"Adversity draws men together and produces beauty and harmony in life's relationships, just as the cold of winter produces ice-flowers on the window-panes, which vanish with the warmth."

These could have been the wise words of ahead of Sunday's clash with the South West Alliance, but in fact was the perceptive observation of Søren Kierkegaard, wily left-wing wizard of the drivel for Sportsmans League Division Two outfit the Danes, after a particularly heavy defeat at an icy Riverside Lands Stadium.

Whether or not Groom drew inspiration from this patent truism, it was fair to say that Logica were facing adversity as well as the Alliance. The previous week had seen a -less Logica blown away by the bitter winds of winter and a competent, but certainly not brilliant, Charing Cross outfit in a double-header which dangled six points as a prize for the victors. Worse even than the result, was the manner of defeat in the second game, in which Cross had cantered to a 5-0 lead inside 30 minutes whilst meeting little in the way of resistance. Spirits were as low afterwards as they had been for many seasons. By the following Friday, there were just ten names on the teamsheet.

Sunday dawned mild and sunny, and was back in the hot seat. Some astute last minute dealing in the transfer window had secured the services of and , and two more players had been press-ganged into service to produce a full squad, albeit without a keeper. It was time to see whether the ice flowers would melt in the heat of battle.

set the heroic tone, agreeing to play despite only having one leg left. There were sacrifices elsewhere: would once more play at the back; would don the gloves; and agreed to start on the bench after pleaded for someone entertaining to talk to in the dugout.

From the off, the attitude was markedly different from the previous week. The midfield quartet set the agenda, ferociously closing down the Allies at every turn, with to the fore as usual. settled into his role quickly, and as well as harassing the oppo, showed the composure to look for a good pass when possession came his way.

At the back, Logica looked extremely solid, and almost unrecognisable from last week. and won the majority of aerial duals, and their reading of the game mopped up everything on the deck. was at his frenetic best, whilst continued to stick the 'No' into 'Nonsense'. The Alliance resorted to hopeful balls over the top which caused the prowling no trouble at all.

Logica were so busy successfully setting their stall out thus, that there was hardly a sniff of a chance for either side in the first forty-three minutes. But as the interval approached, the home side stepped up a gear and applied some concerted pressure. One attack down the right was desperately cleared by the Alliance under pressure from , but only as far as the marauding out left. Taking his time, the midfielder picked out a low cross which coincided with a great run from , the striker taking a lethal shot in his stride to fire home unstoppably just inside the far post [1-0].

The pundits would have us believe that this is the best time to score a goal, but Logica aren't so fussy. The goal did provoke much collective geeing-up in the home ranks, and verbal urgings that the lead must be taken into the interval at all costs. You don't need to be a highly paid pundit to guess what happened next. The Alliance won a throw near the corner flag: a cross was too easily looped towards the back stick where a forward volleyed home emphatically from six yards out [1-1]. Perhaps this was an even better time to score a goal.

The goal seemed to have dashed Logica's new found self belief and the visitors dominated the early proceedings after the restart, although without forcing into a save of note. This was mostly down to some fine collective defending, with particularly outstanding. In fact, it took a moment of brilliance to breach the home defences. A chipped pass over the Logica backline still left their striker much to do, but as advanced, he clipped a perfect lob over the stand-in keeper which floated just inside the far post [1-2].

Now Logica's new resolve would be soundly tested: would heads drop, or would the fighting spirit be stirred? Gradually, 's men edged their way back into the battle. typified the attitude, his non-stop running always trying to provide an option as well as chasing down every lost cause. The striker showed plenty of skill too, nimbly manoeuvring himself past opponents, and unlucky not to score on his debut when he interrupted a penalty box melee with a deft curling shot that just flew wide of the top corner.

There was plenty of entertainment at the other end too, where and were honing a new comedy double act. The oldest twanger in town had somehow pulled a thigh muscle whilst taking a goal-kick, and now couldn't kick with his right foot. amused himself immensely by unleashing a string of back passes to his keeper's right just to see how the stand-in gloveman would cope. On one occasion, deftly flicked the ball past an onrushing forwards, and began to dribble upfield. Suddenly realising he could not clear the ball long, he was forced to pathetically tap the ball into touch before hobbling back towards goal.

There was more conviction at the other end where Logica were slowly getting on top. A number of good moves had come to naught before the home side finally crafted an equaliser. The initial attack came down the left, but the ball across evaded everyone and it was left to to retrieve it on the right touchline. His low cross could only be stabbed half clear to where was loitering with intent, and from 20 yards fired a crisp low shot with deadly accuracy through a crowd of players and just inside the back stick [2-2].

In the time remaining, Logica defended with both application and commitment. The Alliance forced a string of corners, and exemplified the new mind-set by bravely heading clear from under his own bar just as an Alliance forward scissor-kicked his head goalwards. But was called upon to make just one significant intervention, high-kicking a through ball clear as a forward bore down on goal.

Indeed, Logica continued to take the game to their opponents when they could, and carved out the best chance by either side to win the game. , marauding deep in enemy territory, was the architect, winning a loose ball before looking up to float a dangerous diagonal ball towards the far post. had pulled off his marker, but with the keeper stranded, the forward tried to get his leg up when a diving header might have been a better bet for making contact.

The final whistle thus brought with it a well deserved point for and his men. Logica had faced adversity and answered some searching questions asked of them. As Ted Roosevelt, shrewd old gaffer of MLS outfit the New York Ramblers, once observed after a particularly long losing streak, "the boy who is going to make a great man must make up his mind not merely to overcome a thousand obstacles, but to win in spite of a thousand defeats." Logica might only have drawn this time out, but the manner of their performance should inspire them to aim a little higher than Roosevelt's goal of one win in a thousand.