Bury Relics Over 70’s went into their first set of fixtures of the Greater Manchester Division 1 Walking Football Spring 2025 league campaign with a squad of Eddy (GK), Gerry, Tex, Ray, Bob, JoMo, Woggy and Ken Buggie. Pat was Manager with supporters Kodak Keith, Keith the Kit Man, Dave M, Peter T and Ken Bond.
First up were Corinthians with Tex and Bob starting on the bench. We started the game decently with Ray blasting a shot from distance which the keeper got his body behind. Then Jomo picked up 2 fouls in quick succession which saw Pat call to the ref to bring Bob on after the second offence but as Bob wasn’t immediately ready the ref said that play had to restart. Eddy who was expecting a substitution wasn’t set for the free kick which was placed into the goal on the side that he wasn’t at! Fair play to Corinthians as they took advantage of the confusion to take the lead. The game then followed the age old pattern of Corinthians keeping possession and us chasing the equaliser with no chances of note by either team. Again, by trying to force the game we committed another 2 fouls to concede a penalty. It was fiercely struck but Eddy made a brilliant diving save (pictured above) to keep it to a 1-0 loss.
Next up were Tameside with Ken and Ray starting on the bench. They had the first shot which Eddy saved with his feet then we started to play some good football. Tex shot wide and then JoMo had a good shot on the turn after a 6 pass move. Although we had good possession, Tameside were always dangerous on the break and a good Eddy diving save low to his right was needed to keep it all square. We kept pressing, with Gerry having a shot blocked for a corner and then at the death JoMo made a great interception, turned and shot narrowly past the post. A 0-0 draw in which we had the majority of the play but didn’t test the keeper with our shots although they made Eddy work hard twice from a lot less of the ball.
Third up were Rochdale with Bob and Gerry starting on the bench. We were on fire from the off with Woggy and JoMo (twice) peppering the keeper with good shots. Then Tex hit a hard daisy cutter in from the right which squirmed under the keeper’s body and crossed the line to take the lead. Woggy and JoMo kept the shooting pressure up as we stroked the ball around. Eventually our nice interplay was rewarded when Tex found JoMo at the right edge of the box, he squared it right across to the other side where Ken was waiting to stroke it in. A deserved 2-0 win.
Our final match versus newly promoted Winstanley saw Tex and Woggy on the bench. We gave them a penalty almost straight away when we ran across our box. It was well taken and we went 1-0 down. We camped in their half for the remainder of the match but their centre back marshalled them superbly and despite great efforts from Ray, Ken twice and JoMo we couldn’t get past their keeper either. An unfortunate loss but the first goal is vital in walking football matches and you cannot afford to give them away.
Overall, a very mixed day of results which every team suffered. We are equal bottom on 4 points with the unbeaten Tameside but only 2 points behind leaders Winstanley with Rochdale and Corinthians both on 5 points. Literally anything is possible in this league.
Pat commented afterwards “It was a day of improvement. First game disaster, second better, third excellent. The last game lost by a penalty and the opposition managed the game with some interesting refereeing decisions. Edd again the penalty specialist. Well done everyone.”
Bury Relics 