Livingstone Academicals 3 - Clapham Alexandra 3
Regents Park, Sunday 26th September 2010
A spirited display from Clapham's finest earned a more than deserved point against Central London Sunday Superleague rivals Livingstone Academicals after goals from Forward duo Olly Miller and Iain Mantell, levelled matters and a wonder-strike from captain Matt Wood almost secured all three points for the Alex. Perhaps if it hadn't have been for the untimely and somewhat unfair dismissal of the influential Tim McTigue midway through the second half, Clapham would have been celebrating a well deserved victory.
Reverting to a 4-4-2 formation after the previous match saw an abject display in 4-3-1-2 in the 4-2 home reverse to Recreativo Hackney, Clapham rediscovered their natural shape and looked menacing from the off, with notable success down the flanks, where David Moore's overlapping runs saw him combine effectively with Matt Wood in the opening stages, and on the other side of the pitch Oli White and Matt Lavery formed a solid pairing, effectively staunching Livingstone's wide supply routes.
Clapham looked the better side for the majority of the opening exchanges and we were duly rewarded in the 24th minute when Miller slotted home from close range after some enterprising work down the left from Moore and tenacity in the penalty area from White. However disaster struck almost immediately afterwards when a nothing ball forward was bizarrely looped over new keeper Mahatma Gandhi by Clapham's Mr Reliable; Rupert Templeman, from 25 yards. 1-1 with 27 minutes on the clock.
Almost instantly, disarray seemed to affect the Clapham ranks, so shaken were they by the impact of the highly unexpected and unmerited own goal. The Alex were on the back foot, and finally Livingstone began to show some of the form that saw them win last weekend. Using the foothold they had so luckily gained, they pressed forward lookng to take advantage of the shaky Alex back four. Their chance came when they were awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position just outside the Clapham D. Sweetly hit, the ball flew past a despairing Gandhi into the top left-hand corner of the Alex goal. Football can change so quickly.
Coming in 2-1 down at half-time was not what Clapham deserved, after enterprising and tenacious first-half performances from McTigue, Moore, Wood, and Renouf in particular. Miller, struggling with a knock he bravely picked up in scoring, was replaced by veteran full-back Joe Cheesman, who slotted in at left back, with Moore taking up position on the left wing, and captain Matt Wood supporting Mantell up front.
The Alex returned to the pitch knowing that their losing position was unwarranted and with a determination to rectify matters. Positive play and some classic Alexandra tenacity was rewarded just 7 minutes after the restart when Mantell's goal-hunger drove him to chase down a lost cause of a ball, forcing the diminutive Livingstone keeper into a mistake, leaving an empty net for Mantell to slot home into.
Soon after, one of the game's main talking points came as McTigue saw two yellow cards in quick succession, and was dismissed from the field of play. The first came after no penalty was awarded after Mantell was body checked in the penalty area with the defender having no intention of playing the ball. McTigue expressed his opinion somewhat vociferously and received his first caution, then minutes later took his second after a robust but fair challenge on his opposite number.
Down to ten men, Wardle came on to replace White, quickly followed onto the field by Hutchinson, who replaced Moore, and the substitutes quickly combined to provide Wood the opportunity to fire home his classy strike. Picking up the ball deep on the Livingstone left, Hutchnison, with a throw-in, found Wardle relatively unmarked on the edge of the area, who hooked the ball across to Wood, and in one fluid movement the Clapham captain controlled the ball firmly on his chest and unleashed a beautifully weighted and accurate left foot volley from fully 18 yards into the bottom left corner of the Livingstone net. 3-2 to The Alex - everyone knew Woodsman had that kind of strike in his locker.
The Alex nearly doubled their advantage just 5 minutes later, when Templeman almost atoned for his earlier own goal with a header, from a Wardle free kick, which spun agonsingly inches wide of the top corner.
Looking to all intents and purposes like the Alex would see the game out for a hard-fought victory, lady luck dealt Clapham a bad hand in the 84th minute, when a Livingstone player found space on the left and delivered a cross-cum-shot, which caught in the wind and dipped, from an impossible angle, into the Alexandra net.
The final whistle came and the rollercoaster ride had ended. Clapham deserved all three points given the level of endeavour and commitment they showed, but football is a funny old game, and a crual one at that. Some positive signs were shown though, and hopefully the side can build on this encouraging display in coming weeks.
