Boyman on Sport - An outstanding shortlist for the 2014 Gazette Sports Personality of the Year Award

It was an especially good year for sport in the area and this is reflected in the shortlist. We normally whittle our final list down to 10, but that proved too tough a task this year, so there are 12 names on the not-so-shortlist.

I’ve not gone back and checked the records, but I think that 2014 may have been a record year in terms of north Hampshire athletes claiming global titles.

Emma Croker helped England to the Rugby World Cup, while clay pigeon shooter Connor Gorsuch, karate expert Lindsey Andrews and powerlifter Jean Maton all won world titles individually.

It was also a year of unparalleled success, certainly when you look back over recent years, for the Basingstoke Bison. Finishing second in the English Premier League and doing the double by winning the EPL Cup and then the play-offs was a remarkable achievement.

Again, we found it hard to single out one individual when it came to making our shortlist, so Bison fans have two options, defenceman Kurt Reynolds and netminder Dean Skinns.

One of the main sporting events of last year was the Commonwealth Games.

Two more north Hampshire athletes impressed in Glasgow and make our shortlist. Alex Danson claimed a silver medal in the hockey and Aaron Harris did really well to finish sixth in the triathlon.

Last year’s winner, Justin Rose, is on the shortlist once again after another fantastic season that saw him win two events and play a key part in Europe’s Ryder Cup success.

The other shortlisted sportspeople are Dannielle Harrison and Owen Richardson, who look to have bright futures ahead of them in ice skating and athletics respectively, and David Ray, whose form has been crucial to Basingstoke Town’s improvement in fortunes over the back end of the year.

I’m a member of the judging panel who will decide the winner and top three – and it’s not a task I am looking forward to. With so many outstanding performances to bear in mind, picking a winner will be really difficult, so we need your help.

Before we make our final decision, we want to try and gauge who you, the people of north Hampshire, think should emerge victorious.

Let us know by writing in the comment box at the bottom of the shortlist story online, which can be found by clicking here, or use #GazetteSPOTY on Twitter.

In a shoot-out, teams should pay some sort of penalty for being down to 10 men

Watching highlights of West Ham and Everton’s marathon FA Cup penalty shoot-out the other night, two things struck me.

Firstly, while most people would agree that it’s a shame there’s not a better way of finding a winner, there’s nothing like the drama of a penalty shoot-out.

I’ve heard people argue that it’s unfair because it has nothing to do with the game. That’s rubbish. Taking a penalty in a shoot-out is the ultimate test of a player’s ability to maintain technique under pressure.

On top of that, they are fantastic to watch, unless it’s your team that’s on the wrong end of the result.

The other night, the tension continued to ratchet up as the shoot-out went on, climaxing with West Ham’s goalkeeper flinging off his gloves before scoring to send his side through, having seen his opposite number hit the crossbar. Brilliant stuff.

However, it was a shoot-out that almost raised an interesting question.

Everton had ended the game with 10 men following the sending-off of Aiden McGeady, so when the shoot-out began, West Ham selected a player who would not take part, in this case James Tomkins.

As a side note, until doing some research, I assumed that the team with more players would be free to name their goalkeeper as the designated man not to take a kick. Not so. The designated player cannot take part at all, so if you want your goalkeeper in goal, he has to be prepared to take a kick.

Anyway, this rule was brought in 15 years ago to prevent an anomie that could actually benefit the team with fewer players. If it got to an 11th penalty, assuming one team was down to 10 men, the team with a full complement would have been forced to put forward their least confident penalty taker, while the team a man light would be free to send forward their penalty specialist.

This is clearly unfair, but I think it should go further. At the moment, there is no punishment for having a man sent off once you reach a shoot-out. Is that fair?

Let’s be honest, it’s not a situation that arises very often, but I have come up with a way of giving the team with more men a slight advantage.

Say both goalkeepers had scored in Tuesday’s game. The slate would have been wiped clean, with the players going again, though not necessarily in the same order.

I’d do things differently. Having had a man sent off, I think Everton should have automatically forfeited their 11th kick, with a miss recorded.

Under my rules, Tomkins would have stepped up with the chance to win the game for his side by scoring. Had he missed, the whole process would have started again as normal, but that 11th kick would be the advantage given to the team who managed to keep all of their players on the pitch.

What do you think? Have your say in the comment box below or contact me on Twitter.