearguard miserliness was in tatters as struggled to crow-bar all his centre halves into a starting XI. Within a few months had made a dash for the northern borders, the was incapacitated by an old war wound, and the had found himself raised to the status of il Papa in a puff of white smoke, leaving to stand-in as 's partner for much of the campaign.

To their credit, the team bounced straight back to suggest this opening day mare was nothing but a rusty blip, as some curious goals clinched a deserved 3-1 win against ye olde Dragons. But the pendulum had been set in metronomic and immutable motion, and a quite remarkable display of consistent inconsistency raged well into November, as each impressive victory (Welham, Atlas Lions) was inevitably followed by an insipid defeat (Croydon, West Six, Kew Green). The team finally managed to break the spell by engineering a second consecutive defeat, this one against Welham, who they had thrashed 4-0 just five weeks before.

This seemed to do the trick , however, as Logica went out and impressively won their next two games against high-flying West Six. The first of these was in the second round of the Little Ron Cup, the safety-net competition for those teams who had carelessly been knocked out in the first round of the Big Ron Cup, as Logica had against Croydon. An ice-cool penalty in the last minute of extra time from secured a 2-1 win that set the Stade faithful dreaming tentatively of Cup glory. This was followed by an even more impressive 2-0 league win against the same opponents the following week, courtesy of two more goals from the ageing striker in an eerie match played in a semi-haze caused by the explosion at the Buncefield Oil Storage Depot far away in Hemel Hempstead.

But as is so often the way, just as Logica had worked up some impressive momentum, the team were thwarted by a period of inactivity, this time by the unavoidable obstacle that is Christmas. The vital Little Ron Cup Quarter-Final against fourth division Wandsworth AFC had been dangerously scheduled for the first weekend in January, and the intervening four weeks - crammed as they were with mince pies, turkey, mulled wine and curry - took their inevitable toll. Logica's Cup dream turned into a nightmare as they crashed out 6-1 with barely a whimper of defiance.

This result seemed to knock the stuffing out of the team, and more frustrating Sunday morning lie-ins interspersed three straight league defeats against Broadway, Spectra and Notting Hill, with no fewer than 14 added to the Goals Against column in the process. Calculations involving games in hand over the teams in the promotion spots gave way to nervous looks over our slumping shoulder. As frolicking lambs ushered in the month of March, Logica had not claimed a single league point at the Stade all season, nor had they managed to amass 20 league goals. Back-to-back matches against bottom placed Invictus demanded nothing less than a six-point haul.

had not been oblivious to this malaise. , after a promising debut in the last game of the previous season, was yet to play at all in this campaign due to a serious injury, but was now approaching fitness once more. And a pacey young striker called , who appeared to know where the goal was, was spotted and quickly signed up. Both were thrust straight into the starting line-up against Notting Hill, and an unlucky 5-4 defeat represented a significant improvement on what had gone before in 2006, not least due to two finely taken goals from .

When it mattered most, Logica managed to pull out their best display of the season for the visit to Invictus. A classic early strike from calmed the nerves, before an exhilarating display of passing football after the interval added four more splendid goals, including another from the impressive , to register an emphatic 5-0 victory. A week later it was a far more gritty display at the Stade that eked out a 1-0 win against the bottom side and earned those long-awaited first home points of the season. A sublime finish from decided the outcome, helped in no small part from an accomplished goalkeeping display on his Logica debut from the 1982 World Cup Algerian veteran .

With even the outside chance of relegation eradicated, Logica settled back for a gentle amble towards a seventh place finish. Lack-lustre defeats against Bald Eagles and Fulham were partly redeemed by an entertaining 5-2 win over the Atlas Lions (including two goals from the excellent ), and a scrappy draw against the desperately plummeting Dragons.

But the season was to end in controversy, ignominy and an unsatisfying symmetry as Logica faced title chasing Bald Eagles, level on points with Broadway at the top of the table going into the final Sunday. Broadway, who had started Logica's season so badly with that 8-0 win, had a goal difference superior by 4 and duly dispatched Welham by 6-1. The Eagles therefore needed to beat Logica by 10 clear goals to claim the title. Surely it couldn't happen...? Oh dear!

Another curious statistic about this final match was that it was the only game of the season in which didn't appear. The striker still topped the appearance charts, and also the goalscoring charts for the fifth season running, although again his tally of 8 was not exactly earth-shattering. This was perhaps due in very small part to the sacrificial donning of the gloves in a couple of games. Despite first choice keeper making his biggest number of appearances (13) in a season, there were still seven other players who found themselves between the sticks during the campaign: , , , , and , along with .

Further up the field there had at least been a big bonus in the return of , who played a full campaign following his recovery from that serious injury during the 2003 World Cup in Rome. The skilful midfielder had a fine season in tandem with in the middle of the park, the pair at the heart of Logica's most incisive creative play and finishing some way clear at the top of the Assists chart.

also produced some outstanding performances in a myriad of positions, but as the dust setlled on another Sportsman's League campaign, was left to reflect that the team had not really progressed at all. Their record was almost identical to that of the preceding season, as they continued to struggle to score goals (a mere 33 in the league). The defence remained generally strong; ignoring the extremes of that first and last game, Logica conceded just 34 goals in the 16 other league games. But the resultant whole was still felt by many to be significantly less than the sum one would expect from such quality parts, with Logica needing to develop a more confident style of play if they were to fulfil their potential.

SEASON AT A GLANCE:
Most Appearances: (19+1 out of 21 games max)
Golden Boot: (8 goals from 19+1 games)
Players' Player of the Year:
Goal of the Season: vs Welham
Football Writers' Player of the Year:
Biggest Victory: 5-0 v Invictus (a)
Heaviest Defeat: 0-10 v Bald Eagles (a)
Number of Players used: 35
Goals Scored: 36 goals in 21 games (average 1.71 per game)
Goals Conceded: 64 goals in 21 games (average 3.04 per game)
Clean Sheets: 4 in 21 games (average one every 5.25 games)