FINAL SCORE:

FCUK.............................5 Tantamount FC...........0

Report by Michael Pilcher

Any hopes of a cup upset were well and truly dashed but, whereas the scoreline suggests the Mount were completely outplayed, this was far from the case. The run-up to the game wasn't exactly perfect: Pilcher forgot his blue away shirt and had to wear yellow for the first half (which worked in the team's favour during one attacking break, the FCUK forward passed to the yellow-shirted Pilch rather than to his unmarked team-mate on the edge of the box). To add to that, Spencer turned up minus his keeper jersey, under the impression he was playing out on pitch. The pre-game talk had all been about how many FCUK would score. Fan predictions included 8-0 and 10-0; players of Divsion 2 rivals Wheatsheaf predicted 15-0. Yet as the match got under way, the Mount defended very well. The three-man defence tidied up and blocked the wave of attacks while, at the other end, Jimbo Rose and Ollie both got shots away that tested ex-AFC Maidstone keeper Chris Martin. It was pretty even, before five minutes in FCUK took the lead through an unlucky own goal. Ollie passed back towards goal, not realising Spencer was coming towards him, and the ball trickled in. Within minutes it was 2-0, and that's how it stayed at half-time.

In the second half the FCUK showed how they top the Division 1 as they kept possession with ease, stringing together pass after pass. Although they added three goals in the second half - the third coming after a Spencer throw-out went straight to them - the Mount could have scored several. Charman and Moody both had shots saved, and the latter also struck a late shot just wide. Ollie could also have got his name on the scoresheet but for solid keeping from Martin.    It had been a day for upsets, with both Dynamite and Hardley knocking out Division 1 opponents. The Mount unfortunately couldn't cause another, but they did the shirt proud with a confident performance.

Charman - tested the FCUK keeper several times

LINE-UP: Spencer; O.Howarth, Pilcher, Rose; Moody SUBS: Charman

SCORERS: None

Manager's Comments:

"A lot of people expected us to get well and truly thrashed, and some had said we would be doing well to keep the score out of double figures. It says a lot about the performance then that we feel aggrieved at having lost by five. The pleasing thing is that we didn't just defend, we went at them and could have scored three of four. Chris Martin, who we saw play so well in the sticks for AFC Maidstone several times, made some good saves from Sam and Modders. With 8 players to our six, their two man advantage showed in the second half, and of course their passing and ability at holding up and running with the ball was perhaps the best we've seen. It was good to test ourselves against the very best, and we can be pleased with how we played."