v Addiscombe (H): 7 March 2009

Buoyed by our 2nd one match winning run of the season, a strong-looking 'Dogs side took the field against an always competitive Addiscombe. The balance didn't quite look right, but with so many instinctive forwards and so few natural defenders in our ranks, a high scoring game looked on the cards. So, in order to get our revenge in first, the 'Dogs started brightly. Richard S had a couple of scampish forays down the left, the returning Satbir popped up all over the place, Neil A and Richard C did all kinds of useful stuff in midfield, while Barry and Maxi rolled back the years with some deft combo's down the right. Curiously, though, when they had the ball, Addiscombe looked more dangerous. They had already had a couple of smart efforts thwarted when disaster struck. Now there are 2 versions to choose from, depending on whether you think (...careful please, let's not name names here, so let's call him, erm, 'DingDong': Ed), - ok then - whether you think DingDong might have done something differently:

Version 1/  DingDong stopped a ball very near our goal, didn't clear it, ignored the call to do so, got embroiled in a trial of strength with one of their strikers, was outskilled and outmuscled and we conceded a very soft goal, or 

Version 2/ (Dingdong's version) the ball went in - blame the goalkeeper. 

Undeterred, we continued to attack, looked solid at the back when they broke skilfully (bravo Paul B for one quite extraordinary full length point blank block, and to Nigel G and Andy E for telling interceptions), but neither we nor they could apply any more finishing touches.

HALF TIME: 'Dogs 0 Addiscombe 1

Various odd permutations in the 2nd half, including our injured captain guesting for them at right back (don't ask), failed to interrupt the flow of the game: we had much more of the possession, they created the genuine chances. We all had a nice long breather when Richard C took a fearful blow just above the knee and made an unscheduled visit to Teddington Hospital A & E, but even that unexpected respite couldn't inspire us to get at least one telling shot on goal.  Frustrating, very frustrating, but that was that.      

FULL TIME: 'Dogs 0 Addiscombe 1

Do we laugh or do we cry? Earlier this season, when we were contributing one goal to games which regularly featured 7 to 10 goals in total, we would have been overjoyed to keep good opposition to 1. But such is the upturn in our fortunes that this defeat was very frustrating and hard to take: we conceded one largely self-inflicted goal and had more than enough possession to create the chances to win the match. Hats off to Addiscombe, though, they played well and fought hard for their narrow win. And so to next week, and a match against Masonians, at a ground where this correspondent has never failed to come anything but 2nd best, but has always enjoyed the post-match sauna and showers. Expect more tears and laughter in a week or so, gentle DogBlog readers.