Mountsorrel 5-a-side Football Tournament
17th July 2005

Hastings FC win the 2005 Mountsorrel 5-a-side Tournament...

Hastings FC Team:
Ben Werner
David Wesseldine
Eddie Appleton
Ashley Hastings
Ryan Whattley
Gavin Williamson

Mountsorrel 5-a-side Football Tournament 2005
'Living the Dream’

By Ashley Hastings ( Hastings FC Manager)

We were excited and hopeful as we approached the tournament knowing that we had a team in which we felt was capable of achieving success.

Despite suffering the loss of a player at 10:45 the night before, we had restored optimism as Ryan Whatley had persuaded Dubbsy (David Wesseldine) to play. The attitude in the car was positive as we each made it clear that there was no point in entering a tournament if we weren’t going to win. Taking part had no value on this occasion and meant nothing to us.

Into the first game against a strong looking Kirklands FC side, the plan was to play football in the opposing teams half and basically try to outscore the opposition. However we didn’t achieve this target and found ourselves 2-0 down after 2 minutes and we hadn’t even set foot in Kirklands half.

We then adopted a formation and decided to hold our positions and play some good football. This was evident as a brace of great goals from Whatley followed two fine solo efforts from Eddie Appleton and Gav Williamson meant that we controlled the game and won the game 4-2.

The games were coming thick and fast and we found ourselves up against a young Rothley Imps side who proved to be no push over. Chances galore at either end went missing but quick thinking and awareness from Big Toe (Ben Werner) meant that we didn’t concede and a solitary goal from Gav meant that we maintained our unbeaten run.

A top of the table clash dawned on us next, Inter Co. Alert goalkeeping once again meant that we didn’t concede, including a spectacular parry which kept the scores level. We rode our luck as well and we relieved to see the ball cannon back off the post after a fine strike from Inter Co.’s no.9. It appeared that luck was on our side. We started to concentrate on our football and a few phases of neat interchanging passes and admirable finishing rewarded us with the three points, another clean sheet and a 3-0 victory. Our place in the semis was now all but guaranteed.

Into our final game and we hurried into a 2-0 lead which confirmed we would be the first name into the semis and we felt the time was right to give Big Toe a run outfield, therefore he handed the goalie jersey and the gloves over to me and continued his impressive form outfield.

Determined not to let the team down everybody was playing good football with seemingly no effort. Superb individual performances from Dubbs and Eddie made 4-0 a very convincing victory.

As we marched on into the semis we were dealt a good piece of fortune after being told that we would play a u17s Mountsorrel side. We began to feel very confident until we heard that they were the current holders of the title.

A cool finish from the ever-present Whatley and a thunderbolt from Gav killed of a fairly close game. Goal of the tournament was also witnessed here as Eddie cushioned a volley from the touchline inside the near post after we strung together a few passes and Gav lofted the ball over the defender’s head to Eddie who proved to be a calming influence throughout.

As the final approached we still felt confident of success and knew exactly what we had to do in order to break down a good Mountsorrel side.

Dubbs struck for the first time in the tournament after being denied by a combination of both the post and the bar and the Mountsorrel Goalie who pulled of some superb reflex saves to keep Mountsorrel in with a chance. Poor defending handed Mountsorrel an easy goal but we bounced straight back with another Whatley strike. As we entered the final 10 seconds we were once again pegged back by a tidy header after poor marking and a lack of communication in our own box.

As we entered Extra time we were still confident that we would score the ‘Golden Goal’ and we did without Mountsorrel even touching the ball. Good passing and moving presented Gav with the ball in front of goal with the option to either shoot or square the pass….

As greedy as he is, he decided that personal glory was the route to victory and it was, straight through the Goalies legs.

Hand shakes and the presentation awaited us before the trophies were ours, and we had completed what we set out to do!!

Congratulations to all members of HASTINGS FC and many thanks to the organisers of the tournament for a great day out and a good fundraising event.