How many times have we heard it before? People fail to appear on a Sunday morning, a nine or ten man Logica side battles valiantly but finally loses a close-run thing as the odds are just too great. End of report. Well no, since that would deprive the world the details of this most excellent game. The culprit this time? Steve "The Magnet" Mackle. Never again. Further problems were unavoidable as new boy Donavan's car broke down miles from the ground, whereupon he was clobbered a large sum by the AA. Even having said that, Logica still had eleven, although there was no recognised keeper with Mackle absent. Re-planning found Spence the man bold enough to don the gloves, but within a minute of the game starting, further disaster presented itself as Scud Malone ruptured an ankle executing his first tackle and could not walk afterwards, let alone play on. So now we had the familiar ten-man scenario.

Logica were a bit slow to readjust to this latest enforced reorganisation, and within five minutes a cross from the right found a Saint's forward unmarked some three yards from goal and Spence had no chance. 0-1. It seemed at this point hopeless. After the 7-1 thrashing the week before, Logica were not high on confidence and being one man short and without a specialist keeper would not have tempted even the most extravagant of gamblers to back them. However, they retained an attacking policy of two men up, maintained their three centre halves, and relied a great deal on the middle-men Woolhouse and Lambert to put in an enormous amount of work.

They were not disappointed. Whilst inevitably conceding the lion's share of possession, Logica defended superbly and restricted St Anselms to few meaningful chances; a long range shot which shaved a post, and an excellent save by Spence at the feet of an attacker. And when they gained possession, the never-ending running of Lambert, Woolhouse, Jobbling and Hatton provided Sidaway and Abbott up front with enough support to create some good chances and more importantly, some hope. A run by Abbott tormented the centre-half who he then nutmegged to enable him to put in a cross, which unfortunately was just too far behind Hatton for the wide-man to direct it goalwards. Another couple of half-chances presented themselves (including what Logica felt was an appeal for a definite penalty as Abbott was bundled to the ground, but which was turned down by the unofficial referee), and then just before half time Logica could have been ahead. First a powerful run from Lambert took him clear on the left, but his cross was a frustrating inch away from the lunging Sidaway six yards out. A minute later, a great move between Hatton and Woolhouse left the latter in the role of crosser and Sidaway as the even crosser as again he was inches away from diverting the ball home. Finally, Sidaway was put clear, and rounded the keeper who sensationally charged him to the ground. No penalty, not even an indirect free-kick.

So half-time found Logica's ten exhausted but fired up for the battle. More of the same was the call that came from captain Abbott. It seemed that St Anselms had also had some 'words' during the break, for the second half resumed with some serious pressure from the home team. Yet the stalwart trio of Clarke, Read (yes, the one who retired last year) and Dick held firm, and when the defence was occasionally breached, Spence was there to save the day. In the end though the relentless pressure bore fruit for the Saints, when a goalmouth melee culminated in a weak shot which Spence got a hand to, but which only bamboozled Captain Clarke on the line, and Logica were two down.

Incredibly, rather than kill Logica off, this goal merely spurred them on to even greater efforts, with Woolhouse and Lambert never-ending in the work they were putting in. Woolhouse sent Abbott clear of a static defence, but whilst the forward's shot beat the keeper it did not evade the post and the ball was cleared. This was followed almost immediately by a characteristically strong run from midfield by Lambert which took him clear of all challenges, but again there was no score as the keeper made a good save with his feet. The Logica players must have been close to dropping, yet still they drove forward. Finally reward : Woolhouse again found Abbott wide, and his clever pass curled behind the line of defenders found who else, but Lambert once more on the rampage, and his first time volley was so well struck that the keeper could not even move before the ball was in the net.

Some consolation then. But no, Logica wanted more. Some brave attacking was interspersed with plenty of defending, but Logica did not give up. Once more Woolhouse took possession, and as stingy as ever did not want to give it up. This time he found (you've guessed it!) Lambert, who just as in an earlier move broke clear using his strength and pace, but this time finished clinically. An equaliser! The champagne had to be put on ice though, as there were still twenty minutes left to survive.

It was now all St Anselms. A mixture of good defending, heroic goalkeeping and a bit of luck kept the scores level. In the end though, ninety minutes was just too long to keep that kind of work-rate going, but when St Anselms' winning goal came, it did so in cruel fashion. With only nine minutes left, a Saints forward broke on the left. This time Logica defenders could not get back, but Spence once more saved bravely, only to see the ball rebound to another yellow shirt, and the inch perfect lob that followed over the stranded Spence was indeed a fine goal. And this time Logica could not raise themselves from the dead, despite the home side being reduced to ten men when their left winger was carried off with what later transpired to be a broken ankle.

After Logica's first game against Brentford, the referee that day had uttered the opinion that Logica wouldn't win too many games in their new league. Well, with the spirit and skill shown in this game, I think that referee may be proved wrong in the not too distant future.