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The
Hamsters arrived at the Preston Park Velodrome
with high hopes ahead of this tournament, but in
their first entry into the 5-a-side world, the
side disapointed by crashing out at the first
round stage despite being considered one of the
better teams at the event
With
club captain Robert Jones, senior player Bert
Lloyd and all time top goalscorer Dan Collin
currently enjoying a sabbatical to New Zealand,
it meant that the management team had selection
dilemmas ahead of the tournament. Tom Witham and
Neil Kane were deemed unavailable, which
compounded McCarthys selection headache. Ian
Simpson came into the side for the first time
this season, alongside Luke Vick, while Kieran
Elliott, James Calver and Peter Chapman all
retained their places following the 23-3 victory
over the Diamonds in their last outing
The
day didn't get off to the best of starts, when
it emerged that Doug Lane had been unfortunately
picked up by the police they previous evening,
and the assistant manager was therefore
unavailable for the trip. However, a vast array
of oranges, crisps, keich, scotch eggs, torches,
and Peter Chapman's home made chocolate muffins
ensured the camp were in good spirits going into
the first game
The
Hamsters couldn't of asked for a worse start, as
there first game ended in a 3-0 defeat to FC
Badger. The Hamsters never really got out of the
blocks, and were punished with all three goals
coming from them giving away possession. The
smaller pitches didn't help the cause of the
Yellow Army, but the absence of Collin was
obvious as McCarthys side hardly troubled Chris
Clayton in the opposition goal, while the score
was only kept down by a string of fine saves
from the player-manager and a sensational
performance from the returning Simpson
The
pack was shuffled for the second game, against
early favorites
Sexy Mo-Fo's, who lived up to this billing by
going on to win the tournament. With a Hamsters
side reinvigorated after a striking team talk
and a whole host of oranges, and a new secret
weapon in the "Hamsters Wheel" corner
routine, it was set to be one of the matches of
the tournament. An even yet promising start for
Mac Industries was ruined when Kris Southby gave
the opposition the lead, with a well placed shot
past McCarthy, but after this it was well
Hamsters. Despite the best efforts of the
Mo-Fo's manager Kieran Hill, a former team-mate
of McCarthys, they were unable to contend with
the movement and passing of the Mid Sussex side,
as they played some of their best football in a
long time. Eventually, this football was
rewarded when a cutting pass from Vick played in
Chapman, who opened the Hamsters account for the
tournament with a well placed shot. Despite the
dominance, the opposition keeper was in inspired
form, and the match ended 1-1, meaning that in
order to progress a victory and other results
going there way was what the Hamsters needed
The
final match was embodied in controversy, with
rumors aplenty that McCarthy had attempted to
bribe opposition manager Tom Stewart to let his
side win with a chocolate muffin, but these rumors
were put to bed when Team Yeboah took the lead
straight from kick off. Despite this, the
Hamsters pegged it back with goals from Peter
Chapman and Luke Vick, netting his first for the
club. Controversy soon followed though, as a
ball that went a good foot wide of the post was
given, much to the dismay of Scott McCarthy, who
could find himself in hot water with the FA
regarding his comments after the incident to the
press. If anything, this ludicrous decision
inspired Mac Industries on, and they soon
re-took the lead thanks to another two goals
from Vick, one from the penalty spot as the
Hamsters took the lead into half time. The
second half saw even more goalmouth action, as
Vick helped himself to another, and Calver and
Chapman got on the scoresheet to take their side
to a 6-4 victory and send fear into the other
sides in the tournament
Unfortunately,
a 2-1 victory for Sexy Mo-Fos over the already
qualified FC Badger saw the Hamsters lose out,
but the general consensus was that after the
slow start to the tournament, had the Yellow
Army made it through, they would of proven
difficult to stop, and this first foray into the
world of 5-a-side tournaments had been one of
success
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