Bury Relics Over 65’s went into their fifth set of fixtures of the Greater Manchester Division 1 Walking Football 2025 league campaign with a squad of of 8; Keith Gillespie (GK), Kev Bates, Pete Shev, Alan, Dave Luk, Keith Swain, John Morris and Graham. Ken was Manager and numerous supporters were in attendance on a dry, crisp day.
First up were Winstanley with Keith S and Kev starting on the bench. The teams had equal possession throughout with Winstanley having the better chances with a shot thudding off the base of the post and Keith G making a great save diving full length to stop a fierce daisycutter. We had 3 good shots, from Graham, Dave and JoMo but all of them were just past the post and their keeper had no notable saves to make. A fair 0-0 draw.
Next up were Panthers with Shev and Alan starting on the bench. They started well from the off, forcing Keith G into a good save and then scoring in the 2nd minute from a topclass toebung into the roof off the net which flew past Keith G. After that we chased the game and they hit us on the counter with Keith G making another 2 good stops. We had 3 good chances. Firstly, JoMo set up Keith S beautifully, he hammered the ball towards the near post but their keeper turned it past the post. Secondly, JoMo threaded a ball through the middle to Graham for him to walk onto, unfortunately it was just a tad too hard and whilst Graham reached it he couldn’t get enough power on it before it entered the box to really trouble the goalie. Lastly, Graham had a brilliant walk past 2 men through the middle, had a good shot but the keeper’s feet kept it out. A 1-0 loss where a draw would have been a fair result.
Our middle game was against Blackpool with JoMo and Dave on the bench. A midfield stalemate. Absolutely nothing happened in the first 8 minutes as both teams cancelled each other out. The last 7 minutes weren’t much better with only 5 shots total with only 1 on target which fortunately came from the Relics or I wouldn’t have bothered writing anything about this match and just listed the score. Alan won a free kick, he laid it back to Graham who blasted it against the post with the keeper beaten but the rebound came straight back out to a remnant of the Tangerines wall and he tapped it back to the keeper. A 0-0 bore draw.
Our fourth game was against Wakefield with Kev and Graham on the bench. The Yorkshire outfit are 17 points clear at the top of the league for a reason and they dominated possession and chances but we defended, especially Pete Shev, valiantly to keep the score down to 2-0. Going forward rarely we managed 5 shots but only 1 of those made their keeper sweat when he had to dive low to save from Dave after another lovely JoMo pass. Deserved 2-0 loss.
The final game was against Corinthians with Keith S and Shev as subs. Both teams looked weary in their fifth match of the day. They started better with 3 shots, one over the bar, one great save and one off the post but this early effort with no reward seemed to empty their tank. We came into it more and more as time went on. Kev Bates superbly found Graham out on the wing and he sauntered forward before cutting back inside and driving the ball goalwards but the goalie saved well. The game was drawing to a close when Corinthians gave the ball away just inside their own half on the sideline to JoMo, he looked up and played a magical pass into Graham’s path. Graham got it under control and took it goalwards, he dummied his shot and set the keeper down, he took it around the D and dummied the keeper again, took it further round the D and from a very narrow angle chipped it over the prostrate custodian for it to nestle just inside the far post. A sublime end to a long day which ended well with a 1-0 win.
After 5 of the 8 match weeks the table is congested apart from the runaway leaders. Relics sit 4th, 4 points from second but only 5 points above the relegation places. Therefore all to play for but no matter the outcome this team will fight to the end.
Bury Relics 