Five Things We Learned from the weekend’s 5-2 defeat

1. My lovely lovely lovely horse

Running through the fields surrounding the former Cray Wanderers stadium on our visit last year was a somewhat tired, but very friendly horse whose company took the edge off a 5-1 defeat at the hands of Red Velvet. “Where are you going with my carrots?” queried my better half as I set off for the station, not expecting “your carrots are going the match” to be the reply.

Sadly, the horse, like Red Velvet, has moved on to pastures new - no fetlocks in sight. Equally sadly, the ground’s new tenants Welling Park were just as keen that the Menace would leave this picturesque setting empty-handed, and after falling behind to a goal from Camilo Andres Nieva they responded with five of their own to put the result beyond doubt.

2. Peckham Must Do Better At Defending Set Pieces

“Blowing in the wind” about sums up Peckham’s approach to their issue of defending set pieces; when Welling Park scored their second goal just after half time, it was the fifth successive goal Peckham had conceded from a set piece, and the second in the game from one from the right wing.

The first in particular was troubling, as an innocuous-looking ball along the ground from the right passed everyone by, hit the far post, and rebounded to a Welling Park player to slot home. Quite how no one was in a position to anticipate or clear the threat was astonishing. Perhaps with the vocal Carrick temporarily missing and George Legg more permanently absent the defence is lacking an organiser, but the trend needs to be addressed.

“Happily” the sequence was broken by the home side’s third goal coming from open play. Glass half full and all that.

3. Peckham Again Can’t Keep 11 On The Pitch

“I want to shower before everyone else” seems to be the early season mantra for the Menace. Once again, they ended the game a man short - this time Duah Danso saw red shortly after Welling Park scored their third. Remarkably, that was Peckham’s fifth red card in six League games and means that only twice has the side finished a game with 11 men.

I don’t want to blind you with science here, but it’s easier to win games with more lads to kick the round thing in the rectangular thing. Understandably the players were frustrated at 3-1, given it had been a fairly even game til that point and the referee had not exactly been handing them sugarlumps and candy. (One blatant missed penalty when a Welling Park defender didn’t so much barge Dowding off the ball as ride him over the fences surrounding the pitch springs to mind; despite our imploring, the linesman showed no ambition to go down in history as the first to give a penalty from halfway). And it s not that the players need to offer “polish your boots mate” subservience to the referees; but the worst disciplinary record in the League by some distance behooves thinking every single day how it could be put right.

4. Two Defeats In A Row Against The Bottom Of The League

And that brings you to Chipstead, who will come to the Menace Arena flying high in third place, unbeaten in the seven League games they’ve played all season. Perversely, this might come as a relief to Peckham: their last two games have been away to sides starting the day bottom of the table and have both ended in defeat, while Chipstead were thumped 4-0 in south London in February as Peckham exploited gaps comparable in size to those normally created by the horse dentist.

The Menace have only played one home but five away League games so far this season [thanks, Southwark Council], so it’s tricky to gauge precisely patterns of form and position. But given Peckham won eight out of ten games against the five sides who finished below them last season (and only four out of 20 against the ten teams finishing above) it feels very much like six points lost from the last two matches.

5. At Least The Strikers Are As Sharp As Our Away Kit

Ending on a small high, as the Menace did with Kieran Dowding’s excellent free kick to make it 5-2, it should be noted that since drawing a blank on the opening day of the season, Peckham have scored at least twice in every game since. All the forwards are among the goals, and the Menace look a real threat going forward. There was good balance in the front six, and dynamic options off the bench - but collective defensive and disciplinary shortcomings rendered it moot. You’re a pony short of a herd when down to ten and that’s no more true than when away from home. Running around in yesterday’s late summer heat was no doubt hard enough, but with a man disadvantage and the home crowd on your back it becomes harder still.

But all that is history, and the next game brings fresh hope. Peckham’s first home League game since 12th August is this Saturday 23rd, when they host Chipstead (subject to Southwark Council completing fire safety works). Kickoff is 245pm. Get down to the Menace Arena, see the team start like a train and celebrate a win long into the night!