Report from Gary Wildsmith:
The Bobby Moore Trust Fundraiser tournament in Lincoln consisted of a straight 5 team league format. Matches were 15 minutes in length.
Stamford’s games were as follows (in match order)
Long Bennington
Discovery Sports Coaching
Gainsborough B
Gainsborough A
Game 1 was a pretty tough match with both teams being evenly matched. We managed to limit Long Bennington to only a couple of shots on goal. We also managed to create a fair amount of chances but could not squeeze the ball past their keeper who had a great game (and subsequent tournament remaining unbeaten). 0-0 was the final score and seemed to set the tone for the rest of the day. 5 a side and quite a large goal area would mean goals were in short supply.
By the time we we played our second game the opposition had already won twice so we knew defeat would almost certainly mean they would top the group and win the tournament. With that in mind the Strollers started strongly with a walking football version of the gegenpress forcing our opponents high up the pitch. This meant we barely allowed them out of their half and peppered their goal with shots. 3 harshly disallowed goals and a post we’re ultimately responsible for another 0-0 score.
This result left the team on 2 points, Long Bennington on 4 pts and Discovery on 7pts. Despite this we knew it was likely to come down to goal difference. Discovery having scored 3 but had to play Long Bennington in their last game.
Our third game saw us play some creative football. We defended resolutely. We managed to edge the game 1-0 with a deftly taken goal by Greg Pogonowski. Lionel Messi would have been quaking in his boots and the ball squeezed under the keeper into the back of the net.
Discovery and Long Bennington played out a 0-0 as expected meaning that 3 goals in the last game would likely see us top the group while 2 goals would see us tie at the top of the table unless Long Bennington also scored a hatful in their last game.
Half way through the game the teams were tied 0-0. A combination of a couple running offences from Jez Hammant and tiring legs from the elder statesmen Trevor Oliver meant a last throw of the dice by the manager Gary Wildsmith introducing himself in a non defensive role. The move did the trick when the whole team pulled together in creating the chances for Gary W to score both goals with the second coming in the last 20 seconds.
This meant a tie with Discovery at the top of the table with both teams on 8 points with a goal difference of 3 with neither side having conceded a goal. This meant a penalty shootout would decide the winners.
Stamford eventually lost the shootout 2-1.
The team all played well with everybody contributing to a good days football. We did the club proud and played within the spirit of walking football for this charity event which raised in excess of £500 which was great given the number of teams on the day.
Ultimately the team felt hard done by a handful of debatable decisions, disallowed goals and shots that hit the post but we left for the trip home knowing that we had put the football club name on the map in a new location. Well done to all of those involved and their associated support from the sidelines.
Squad: Angel Goumal, Greg Pogonowski, Cameron Brownlie (gk), Paul Beard, Colin Barrett-Treen, Gary Wildsmith (capt), Trevor Oliver, Jez Hammant
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