FINAL SCORE:

Hardley..........................1 Tantamount FC........... 0

Report by Sam Charman

"Our best football will come against the right type of opposition - a team who come to play football, and not act as animals." - Sir Alf Ramsey's indignant opinion of Argentina after England beat them 1-0 in a bruising quarter final in the 1966 World Cup. It is perhaps fitting that on the 25th anniversary of the Falklands War, Tantmount FC were subjected to a physical battle of similar proportions to the epic clash of England and Argentina 41 years ago. Never have Sir Alf's words seemed as apt, Tantamount FC turned up to play football, what game Hardley thought they were playing, is anyone's guess. The game was scrappy from the off. B. Howarth and Charman on the bench watched in disgust as heavy challenge after heavy challenge flew in from the unfit and off the pace, Hardley side. There were chances for both sides as the Mount linked up well accross the pitch, some solid passing from Rose, Moody and O. Howarth who all pushed forward nicely, whilst new captain Michael Pilcher, played his usual "Puyol" style of last man defence. Hardley became increasingly frustrated as the Spence again showed why he's the best shot stopper in the league, looking unbeatable between the sticks. Then with a perfectly even first half nearly at a close, the "Fat Bastard" of the Hardley team let fly a long range shot from just inside his own half. The shot looked to be well over hit and the Spence clearly though it was going over, however at the last moment, it dipped under the bar to give Hardley a 1-0 half time lead.

Charman and B. Howarth entered the fray at the break, Howarth in the centre with Charman up front. Immediately the game seemed to take a turn for the worse. Charman had both legs swept from under him after a neat turn on the half way line, only for the same player to then attempt to squash Jimbo Rose against the wall before a second diabolical foul on Charman. After warning "Fat Bastard" once, Steve the Ref finally displayed the leadership many had waited all season for him to show and produced his blue SIN BIN card to the approval of the large crowd. The Mount now had 4 v 3 on pitch, this was their chance, but it wasn't to be, The Mount unsused to getting a decision go their way, were unsure how to line up against 3 men, and wasted their two minute advantage with no score. The final few minutes saw no improvement in the discipline of the game, Pilcher involved in a tussle that ended with him being pushed over and Charman and "Fat Bastard" continuing mutual abuse of each other until the final whistle. It was no surprise that at the end no one shook hands. Hardley had won the game but lost the respect of Tantamount, Steve the Ref and the viewing public. Emotions will be running high next time the two sides meet.

Rose - squashed against the wall

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

SCORERS: None

Manager's Comments:

A nasty game is perhaps the best and only way to describe this one. It's the first time we've seen a player sin binned which illustrates how nasty it got. Most if not all of us seemed to become involved with some form of scrap during the game, and there were times when I wondered whether Hardley had any intention of playing football. When it was 5 versus 4 we didn't make use of the man advantage, it wasn't a situation we had found ourselves in before and we looked a bit confused by it. Their win came courtesy of a fluke long range effort which caught James out, it was a total travesty because we didn't deserve to lose, and Hardley certainly didn't deserve to win. After the game that was the first time we haven't shaken hands with the opposition afterwards. Hardley were an absolute disgrace."