After last week's dispiriting drubbing at the hands of the impressive Pimlico Village, the Supremi decided to act swiftly before any further rot could set in. A week holed up in the Logica boot room revamping team tactics so nearly paid dividends: but for a solitary lapse in the second half, a much improved display would have yielded Logica's first point of the season.

Croydon Red Star had won all their three matches so far, including a 3-2 win over Pimlico a few weeks back. The fear was of another heavy defeat, and one that might just drain the last vestiges of life out of the club's season. The Supremi, having taken on board some constructive suggestions from a certain , thus devised a cunning and fluid 4-5-1 formation designed both to stem the haemorrhaging of goals conceded, and also to enable Logica to keep more possession and thereby pose more of a threat of their own.

After a week-long availability roller-coaster, the Supremi were able to insert the two F's into the heart of the defence ( and ) and carefully deploy the terrier-like in front for added protection. and would provide the passing hub in the middle of the park, whilst two pacey young wingers were unearthed to strike the fear of God into the Red Star back line.

was perhaps charged with the toughest task of all, and asked to play a selfless and hard-working role up front on his own; to hold the ball up, and allow the galloping midfield quintet time to get forward and support him in a yellow surge. However, with the afore-mentioned wide duo comprising and , who boast the benefit of 82 combined years experience but substantially less mph, the indefatigable Sheffielder might have been wondering just how many hours he would need to hold up that ball single-handedly before the cavalry trundled over the hill.

Such was their faith in this formation, that the Supremi actually started with 10 players rather than put the late-arriving on the bench. Remarkably, the Logica players took to their task with gusto, and even whilst a man down for ten minutes saw an unfamiliarly large percentage of possession. The ball was passed forwards and sideways, short and long, and even knocked backwards as Logica revelled in periods extended retention.

hugged the left touch-line like some elderly version of Sir Stanley Matthews, and went some way to justifying the Supremi's faith in such an unlikely stratagem by rarely giving the ball away. regularly jinked this way and that down the right, and, but for some unfortunate last-gasp blocks, would first have dribbled clear himself, and then have played through for a clear run on goal.

The centre-forward's selfless running was for the most part occupying two or three defenders, and opening up vast and unpopulated spaces in the middle behind him. The Logica midfielders took good advantage, with and running into the space and having shots deflected for corners. Some determined battling from after a Logica corner regained possession, and the ball was moved quickly across the box to who again had his shot desperately blocked. But Logica came closest to scoring when another of 's wickedly dipping free-kicks from the right touch-line grazed the bar with the home keeper beaten.

Red Star were an impressive outfit with strength and pace, who moved the ball around quickly. But the Logica midfield blanket was doing its job, and with the back four imperious, the home side were kept at arms length. There was one moment of danger when the yellow back line was pierced, but slid in sublimely as a Croydon forward was about to fire home.

Indeed, it was Logica who should have been given the opportunity to take the lead via two penalty shouts. First was played clear and had his heels clipped in the box by the chasing defender just as the Logica forward was about to pull the trigger. Our very own amateur version of Mark Clattenberg ruled that the contact was accidental, even though the goal-scoring chance had been denied. Later did brilliantly to win back the ball just outside the box, and then jinked the ball back over another defender inside the box only to be barged to the ground. Again the referee was not to be swayed, but there will be no Moysian whining here.

The second half saw Logica playing with the same level of concentration, and the Achilles heel of a quick goal conceded just after the break was avoided with aplomb. But as the half wore on, the visitor's efforts to date began to show as their possession ratio dipped and the threat to the Red Star goal evaporated. The Supremi tried to freshen things up by bringing on the young legs of both and , and the occasional promising move was carved out. But all too often either the final ball was wrong, or Logica were restricted to shooting from distance, and the Red Star keeper was not unduly extended.

With twenty minutes remaining Croydon won a free kick centrally, some 35 yards from goal. As Logica set about organising a wall and some marking, Red Star's centre half sped unnoticed into the box and was picked out perfectly with a quick dead-ball. The glancing header from 8 yards left with no chance [0-1].

The remainder of the game saw Logica huff and puff in pursuit of an equaliser as they pushed players forward in numbers, but to no avail. Croydon were content to sit on their one goal lead, and the visitors could not quite summon the guile to break through. So another defeat, but the Supreme tactical switch had worked for the most part, and at least the players could take heart from perhaps their best showing of the season to date.