By Royal Appointment

Well, the Shambles may have lost, but there where a lot of positives to be taken from the match. Chris’ defensive performance for one. The match started well, with the Shambles controlling the game, having the lion share of the ball and the best of the chances; on the odd occasion when the Half Dozen did get through Chris, who was on strict instructions to stay back, was there to mop up. Midway through the first half, it was clear that the big man at the back had broken the Half Dozen’s attacking pretensions, seeing this, Chris made the bold move of subbing himself , a move that paid off within seconds. Darren rolled the ball down the middle for James to dispatch with ease. Chris was soon subbed back on to insure that Shambles maintained their lead till half time. The Shambles looked much improved from the team that played Half Dozen all those weeks ago and in the first half it was the they who looked like the team sitting at the top of the table. As the whistle went for half time, despite being one up, it was the Shambles who would have felt the most disappointed, having not put away more of their chances and the Dirty Half Dozen could be pleased that they were only one down, a score line that the Shambles would live to regret.

The second half started and it was obvious that the opposition had had a talking to by their captain. They came out fresh and playing much more like a team challenging for the league title. Even with Chris’ superb defending it was only a matter of time before they carved out there first real chance, which, like all top teams, they took. Chris was immediately subbed off as the Shambles pushed to regain their lead. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before Half Dozen took the lead, the replacement Shambles Defender was beaten all ways up by a quick footed attacker and before any of the other players could react, the forward had sent the keeper the wrong way and that was that. The Shambles, never the best when chasing games found them selves in a familiar position. Chris was brought back on to try and change the match, but from a defensive position it was always going to be tricky. The Shambles had a couple of chances, including a “defensive nudge forward” by Graham, which looked suspiciously like a shot and Chris’ only mistake of the game when he fired over after being set up by Flash Harry. As time ran out and the Shambles pushed further forward the inevitable happened, the Dirty Half Dozen scored two late goals to make the score 4-1, a score which greatly flattered the opponents. Nether the less, the Shambles were much improved and looking good for a decent cup run, especially if Chris stays in such electrify form.