FINAL SCORE:
Shotgun........................6 Tantamount FC...........0
Report by Ben Howarth
Tantamount produced a disappointing display against Shotgun, and will be disappointed with a crushing defeat against a side who are far from the strongest they have encountered. The difference between the two teams, as is so often the case, was energy. Shotgun didn't have immaculate passing, but they were quick to chase down loose balls, and quick to get the ball to their forward players. The game started well as Tantamount pushed forward. A bit of confusion between the goalie and his defenders resulted in one player illegally entering the box. Despite disputes, Steve the ref awarded a penalty. Sadly, Ollie Howarth hit the ball too close to the keeper, and the chance was missed. Further confusion followed as their keeper inexplicably passed the ball back to himself by booting it against the wall, and Tantas had a chance from the free kick. It looked as if this would be an open game, and that the goalie was rather mediocre.
Encouraged, Tantamount continued to get forward. Charman, in particular, had a good game, hustling the opposition and winning Tantas some good positions. Unfortunately, there was also some sloppy play, and the ball kept ending up around Spencer's area. Shotgun's finishing was stronger, and 6 goals were the result. To be fair to Shotgun, they played pretty well, but they had neither the physical strength of Hardley, nor the precision of Sunday Session, and the scoreline flattered them. But Tantamount will rue their own missed chances, their poor passing, and a seeming lack of energy. It was the first time there weren't any real positives to take out of the game. One to forget.
							Charman - hassled the opposition
LINE-UP: Spencer; Pilcher, Charman; Rose; O.Howarth SUBS: B.Howarth, Jacobs
SCORERS: None                     (O.Howarth m/pen 1)
Manager's Comments:
"We experimented with a 2-1-1 formation and I think we're all agreed that we won't be trying it again. No-one seemed to know where they were supposed to be playing and we were sporadically reverting back to the 3-0-1 we've become so used to. It made for an abject performance from start to finish, we were all over the place and gave them too many chances. I can't criticise Olly for the penalty; Sam stepped aside and it takes a lot of bottle to step up and take one. As Ben rightly points out in his report, its difficult to pick out any positives. We didn't have enough shots, let them have too many and allowed them to control the game. On plus is that Sam had a good game, he's getting back to the form of old and if he  keeps improving then that win isn't too far away."