FINAL SCORE:

Hardley..........................1 Tantamount FC........... 2

In their 34th game at Larkfield Leisure Centre, the Mount finally tasted victory. The fact that it came against Hardley, who had behaved like a bunch of thugs in the last meeting (which they won 1-0), made the victory even sweeter. The Tanta's got off to the worst possible start when they conceded a goal within the first minute. Ollie, playing in the sweeper role, was just unable to block a shot which beat Spencer at this right-hand post. Everyone feared the worst but they weren't to concede for the rest of the game. This was no thanks to Pilch who, playing in an unfamiliar right-wing position, played a suicidal ball across the box; luckily he managed to get across to put off the Hardley striker. Spencer was immense in goal as he made at least six top-drawer saves to keep the score to 1-0. Attacking-wise the Mount were off-key, Modders and Pilch both knocking efforts wide and Ryan and Ollie only sparingly able to test the solid Hardley keeper. Modders' performance was key, as the team's best moves in the first half all came via the captain. The passing was (mostly) there but they just couldn't buy a goal, or strong shot on target. Luckily the game took an unexpected turn after half-time. David S, Dave Brockman and Jimbo all came on at the break and things started to turn. David S made some fine attacking moves, linking up with captain Modders, and went close with an effort which forced a save. They were utilising the space more and Hardley, although seeing more of the ball, found Spencer and Dave B in no mood for messing about at the back.

With four minutes remaining Pilch sent Ryan back on for Modders, who had been on the pitch longer than anyone else, and it was the club's top scorer who equalised. That trusty left foot claimed it's fourth goal in as many games, hitting an effort under the diving keeper. Jimbo had a shot from a similar position to his effort in the day's earlier game; this time his shot just missed the top corner and went wide. But David Spencer became the hero on 14 minutes. Receiving a pass with his back to goal, he turned his man before firing in with his right foot for an unexpected lead. Immediately both Ryan and David came off, and some excellent defensive play from Pilch, Jimbo, Ollie and Dave B helped the Mount through. Aside from the odd pushing against the wall, Hardley surprisingly weren't resorting to strongarm tactics, although they weren't going to give up. It was desperate at times, with the hearts in mouths more than once, but Spencer was equal to those late shots that were on-target. When the whistle finally blew after what seemed like an hour, there were handshakes between the two teams (making a change from the bad-tempered last meeting) and, more tellingly, beaming smiles all round from the Mount. They'd done it!

Modders - a captain's performance from the captain

LINE-UP: J.Spencer; O.Howarth, Pilcher, Moody; R.Charman SUBS: Rose, D.Spencer, D.Brockman

SCORERS: R.Charman 12, D.Spencer 14

Manager's Comments:

"The win is a relief as much as anything! It all just came together in the second half. In the opening half, when we went 1-0 down early on, I thought that was it. We got lucky a few times but even at half-time when there was just one goal in it, few watching our performance would have bet on us winning. It's a bit of a cliche but in this instance it's certainly true: everyone contributed to the win, and all eight players involved today can be proud of their performance. It would take an age to explain how everyone contributed positively, so I won't bother, but rest assured we all did the shirt proud. It all just clicked in the second half and, once we overturned Hardley's lead to go 2-1 up, we protected the lead well, which is something we hadn't manged before, especially in the Shotgun game a few weeks back. That experience can stand us in good stead for the remainder of the season."