Hitchin Athletic 1–0 Acton United: a man down

Hitchin Athletic beat Acton United 1-0 on Thursday 27 August, thanks to a 69th-minute Hilario Bellido penalty. The result started in the 15th minute, when Acton's Boniface Appiah-Boateng was sent off for the second time in six days. A straight red. Seventy-five minutes with a man disadvantage is a heavy burden when you are 20th, out of sorts and sitting on 26 points.

Acton did what such sides do: they retreated. The first half was a goalless affair of guarded penalty areas and patient but unadventurous Hitchin possession. Hitchin, 16th on 35 points, have a habit of splitting the points, and for a while it looked like another draw would arrive. The red card gave them the extra body, but the first 45 minutes suggested they did not quite know what to do with it.

In fairness to Appiah-Boateng, the individual is capable. He scored against Edgbaston on 7 August and laid on a goal against Brixton on 25 August. But he also left his team a man light against Wednesbury on 22 August, and Thursday was the same rashness at a far worse time. The output is real. The discipline is not, and Acton are now paying for the comparison.

The penalty, when it finally came, was the only moment of real quality. Bellido, who assisted against Kirkby on 22 August, converted. It was not a masterpiece. A 1-0 against ten men is the sort of result Hitchin must take, and they did. Their first meeting finished 2-0; this one was even less generous, which says a great deal.

The next matchday is tomorrow, because it always is. Hitchin can look at the table with a little more comfort. Acton must go again without their most erratic player and with no time to reset. That is this league's way. No one gets to sit with the result, however much they might want to.