Crookes United 0–1 Llandaff Athletic: the Hagenaar habit

Crookes United 0, Llandaff Athletic 1. It was a result that felt entirely consistent with the general texture of a Sunday afternoon spent watching two teams who have, for various reasons, forgotten how to be particularly threatening. Crookes United arrived as eighteenth in the table, Llandaff as fourteenth, and the resulting encounter was a study in mutual hesitation (1) which lasted until the seventy-first minute.

One must consider the history of the man who finally decided to intervene, as Arie Hagenaar has developed a certain knack for the timely contribution, having found the net against both Pendle and Beeston in the preceding days, which is the kind of streak that makes a man feel invincible until he realizes he is still playing in the lower reaches of the league; anyway, the goal came from open play, a solitary moment of clarity in a match otherwise defined by its lack of direction.

Crookes United remain out of sorts, which is to say they have perfected the art of the scoreless stalemate before eventually conceding to the inevitable. Llandaff Athletic leave with three points and the knowledge that Hagenaar is currently the only thing standing between them and a very uncomfortable autumn.