Stepney FC 3–2 Hitchin Athletic: a local matter

Opinion

Stepney FC managed a 3-2 win over Hitchin Athletic on Saturday 15 August. It was a result that will be analysed in certain pubs for several decades. For the neutral, it was a game of football. For those involved, it was a matter of existential importance.

Hitchin arrived with the sort of misplaced confidence usually reserved for people who believe they can fix their own boilers. They played with a certain perceived elegance that vanished the moment Stepney decided to actually score. It was a performance of high effort and very little reward. The Hitchin midfield spent a significant portion of the afternoon chasing shadows and occasionally each other.

Stepney were not particularly refined. They played with the subtlety of a falling piano, but they were effective. There is a specific kind of joy in winning a derby by grinding the opposition down until they simply forget how to pass a ball five yards. Stepney did this with a deadpan efficiency. They didn't need to be beautiful: they just needed to be slightly less chaotic than the visitors.

Hitchin will likely spend the next few hours discussing the injustice of it all. They might even blame the wind (there was none). To be fair, they did score twice, which is a decent return for a team that looked like they were playing in heavy boots. It just wasn't quite enough to stop the Stepney fans from feeling smug for the foreseeable future.

The table remains an interesting place, with Brixton AFC holding the top spot. However, for the Hitchin lot, the league position is a secondary concern. They have a loss to chew on and very little time to reset. Typical really. We go again.