Kirkby FC 2–2 Llandaff Athletic: the habit persists

Kirkby FC and Llandaff Athletic served up the result the table had been threatening all evening: 2–2, shared, with the away side leaving the less wounded. Kirkby led twice on Friday 14 August and finished level. That is not misfortune. That is a habit wearing a tracksuit.

The opener arrived on 28 minutes. Hugh Abbotswick worked the ball through a congested midfield and found Jovino Aimar-Ríos, who finished the way a man in form does. It was his third goal in four matches and his second against Llandaff this season, the first arriving back in July. Kirkby held that lead to the break, sitting behind the ball and trusting a defensive shape that had, up to that point, been adequate. The trap was set.

Llandaff's response required patience rather than invention. On 66 minutes, Owain Penllyn threaded a pass through that línea de cuatro and Steven Boerwinkel finished with the calm of a striker scoring in a third consecutive match. The equaliser bent the game's arc. Kirkby's block dropped deeper, more territorial, less secure, and the home crowd began to count down to a point they had not asked for.

Enter Cecil Cottingham. On 77 minutes, Lourens Buisma-Veld gathered on the right and delivered, and Cottingham arrived at the near post to restore the lead, as he so often does against sides he fancies. Three points, briefly, looked on. The home crowd rose.

For five minutes. On 82, Raphael Vermeulen-Brand swung a cross from the left and Barry-Mali Kabongo-Mukendi rose at the far post, nodding in a goal that makes a full-back's afternoon feel warm. Kirkby's second surrender had been coming since the cross left the boot. Sources close to the negotiation tell me the dressing room did not argue with the point. That is the problem.

The sides had previously drawn 1–1. This was the sequel, with the same ending. One suspects the script writes itself.