Kensington Dragons U15 Eagles 0 v 1 Wealdstone
Back to earth, wake up call, rude awakening call it what you like, but as we trudged home after an hour or so of tough, vain sluggery, the truth was plain to see: we were beaten by a team whose single shot belied the constant pressure we put them under from first whistle to last.
Were we lacking brightness? Was there a touch of over-confidence? The game certainly darkened as Wealdstone’s dogged defending was matched by their irresponsible coaches’ ceaseless hounding of the referee (particularly distasteful when the big decisions, a penalty not given, a goal disallowed, went against us).
But you won’t find us trying to intimidate the people we rely on for our Sunday football. And more importantly, we don’t teach our boys to mask their temporary short-comings with a conspiratorial sense of grievance. Instead we face up to simple facts and learn from them. We lost because we failed to convert our hatful of chances. And recognising that will enable us to do much better next time.