After the mid season hiatus caused by a combination of a lack of commitment from opposition trembling in the face of the Alex's fearsome form and the even more fearsome weather, the Alex continued their winning ways with a solid and spirited 4-2 destruction job on CLSSL rivals Barking Mad.
If other encounters between the teams have been lacklustre, in particular the 1-1 draw earlier this season, and the corresponding fixture last year where the Alex dominated proceedings against a ten-man Barking but again could only manage a 1-1, this game is the pick of all the encounters between the sides.
The Alex welcomed back both Oli 'Chimps of Woe' White and James 'the ego' Wardle to the fold in midfield and at the beginning of the game showed some rustiness despite the comfortable win last week against Shepherd's Tuesday. Barking were enterprising from the start, forcing Woodsman, who has caught and held the No 1 jersey of late being tested twice early on.
The Alex soon found their rhythm though, and soon began to test the Barking defence; Mantell 'The Avatar' and Miller going close, and causing some real problems.
Just as Clapham seemed to be finding their stride however, some poor communication between the defence and midfield created time and space for Neil, a nice chap from Barking's team whose toe was broken in the last game, to steady himself with enough time to find his range and produce a stunning if a little bit flukey lob over Woodsman from 25 yards on 18 minutes.
Barking celebrated in style, and with good reason to make the most of it because they looked very much the away team at this stage.
Clapham set about the task of restoring parity with some crisp passing and aggressive pressing, further asserting their technical superiority, Riley and Templeman providing, as usual, and imperious and kevlar plated covering at the back, whilst at full back Andy 'battered teddy bear' Halle showed great strength and composure in dealing with the physical presence of the Barking forward line. Of real note however was stand-in right back Nick Wright's contribution, taking to the position like a fat bird to a chip shop, he settled in well and displayed a great physical quality as well as commendable awareness on the ball.
It was his heavily contribution which led to The Alex's equalizer.
Possession spread across the midfield to Wardle who played a nicely weighted pass down the line to the overlapping Wright, who won a throw in, and showed real oonagi to take the ball quickly and catapult it to Miller. Cutting inside the defender Miller played a neat one-two with Black, and squared it to Mantell, lurking on the 6 yard box, who slotted away neatly into the bottom corner.
Barking may have had a strong case for offside, but with no linesmen, they were clutching at straws. Astonishingly replays showed the whole move developed from start to finish in 18 seconds, with 9 passes and 9 players involved. The Alex really do play a lovely brand of football.
Clapham continued to dominate and another flowing move saw the ball in the back of the Barking net soon after, with the midfield heavily involved again in some intricate passing, Black eventually squaring it to Simon Crouch, who toe punted with style swerving into the bottom left hand corner. Great strike, he really does put his foot through the ball.
2-1 up, Clapham saw the first half out in style and could have furthered their lead as the half drew to a close, when Miller was fouled horrifically by the last defender when through on goal, who should have been shown a red card. Inexplicably, the referee bottled it like no one has seen before in football from the start of the game in the muddy streets of medieval England to this day. Shocker.
When at half time Halle, whose battling display with the big lads of the Barking front line had earned him not only the thanks of his team mates, but a sore leg as well, was replaced by Jameson. The fans were crying 'this must be fantasy football'.
No sooner had the half begun than Clapham put daylight between themselves and the opposition. A devastating break involving a peach of a through ball by Wardle played with the outside of the boot around the Barking centre halves to Miller was fed on to White whose pace took him around the right full back where he slide ruled the ball across the face of goal causing disarray in the back line.
Only a last gasp tackle by a Barking man prevented Miller adding to his tally for the season, but with Mantell, Black, Miller, and Wardle lurking and his teammates having presumably given up the ghost, the defender seemed to handle the ball in the area about 10 times as he struggled to get up to clear it. Repeated calls for a penalty were turned down but justice was served as Mantell gathered the loose ball to slot through the keepers legs, the ball crossing the goal line but spinning back into 'play' via a post before the talismanic Avatar-cum-Striker made sure.
One way traffic ensued as Barking somewhat threw in the towel, unable to cope with the slick passing game that unfolded before their eyes.
Yet another delightful team move put the impressive Crouch in the clear to slot home number four.
Barking did muster some response, when Barking's geriatric left midfielder managed to lift the ball over Woodsman with a delicate lob after a goalmouth scramble, but the game was over by then.
A good win, and refereeing decisions aside - particularly the dead cert red card, the definite penalty on the handballs, and the baffling decision to award a foul after Mantell tackled the Barking keeper fair and square to slot home for a well deserved hat-trick to talk to his Avatar friends about - it was a good game.
Clapham will be pleased at their form, with three wins out of three scoring 10 in the process and conceding just 2.
