Jesmond AFC 1–2 Edgbaston FC: a timing triumph

Jesmond AFC lost 1–2 to Edgbaston FC on Sunday 30 August, a result that will do nothing for either side's reputation for consistency. The visitors arrived seven points clear in the table, though their recent form suggested the gap was a relic of better times. Jesmond, 11th and drifting, had the better of a goalless first half without ever making the point stick. The sides drew 1–1 earlier in the season, and for an hour this looked set to repeat it.

Edgbaston took the lead in the 67th minute. Kanu Assoumou, who has made a habit of decisive late interventions this month, scored from open play with the sort of calm that has been absent from their wider performances. The lead was undeserved on the balance of play, yet entirely in keeping with the pattern of a group that only seems to register a pulse late on.

Jesmond responded with an equaliser that should have changed the story. Carlo Bacigalupo, assisted by Alfie Sinclair, scored in the 76th minute, and for about sixty seconds the game belonged to the home side. That was generous, exactly as long as it lasted. Frederik Fennema, a man who scored against Heaton the day before, rose to meet an Aurelio Murúa cross in the 77th minute and headed the winner before most in the ground had finished celebrating.

The evidence suggests Edgbaston are not a good side. The evidence also suggests they are better than Jesmond at the one thing that matters, which is the timing of a goal. The first half suggested a draw: the last quarter of an hour suggested a team that had simply run out of patience with being dreadful.

Jesmond will have to pick through the debris quickly, with Matchday 37 arriving on Monday and the table now separating them from the side above by an even slimmer margin than the seven points at kick-off. The manager will talk about the 77th minute until the tape runs out, and everyone will say the better team won, which is true, though that has never felt like much comfort when the better team has been this bad.