The players were still coming back down to earth following their exhilirating and dramatic extra time Cup victory over West Six on Sunday, when the draw for the Quarter-Finals was broadcast live on SSSFLTV. The good news was that Logica avoided both the other Division Two sides left in the competition (Notting Hill and Fulham Utd), but were instead given a tricky away tie at Wandsworth AFC from Division 4.
Groom will not be fooled into complacency by drawing a team from two divisions below us. "There are no easy games even at this level," warned the gaffer after the draw. "In fact, there is no such thing as an easy game for Logica FC, period," he qualified. "Wandsworth are going well in their division, and will be full of confidence in the role of potential giant-killer."
Wandsworth currently sit in third place in Division 4 having lost just two games, both against the teams above them. They are their Division's top scorers with 28 goals in their 8 league matches so far, which have included 11-0, 6-1 and 5-0 victories against teams in the bottom four as well as two match awards in their favour. Their Cup progress has been considerably less spectacular, with a narrow 4-3 win over lowly Third Division side London Eagles in the first round, and a comfortable 2-0 win against mid-table Fifth Division outfit Simon Ridge FC the Sunday before last.
"There is usually little difference in standard between the different lower divisions," went on Groom just in case there were any shreds of complacency left in the squad. "To calibrate our expectations, it is worth noting that Kew Green [who beat us 2-1 a month ago] came up from Division 4 last season, although they did walk off with the title without losing a game."
The Logica Supremo considers the quarter-final (our best Cup run since reaching the same stage 4 seasons ago) as a massive match for the club. "Having said all that, this is still a great opportunity for the team to reach the business end of a major competition, and perhaps even land our first trophy since 1990," said Groom toying with the Football Gods. "The match could have been better timed, coming as it does the first week after the Christmas break [Sunday 8th January], but if we can ensure most of the squad is available, and we go out there with the right attitude, I don't see any reason why we can't make the semis. And then, who knows?"
The importance of the Cup quarter-final is heightened by our indifferent league form, which sees us languishing at ninth in the table. Two successive defeats, combined with three weekends without a league fixture, has seen us drop from 4th spot five weeks ago, as our closest challengers have racked up some points in the meantime. Our position is far from desperate, as we remain well clear of the bottom three, and winning our game(s) in hand would see us back in the top half.
The highest climbers over the last month have been Notting Hill, who are now second in the table after three sizable wins against the Division's strugglers (Spectra and the Dragons twice). More impressive was Hill's 4-3 win over Broadway in the first round of Little Ron, a result that seems to have knocked the previous table-toppers, if their subsequent 5-2 defeat to Atlas Lions is anything to go by. Broadway do however have an early opportunity for revenge when they entertain Hill this Sunday. All of which leaves unbeaten Bald Eagles top of the pile, their only game since we last spoke ending in a comfortable 5-2 win over Spectra.
Thus, whilst thoughts will unavoidably be turning to our Cup quarter-final just after Christmas, it is vital that the team are not distracted in the meanwhile, and pick up some much needed league points in our last two games of 2005. With visits to the Richardson Evans Don-o-Drome to face first West Six (who will doubtless be angling for revenge) and then Spectra, this will not be easy, but as Logica showed on Sunday, anything is possible with the right attitude.
The full draw for the Quarter-Finals of the Little Ron Challenge Trophy is published below. See the Results Grid for the results of all Division Two teams this season.
Division Two Results -
Sunday 13th November
Fulham United 2-2 South West Dragons
HOT Notting Hill 7-0 Spectra
Division Two Fixtures -
Sunday 20th November
Atlas Lions 2-2 Invictus
Logica 0-3 Welham Athletic
South West Dragons 2-6 HOT Notting Hill
Spectra 1-2 Broadway
Ron Le Beau Challenge Trophy Results - Second Round Proper -
Ties played on Sunday 27th November
[League position in brackets as of draw on 24 Oct 2005]
Wandsworth AFC [Div4 2nd] 2-0 Simon Ridge [Div5 8th]
HOT Notting Hill [Div2 5th] 4-3 Broadway [Div2 1st]
Spartak Clapham [Div3 6th] 1-2 Kew Antigua [Div3 2nd] (AET)
Northern Exiles [Div3 7th] 0-W Charing Cross [Div5 4th]
Logica [Div2 4th] P-P West Six [Div2 3rd] [Rearranged for 04 Dec]
Bragança [Div3 12th] 4-3 South West Dragons [Div2 11th]
Pacific Albion [Div5 12th] 0-3 Eagles [Div5 3rd]
Fulham Utd [Div2 8th] P-P Sporting Jubilee [Div5 10th] [04 Dec]
Division Two Results -
Sunday 27th November
Bald Eagles 5-2 Spectra
Invictus 2-4 Welham Athletic
Ron Le Beau Challenge Trophy Results - Second Round Proper -
Ties played on Sunday 4th December
[League position in brackets as of draw on 24 Oct 2005]
Logica [Div2 4th] 2-1 West Six [Div2 3rd]
Fulham United [Div2 8th] 9-0 Sporting Jubilee [Div5 10th]
Division Two Results -
Sunday 4th December
Atlas Lions 5-2 Broadway
HOT Notting Hill 6-3 South West Dragons
Invictus 0-4 Kew Green
Division Two Fixtures -
Sunday 11th December
Broadway v HOT Notting Hill
Fulham United v Bald Eagles
Invictus v Atlas Lions
South West Dragons v Spectra
Welham Athletic v Kew Green
West Six v Logica
Division Two Fixtures -
Sunday 18th December
Kew Green v Invictus
South West Dragons v Atlas Lions
Spectra v Logica
West Six v Fulham United
Ron Le Beau Challenge Trophy Draw - Quarter-Finals -
[League position in brackets as of draw on 04 Dec 2005]
Ties to be played on Sunday 8th January:
Wandsworth AFC [Div4 3rd] v Logica [Div2 9th]
Charing Cross [Div5 3rd] v Bragança [Div3 10th]
Fulham United [Div2 7th] v Eagles [Div5 1st]
Ties to be played on Sunday 15th January:
HOT Notting Hill [Div2 2nd] v Kew Antigua [Div3 4th]