Kirkby FC 1–5 Wednesbury Athletic: administrative precision

Opinion

The rankings are updated. The data is confirmed.

Wednesbury Athletic spent the afternoon of Friday 11 September dismantling Kirkby FC. They won 5-1. It was a clinical exercise in superiority. The focal point was Reijer Bergsma-Veen. He scored twice.

Bergsma-Veen does not dwell on the ball. He does not indulge in the kind of flamboyant step-overs that usually end with a player tripping over his own laces. He simply finds the net. It is a tidy way to play football. He looks like a man who manages his goalscoring the way some people manage their spreadsheets: with precise, irritating accuracy.

Wednesbury are now firmly in the conversation for the European places. Beeston AFC hold the lead on 13 points, but the gap is small. Sussex and Armley are hovering close by. Most teams would feel the pressure of the early season. Wednesbury seem more interested in the scoreline.

They have little time to reset. Matchday 6 is tomorrow. Bergsma-Veen will likely arrive with the same deadpan expression he wore while scoring his second goal. It is a comforting sort of reliability. One wonders if he ever feels the need to celebrate, or if he simply views a goal as a completed administrative task.

The table has shifted since the rankings of September 10. Wednesbury have made their point. Now they have to do it again tomorrow.