GMWFL Spring 2024 – Over 60’s Whites consistently resolute

For a change there was no rain and wind at Heywood, and conditions were very promising for playing football. The Whites last time out, produced two points from draws and sat forth in the table of five teams at the beginning of play. The team sheet looked strong but had to account for the absence of Keith “The Wall” S, who was away negotiating a potential lucrative transfer to Tenerife Tornados. In his place was the man with the biggest pockets in the league, that of Pete Shev, who was chosen to fill in for The Wall. The full team was as follows: Gaz (GK), Graham (C), Motherwell Ian, Kevin A, Ian Mac, Paul W and Big Pockets Pete. Team manager was Ken Bug, and coaching staff of Keiren T and Sir Pat. A program of 4 matches began with Bolton and here’s what happened…

Bury Relics over 60’s versus Bolton Wanderers Blues
To watch the full game, click-here.

To see the highlights, click-here.
Bury Relics Whites 0-0 Bolton Wanderers Blues

Bury Relics Whites versus Wakefield Wanderers
To watch the full game, click-here.

To see the highlights, click-here.
Bury Relics Whites 0-0 Wakefield Wanderers

Bury Relics Whites versus Kingsmaid
To watch the full game, click-here.

To see the highlights, click-here.
Bury Relics Whites 0-0 Kingsmaid

Bury Relics Whites versus Fleetwood Town Flyer
To watch the full game, click-here.

To see the highlights, click-here.
Bury Relics Whites 0-0 Fleetwood Town Flyers

What a day of scintillating football action, particularly the games with Kingsmaid and Fleetwood. Against Kingsmaid, there was a spell where the Relics goal was under siege from a dogged and determined team, where they marked everyone up as Gaz was trying to distribute the ball. There were no easy pass-outs for him. Also in this game was a dubious penalty to Kingsmaid, that was given for denying a goal scoring chance, and a blue card. Even VAR may have overturned that one. The luck was with Bury however, as the striker hit a powerful penalty onto the post and wide, and Bury played very well with a man down for the next 10 minutes. Against Fleetwood, it was an amazing game, where both teams could have won it. Gaz played a pin-point pass to Motherwell Ian in acres of space down the right, and his shot was spilt by the keeper but to the wrong side of the post for Bury. Then Graham got past the last defender to have his shot superbly saved by the Fleetwood keeper. In between Bury’s chances, was a battle raging on between the tall Fleetwood Striker with Pete and Gaz in goal. A combination of determined defending by Pete, some good saves by Gaz and the post kept Bury in it and managed to survive the lethal fire power of the striker. Bury played well, and made a number of chances to score today but shots were either wide or saved, so they were not just hanging on in games, they played some good football. However, the quality of teams and play in this league is high and the videos show that. At the end of todays fixtures, Bury are bottom of the league on six points but only two behind Kingsmaid and 4 behind Fleetwood; could be a relegation battle brewing. Comedy moment was Kingsmaid pushing Kevin in the area. Bury Relics played well today. A good support of Ken Bo, Watford Mark and John W amongst others. Report by Dr. John.

Magnificent 7 passes (click-here)
Seven passes of the day that I liked:
1) Graham’s first time and one-touch pass, with the outside of his foot, to Ian Mac was excellent.
2) Kingsmaid’s #6 gets the ball on the wing and instantly plays it across to a striker in space.
3) Motherwell Ian’s nimble feet take out 2 Fleetwood defenders to get the ball to Ian Mac bearing down on goal.
4) My favourite. Ian Mac has Brazillian DNA! He plays a backheel-nutmeg pass up to Graham up-front.
5) Gaz threads the eye of a needle to find Motherwell Ian in acres of space on the right.
6) Fleetwood left back splits the Relics defence with a delicious ball; the striker hits first time.
7) A good example of how to play a one-two-three pass by Fleetwood.