April 2024 fixtures
Bury Relics Over 70’s went into their second set of fixtures of the Greater Manchester Division 1 Walking Football Spring league campaign unable to field 6 properly match fit players due to England duty (Tex), hospital duty (Gerry) and injury. The fit members of the squad were Eddy (GK), Dave M, Keith B and Peter. Those playing with fitness concerns were Woggy (knee), Bob (leg) and JoMo (leg) with Pat (ill) on standby, if absolutely necessary, but who went unused.
Ken was Manager, Keiran as Assistant Manager plus Kodak Keith & several supporters in attendance on a rain-soaked day. A battling day resulted in 4 nil-nils which everyone would have taken at the start of the day as it keeps us in the Title hunt.
First up were Tameside with Peter starting on the bench. A very tight game with the Striders only having 1 shot and Relics having just two: a run (walk) and shot from JoMo and a Woggy shot after a clever 1-2 with JoMo. A deserved 0-0 for both teams.
Next up were Blackpool with Dave starting on the bench. We dominated possession and had 8 good shots from Bob, Woggy, JoMo and Keith but their stand in keeper had an outstanding game keeping us at bay with the pick of his saves being a full length dive to tip a fiercely struck drive from Keith, heading into the top corner, over the apex of bar and post. Eddy didn’t touch the ball so the 0-0 finish felt like 2 points dropped.
Third up were Corinthians with Bob starting on the bench. Virtually immediately JoMo pulled up and had to be replaced by Bob in midfield. We fought a rearguard action of the highest order as we survived 12 shots with Eddy keeping us in the game. We didn’t have a shot and only got into their half 3 times but produced a magnificent display of defensive football. All the players deserve credit but special mention must go to Woggy who took on the responsibility of holding the ball whilst we had possession and giving the rest of our players respite from the offensive pressure we were under. This 0-0 felt like a win but, more importantly, it deprived an excellent Corinthians team the full 3 points.
Our final match v Rochdale, saw Pat make the bench as JoMo unable to continue.
By this stage we were really struggling with our 2 midfielders , Bob and Woggy, hirpling with injury. The game plan was do not lose. Another very close match in which we again had no shots but managed to restrict the Strollers to only 1 shot which Eddy dealt with comfortably. Another deserved 0-0 for both teams.
Overall, it was 4 hard earned points which set us up for the 2nd half of the season which hopefully will see better injury news as the top 4 teams in the league are all fighting for the Championship.
14 points Corinthians
12 points Bury Relics
11 points Rochdale AFC Strollers
10 points Tameside Striders Blues
2 points Blackpool SS
Photos
Bury Relics 