It was a strange sensation. We'd oft heard it spake about, usually in nervous tones by the wily flat-capped gaffers of yesteryear, who would guard against it at all costs. We'd read about it in the papers too. And your modern day celebrity football pundit knew all about it of course, and could blather on for hours about the harm it could do. But, we at Logica FC had never actually experienced it for ourselves. Could this be that alien yet exotic phenomenon called "complacency"?

All week the newly heralded stars had soaked up the headlines splattered across the web-pages of the leading mass-market international cyber-rags. The words 'top' and 'table' were combined in a long-forgotten syntax that implied footballing success rather than a certain drunken Scotsman in Bordeaux. Could the players have believed the hype? Had the well-drilled clichés about not winning medals in October, and taking each game as it comes, been discarded at the first whiff of an unbeaten sequence? Surely not by these consummate professionals?

Well, perhaps it was rather the gusting wind. Or the sloping, bobbley pitch. Or a referee that made Mike Reed look competent. Or the pressure of playing in front of yet another sell-out crowd at the Morden Stadium. Or the absence of Supremo Fleming and that element of managerial fear. Or even an opposition, our old adversaries St Anselms, who were a pretty handy outfit.

Whatever the cause, or causes, Logica were woeful for the most part on Sunday as they attempted to stretch their unbeaten start to five matches. After gallivanting around the pitch during the warm-up posing for photographs and signing autographs, the smiles soon disappeared as players struggled to come to terms with a difficult surface and tricky opponents. In the first half, Logica failed to register a single shot, either on or off target.

In truth, St Anselms fared little better, but they did go into the half-time break with a one-goal advantage and it could easily have been two. The visiting left-winger had caused Logica problems all morning with his pace, and after half an hour, another burst of speed accounted for two more defenders. As he neared goal, he seemed to lose control slightly, but from nowhere appeared an Italian Boadicea scything down all in it's path and paying scant attention to the ball. Trovato's foul was so blatant that even this referee could not fail to point to the spot. Spence got a hand to the penalty but could not keep the ball out (0-1).

Seconds before the interval, goalkeeper Spence was a little more fortunate as he advanced to claim a deep cross. The swirling wind played havoc with the flight of the ball, and Spence dropped the ball at his feet. Two Saints players reacted quickly, but whilst one stabbed the ball into an empty net, the other contributed to this outcome by obstructing the Scot. Luckily the referee saw the offence and awarded a free-kick to Logica.

After some metaphorical tea-cups had been hurled at the interval, the home team set about maintaining their unbeaten sequence with a little more purpose and application. As passes began to reach their intended destination with a little more frequency, chances began to come Logica's way. Sidaway hit a screaming free-kick from thirty yards which rattled a startled keeper. Abbott played in Hoyland past the last defender, but the leading scorer's first touch let him down. Receiving a good pass from Clarke minutes later, Abbott whipped in a dangerous cross and Hoyland did well to get between two defenders, but his powerful header was just two high.

Finally Logica's persistence paid off as they won a free-kick on the edge of the box. Clarke and Sidaway executed a well-rehearsed move that completely out-foxed St Anselms. Clarke turns to Sidaway and says "Whatever you do, don't run over the ball." Sidaway then runs over the ball (because he's seen the proper players do it on the telly). Clarke pretends to be phased by this obstinacy, and sends in a weak dead-ball kick. A confused defender can do little else than prod the ball away to the edge of the penalty area. And it is exactly there that Jeff Hatton is waiting, and a brilliantly controlled volley almost rips the roof of the net off. Logica have their equaliser (1-1).

From here on in, there was much more poor quality football by both sides. But Logica still created two gilt-edged chances that should have wrapped up all three points. First Reevaldo robbed a dallying defender and was in the clear, but his early shot cleared the bar with only the keeper to beat. Next up was a perennial misser of good chances, replete with his shiny new boots. A long clearance somehow weaved its way through to Abbott, who had beaten the offside trap. He took the ball in his stride and hastily opted for a low hard shot which was too close to the keeper, and an outstretched boot blocked the goal-bound effort. Abbott, an expert in such matters, later reflected that a daintily wafted side-foot would have been the finish of choice.

At the other end, Spence had little to do, but what there was, he did brilliantly. A powerful shot late on seemed to be bringing Saints all three points, but Spence's reactions were sharp and he somehow managed to deflect the ball over the bar for a corner. Once again the fact that our goalkeeper had little to do, was a testament to an impressive Logica defence, with Trovato and the Hattons once again headlining. The only other positive from this drab performance was two more promising debutantes. Christian Gallagher impressed with his tireless chasing and aggressive tackling. Jez Brown was unlucky to make just a brief appearance towards the end of a referee-reduced second half, but he did at least have the satisfaction of emerging from the post-match statistical analysis with the only 100% pass-completion record.