Hubris is a great leveller. Just as King Lear discovered once he found himself cast naked onto the wind-cracked heath with his kingdom in tatters, excessive pride will always, inevitably, lead to a fall. As the RMS Titanic set out from Southampton on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, it was proudly declared by all at the time to be ‘unsinkable’. Yet we all know how that story ends.

However, this particular story is only just beginning. Teddington Lightning have recently been enjoying a bit of a ‘purple patch’. Unbeaten in their last seven games on the bounce and having powered into the Semi-Final of the Chairman’s Cup in their last fixture, as they arrived at the Alexandra Recreation Ground in Epsom spirits were deservedly high. Yes, Alexandra may have been sitting at the top of the league, but Lightning had previously knocked them out of the cup and drawn 4-4 with them in their last league meeting, so it was full steam ahead for the good ship Lightning!

Following a fairly undisciplined warm-up which was sort of lead by me, due to Kevin being unfortunately delayed, conditions were set fair as they lined up to do battle. Luckily Kevin was bang on time to put the boys into their positions, mercifully rescuing me from having to decide on the starting line up!

Lightning started with Samuel in goal, George at right back, James at left back with a new pairing of Nathan and Daniel W in the middle. Enrique (today’s Captain) was pushed up into a midfield role with Joseph and Sam, Stanley was on the left wing and Chris was on the right. Stefanos was the lone striker.

The game got underway a couple of minutes ahead of the advertised time and Alexandra came out the blocks strongly, putting the Lightning lads under immediate pressure. Sadly that pressure took its toll pretty quickly as an attempted clearance in the box from Daniel W unfortunately came off the wrong side of his boot, flying up into the air and tragically looping over Samuel into the Teddington goal. It was not the start that Lightning deserved, but worse things happen at sea, and the lads had to put it behind them and continue to steam ahead in search of victory.

Lightning’s collective confidence had taken a knock, but they managed to weather the storm of a couple of further attacks from Alexandra. Stanley put a beauty of a ball through to Stefanos at the front, but he couldn’t capitalise on the chance. Daniel W had bravely put the disappointment of the own goal behind him and was putting in a really strong performance at the back, passing the ball out with skill and accuracy. Teddington’s confidence began to ebb back into their performance as they started to put some sweet passing moves together and they won a corner. Joseph put a really good ball into the box, but Stefanos, at full stretch agonisingly skied it over the bar! Sam and Enrique were linking up well in midfield and George battled away at the back as if his life depended on it. Samuel stood strong in goal, saving a couple of Alexandra chances.

Then, Lightning made another sharp break and Stefanos, flying forward in his usual doggedly persistent manner, won a corner. Stanley delivered a peach of a ball into the box which Nathan got first touch to, launching it towards the goal and Stefanos made no mistake in slamming it into the back of the net to equalise! Confidence had been restored!

Lightning piled on the pressure, probing the Alexandra defence. Joseph got a break and unleashed a powerful strike that was destined for the back of the net, but was denied by a really strong block by one of the Alexandra defenders. Chris put in some muscular work on the right wing and Sam showed real heart in midfield, never giving up on the ball. Luke replaced Stefanos and Daniel E came on for Chris, moving George up into the right wing position and the game continued. Luke wasted no time in getting a shot away, but the Alexandra keeper was equal to it. Teddington then found themselves under the pump a bit, but bravely battled their way out of defence and Ray came on for Stanley. Nathan danced his way out of trouble like a sporting Anton du Beke when Alexandra pushed forward and then Enrique decided that it was time to make his mark. Powerfully smashing through the middle of the Alexandra back line, he launched an absolute beauty of a strike over the head of the Alexandra keeper and into the back of the net. It was a goal of real quality from the captain and Lightning were finally in front.

Tails were up and Teddington were on the march. Ray also managed to penetrate the defence, but just couldn’t find the finish. Then Joseph was brought down in the area in what looked like an absolutely nailed-on penalty for Lightning but the referee, for reasons known only to him, saw fit to give it as a free kick to Alexandra, but no matter, Lightning had their noses in the lead as half time approached.

As the whistle for the end of the first half blew, the good ship Lightning was sailing on its merry way and below deck the Irish party in third class was in full swing. The whole team were feeling like the Kings of the World…but out there in the North Atlantic mists of the second half…that dreaded iceberg lay in wait…

Half Time – Alexandra United 1-2 Teddington Athletic Lightning

The waters remained calm as the second half got underway. Joseph put in a nice cross that unfortunately bounced off Luke before he could get it under any real control. George carried on his good work on the wing, but then a somewhat soft free kick decision gave Alexandra a chance in a dangerous area. Thankfully the resulting attempt was more Johnny Wilkinson than Johnny Metgod and it flew harmlessly over the bar. Teddington had lost a bit of their composure at this point in the game but George continued to work hard on the wing and Joseph continued to twist and turn, looking for a way through the Alexandra back line.

But then the Lightning defence sprung a leak. The home side began to employ a tactic that caught Teddington unaware. The pitch was on a slight slope and Alexandra obviously knew how to exploit this now that they were playing downhill. Crashing into the Teddington defence like a 72 million tonne iceberg, they ripped through the back four and slotted one past Samuel to equalise. Reeling from the blow, Lightning found themselves unable to regroup as a second wave attack from Alexandra overwhelmed them and the already leaky defence gave way once more resulting in a third goal. Up until this point, it had been plain sailing for Lightning, but now they found themselves torn apart and rattled by the onslaught of the Alexandra attack. It was time to dig deep and see if they could bail themselves out of the increasingly desperate situation. Alexandra continued to put the pressure on the Lightning defence, lumping the ball forwards at goal, sometimes without much precision, but their tactic had already worked. With only ten minutes of the second half still to play, Lightning had a mountain to climb.

Joseph made another promising run and was scythed down on the edge of the penalty area, but the referee somehow decided that it was only a corner. As the ball was delivered Enrique got a head to it, but his attempt was blocked. Then Alexandra broke again and put a fourth goal past a helpless Samuel. The ship was going down fast.

Nathan made a strong run through the middle but although he couldn’t find a way through on his first attempt, he wasn’t giving up. Picking the ball up again he fought his way forward on his own, covering three quarters of the pitch with the ball at his feet and showed excellent composure in front of goal to put it away and give Lightning the tiniest glimmer of hope. At this point however Teddington were clinging to the metaphorical floating wardrobe door and Kate Winslet was in no mood to move over and make room! The clock ticked mercilessly down and despite a last ditch free kick attempt from Lightning, their grip on the game loosened and they sank tragically into the depths of defeat like a frozen Leonardo DiCaprio.

It was a shame really as they had been the better side, certainly in the first half of the game, but had succumbed to a tactic that they weren’t expecting from the opposition. All in all there were strong performances on the pitch from all the boys today and only a couple of short passages of play when they let their guard slip, resulting in the goals that sank them. It had been a frustrating game, but no one gave up. As always they fought to the bitter end and when you’re down in the depths there’s only one trajectory available….Onwards and Upwards!

Full Time – Alexandra United 4-3 Teddington Athletic Lightning

Goals – Stefanos (15’), Enrique (27’), Nathan (60’)

Players of the match – Nathan and Daniel W. (who made amends for his early mistake with a really strong performance in the rest of the game – Well done Daniel!)