Llandaff Athletic 2–0 Mancunia FC: a rare victory

Match report

Llandaff Athletic beat Mancunia FC 2-0 on Saturday 15 August, which was not in the script. The 12th-placed side have spent the season drawing everything in sight, so a home win against the division's fifth-placed travellers was an unexpected treat, like finding a tenner in a coat you haven't worn since February.

The breakthrough arrived in the 17th minute. Heinrich Dombrowski delivered a cross and Samuel Cardew rose to head it home. Cardew, who had already proven his knack for late interventions against Heaton earlier this month, decided to score early this time. Rude. It gave Llandaff something they barely recognised: a lead. Their recent fixtures have been a sequence of honourable stalemates, and holding one for 73 minutes felt like a minor miracle.

The game settled into a familiar rhythm after that. Mancunia, fifth and in good nick, probed and pushed, and Llandaff defended with the grim determination of a man trying to get to the front of a queue. The visitors had plenty of the ball. They also had nothing to show for it, which is the sort of problem that tends to follow you around.

Then came the 78th minute and the sort of goal that kills a contest. Pietro Tagliaferro slid Kenan Balkır through, and Balkır finished with a calm that rather suggested he does this for a living. 2-0, game over, Mancunia's earlier 2-1 win over Llandaff now a distant memory.

It was a win that mattered more for what it said than where it leaves them: they can win, apparently, when the mood takes them. Still 12th, still modest. But points are points.

As for Mancunia, they will want to forget this quickly. The league does not allow melancholy. There is another game tomorrow, and that is probably for the best.