After suffering a 6-1 thumping in the previous encounter, the Shambles were set to address the balance. Pre - match discussions with the opposition in the bar revealed that some of the BBQ Crew key players were not in the squad. Hope for the Shambles.

Late changes to the squad saw Chris dropped (due to some Birthday duties), with Keith playing his first fixture against BBQ this season. Captain Grahams 'twinge' got the better of him so it was a re-call for the Shambles most consistent player, 100% still intact. Cup games don't count James!

Dave and Ian took to the sideline for kick off. Craig & Keith taking defensive positions with Rob & James up front. The familiar James P in goals. The initial exchanges were fast & furious, heavy challenges hitting James from all angles. Craig & Keith working well to slow the attacking onslaught. BBQ Crew eventually put together one too many passes for the Shambles back two to deal with and finished to open the scoring. 1-0.

Shambles rallied and quickly pulled a goal back. Craig hitting the spot after a fine pass from the Shambles most consistent player. 1-1. All too soon the Shambles conceded another, James P unfortunate. 2-1. Inform Craig, heading for his second consecutive Golden Boot put another away to bring the score level. 2-2.

Opportunities to take the lead were squandered. The Shambles most consistent player had several 'efforts' from distance but the keeper always had the better of him. The BBQ Crew keeper saving well all of the shots that were close enough to the goal.

Note to Ian - work on the shooting!

Great passing and movement from the Shambles saw Craig in front of goal with the ball heading to him from the back wall. Craig, hungry for another goal and a hat trick didn't hear the Shambles most consistent players shout  to 'leave it!' and struck the wall wide of the keepers left hand post. The Shambles most consistent players vision of a sweet left foot stroke of the ball into the far corner vanished.

Yet again BBQ Crew went ahead, 3-2. Sloppy defending gave the Shambles another mountain to climb to get back into the game. This time Dave obliged with a nice little dink which saw the keeper scrambling helplessly, 3-3.

Only a few moments of the game remained. Shambles pushed for a winner and were caught out. BBQ Crew fought on to secure all 3 points. A pass played from BBQ Crew's left wing went loose. The Shambles most consistent player left his man on their right to intercept but the ball passed under his foot to the now unmarked forward. The ball was slotted precisely home giving James P no chance. 4-3.

Note to Ian - work on defending too!

A game that was evenly contested was lost at the last minute. Unfortunate result, Shambles had several good chances and James P made a number of great saves.Looking back at the last report of a BBQ Crew game I found this quote; 'a game where Shambles did not play all too bad but made a few mistakes which ultimately cost them the game.' Couldn't have put it better myself...