FINAL SCORE:
Rob Hewett...................2 Tantamount FC............0
Rob Hewett have put nine goals past the Mount in the two previous meetings this season; this time they were kept down to two, but things could have been so different. Preparations for the game were far ideal: keeper Spence phoned two minutes before kick-off to say he couldn't play, and thus missed his first ever game. Ollie bravely donned the gloves, but a depleted six-man Mount squad faced a Hewett side with a full eight. Add to this the fact that Hewett were mathmatically still in with a chance of the title, and it was always going to be a tough game. With a lack of right-sided players, Pilch put Ryan on the right and Modders up front, and the two swapped positions at regular spells in afine display of total football. Unfortunately they were restricted to a couple of long range efforts, with Ryan warming the Hewett keeper's hand with one shot. At the other end the Mount were under constant pressure from a side who relentlessly attack. At times they were chasing shadows, but on the whole the defensive line stood up well with Pilch, Jimbo and Modders in amongst the blocks and, when the defence was breached, Ollie was hand to save the day. He came out on top in a couple of one-on-ones and made a series of smart saves to help maintain a goalless first half.
Hewett's constant attacking was eventually rewarded a couple of minutes after half-time as a long-range effort wasn't blocked and found its way under the diving Ollie. Having three naturally left-footed players on the pitch and no sweeper unbalanced the team somewhat, but they stood up well and created chances. Ryan hit a shot which the keeper saved, and the rebound fell to Modders on the left. His curling right-footed shot was unlucky to come back off the crossbar with the keeper helpless. Tantamount fell further behind as the ball was fired through a crowd of players and ended up in the bottom corner. From then on, Hewett wound down the clock and restricted the Tantas to a series of half-chances. They made their two-man advantage count, bringing on fresh players at the death to see the game through. Not a great performance but by no means a bad one, and with a seven- or eight-man squad the Mount could comfortably have held out for a draw. As it was, pre-game events conspired against them. The Mount will look to go into next week's final game with a better performance and, more importantly, a bigger squad.
						Modders - struck the crossbar
LINE-UP: O.Howarth, R.Charman, Pilcher, Rose; Moody SUBS: Jacobs
SCORERS: None