The Yetminster Sharks squad ended their competitive season with a 10v10 fixture that was played out in good spirit at the Shark Pond. A Manager's selection took on a representative Sharks side, with Ben Jones, Adam Marsh and Sam Carver's side emerging 4-2 winners of a free-flowing contest.
Both sides seemed relaxed and content to pass the ball with freedom, but it was the Manager's 10 that dominated the opening period, in spite of a handful of half-chances that fell to the 'Away' side with Jones forced into action to deny Nathan Ruscoe, Mark Whitmarsh and A. Trialist while at the other end Carver and strike-partner Kade Masters could only scare the hedge rows with their efforts.
In one sweeping move though, the M10 took the lead. Norton Payne latched onto the end of Richie Miles' long and looping ball and fired home with impunity past the still-drunk Adam Roman.
What followed would prove to be fairly sobering for Yetminster's resident Hangover Specialist when Masters' long range effort rattled off the woodwork, shaped back across the face of the goal past the hapless keeper and onto the head of the gratefully waiting Carver who nodded home a header not even the Yetminster skipper could miss.
With half-time beckoning, the most unlikely and absurd of events ensured that M10 would carry a hefty 3-goal advantage into the break. After moments of scurrying about in the S10 penalty area, the Whites failed to clear their lines before Adam Marsh drilled his strange-looking shot past the passed-out Roman to cue wild celebrations of jogging gently back to the half-way line with a strange look combining embarassment, hunger, dehydration and confusion.
After the break normal service resumed, with the Sharks' Assistant Manager returning to the kind of form that has made him a stalwart in the Yetminster midfield over the last couple of years, skying and slicing every following effort as close to the corner-flag as possible.
S10 started the second-half strongly, and the combination of Whitmarsh and Ruscoe proved a tough challenge for the M10 backline, but it was Matt Turner who popped up onto the end of an overlap to beat Jones at his near-post and pull his side back into the tie.
It was fitting that Yetminster's top-scorer for the season also got himself on the scoresheet, tying the M10 defence in knots before squeezing a well-placed finish past Jones into the corner of the net to close the game up to 3-2.
The departure of Ashley Redford made for a curious and frenetic conclusion to the game, with 9-man S10 pushing for an equaliser until a swift counter-attacking move from the Manager's side resulted in Kade Masters slotting home to kill the game with 5 minutes to play.
Manager's 10:
B. Jones, D. Reed, S. Toft, J. Dowding, N. Payne, A. Marsh, R. Miles, C. Biss, K. Masters, S. Carver (c)
Goals:
N. Payne, S. Carver, A. Marsh, K. Masters
Sharks' 10:
A. Roman, A. Redford, M. Turner (c), A. Trialist, M. Howard, K. Barter, D. Muckley, B. Trialist, M. Whitmarsh, N. Ruscoe
Goals:
M. Turner, N. Ruscoe
