15th Jun 2023
Bury Relics Over 65’s finished their Greater Manchester Division 1 Walking Football league campaign on a roasting warm day in Heywood. The squad was Gaz (GK), Tony (Centre Back), Tex (Right Half), Alan (Left Half), Pete Shev (Centre Midfield) and Graham (Centre Forward) with Keith both Manager / unused sub and 2 Cats, Pat & Eddy, also in attendance. A great final day resulted in 2 wins and 2 draws which was a fantastic return considering that both playmakers, Woggy and JoMo, were unavailable.
First up were league leaders Kingsmaid, who sat top of the league on 24 points with Relics on 20 points in second. A win for us would have been ideal to start to claw back the deficit and Kingsmaid knew that it was a must not lose game for them. Kingsmaid played it cagey from the start, keeping possession, using the keeper and leaving nothing to chance with a strict no foul policy. Their out ball was up to the lone striker for him to try and turn and shoot but Tony marshalled him superbly and no chances resulted from it.
Due to the intense heat the 15 minute matches were split by a water break which was taken after 8 minutes of play which had only seen 1 shot from either team – a good attempt by Graham. On resumption of play not only were we rehydrated but also revitalised and started extremely well. Graham cut out a loose pass and hit a low, bobbling shot which spun up off the keeper’s outstretched leg, came down, bounced and the back spin was taking it in just under the bar… but the goalie did magnificently to get up off the floor, reach back and up and tip it over. Definitely the best save I have seen this season.
Next up was Kingsmaid’s only decent chance of the match where a left wing move saw their player with a clear shot but he blasted it high, wide and handsome. After that we threw the kitchen sink at them for the last 5 minutes as we pressed for the winner as they defended for their lives. We created 3 chances for Graham with good moves, he got off strong shots each time but they just didn’t quite have enough on them to score. 0-0 but we played excellently, especially, defensively.
Straight into the second game still 4 points behind, against Corinthians who were in relegation danger. We started extremely strongly with real intent to win. We were hitting Graham’s feet and he came close 3 times but Corinthian’s Wai had 2 shots on the turn both into the side netting which kept us honest.
Then from nowhere Graham picked up a misplaced pass and placed it superbly into the net. The ref promptly called the water break before the restart. Again we sprinted out the traps and almost immediately Pete whizzed a pearler past the right hand post with their keeper rooted to the spot. Graham had 2 shots, the second of which drew a great diving save to his right. However, Corinthians were not lying down and Stewart hit a tremendous shot which Gaz turned round his left hand post for a corner – the only time his gloves were stung all day. This was literally a warning shot to our 1-0 lead and we saw out the last 2 minutes with some neat possession football. Another great performance gaining us 3 vital points as Kingsmaid lost to Bolton Arena and we were now only 1 point behind. The chase was on!
We now went into our 20 minute break before our usual Match 3 v Preston.
We did everything right in the break, took on water, rested, great analysis of our previous matches against Preston, the players had played well in our first 2 games and were confident of the win that was required. We were ready for a …………. DAMP SQUIB!
We started so slowly and didn’t have a shot before the water break. During the break Graham tried to rally the troops and we did improve slightly with 2 shots before the end but the best chance by far fell to the Preston centre forward who was left completely on his own as we pushed forward in search of a winner. Fortunately for us he blasted it off the bar and it rebounded back to the half way line. 0-0 at the end and with Kingsmaid beating Corinthians the lead was stretched back out to 3 points.
Much post game discussion took place about why we had played so well in the first 2 games and so poorly in this match. For me the credit goes to Preston and the way that they play which frustrates and contains us. Their season stats tell a story of played 16 with 11 0-0 draws (including 3 out of 4 matches with us). They scored 2 goals; a 1-0 victory and 1-1 draw against Corinthians which was enough to keep them up and send Corinthians down.
Kingsmaid then played their last match before us, drawing 0-0 with Preston (Surprise, Surprise!) which put them 4 points ahead thereby clinching the league title.
Onto our final match of the season against Bolton Arena who had secured third place in the league with 2 wins and a draw in their first 3 games, a dead rubber said some, but pride was at stake between the 2 top performers of the day. As we were running late the ref cut the time to 10 minutes with no water break so Keith called for a high intensity showstopper to bring the curtain down on the season.
Wow, the players did not disappoint as they threw the shackles off and in a magnificent display of attacking football totally dominated a very good Bolton team. Pete had already shaved the post after a great pass from Graham before a brilliant 5 man move starting with Alan outside our D on the right moving it forward to Tony in the middle who stroked it to the overlapping Tex on the left, he cut it inside to Pete who set up Graham for a superb opener. We then rained shots in from everyone after free flowing football, with Gaz a bystander, even Tony trying to chip their keeper at one point! Eventually, Graham finished it off with his second cracker. 2-0 and another 3 points which saw us finish runners-up; 1 point behind.
A truly great performance by 6 players, who worked their socks off, with no subs in temperatures that made my pen sweat. We were magic in 3 games and tragic in 1 but that is why we all love the inexact science of football. I have huge admiration for the way that the players approached the final match, they could have thrown in the towel and not played in the searing heat, but they did the Relics proud and produced a fabulous finale of wonderful walking football.
Thanks to the League for a scrumptious buffet and Presentation afterwards.
thanks to Ian Mck for the superb match reports.
For all the 2023 fixture and results see the Match Centre page here …
Bury Relics 