15 th October 2026 over 65’s Bury Relics at Heywood
Manager Ken Buggie
Squad:-
K Gillespie (GK )
G Walton ( C )
I McCann
D Lutkevitch
A Blackley
K Swain
K Amos
K Bates
Overcast yet warm weather with a slight drizzle, not too warm or too cold, pretty much ideal conditions for football.
First game against Bolton
Subs- K Swain, K Bates
The first game of any session tends to be fast, this was no exception, I’d go so far as to say this was not walking football by any reasonable measure of the definition.
Bolton always field a strong team as they have a very large pool of players to choose from ( at least 120 at my last count ) so they do have a bit of a Man City style advantage on most teams but as far as I understand this is all perfectly legal but definitely worth a lively discussion over a cup of tea and a biccy or a slice of toast even.
Bury however are no pushover and despite a much smaller squad base are able to field a strong team that were more than the equal of their opponents.
A fast game that wove backwards and forwards with neither team able to get a clear cut chance until a momentary lapse in concentration when Bolton were pressuring the Bury team and it seemed like every player was huddled together in front of the Bury goal area every player that is except the Bolton defender who had nonchalantly ambled up the right wing completely unnoticed to receive a well played pass which he converted into a thundering strike on goal giving Keith little chance in nets.
One nil down Bury continued to play excellent passing football moving the ball rapidly with ease but the opening just wouldn’t appear for them, a few off target attempts from Ian Graham and Alan but no joy, on the whole a great display of non walking football by both teams with Bury paying the price for a lapse in concentration.
Final score
Bury 0 Bolton 1
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Second game up against Ribble Valley
Subs-D Lutkevitch, A Blackley
This was a very different game, Bury continued their impressive movement of the ball with every player playing their part except Keith in goals mainly because the defensive display from Bury meant he barely touched the ball at all in this game, Keith Swain and Kevin A were magnificent in defence but not just in defence as they pushed and pressured a slightly disorganised Ribble team who have some good players but lack a bit of cohesion.
The pressure on Ribble soon proved too much as Kevin Amos found himself in bags of room central to goal with a ball with “ shoot” written all over it, well it’d be rude not to, he hammered it home . GOAL….
Ribble couldn’t seem to hold on to the ball for any decent length of time and Bury again were pressing , this time finding themselves in a two on one situation with Ian McCann driving upfield at the retreating defender
Kev B was tracking him just slightly ahead, Ian released a lovely pass which Kev B took and finished with a trademark toe-bung into the roof of the net …. GOAL. ( it’s an old trademark but still legally valid).
It wasn’t long before the Ribble defence was yet again under pressure this time Graham found himself on the end of a lovely series of passes which led to a tremendous strike and a third … GOAL.
Graham had a couple more on target that the keeper saved and Kev B had three more on target that the keeper saved one where he just avoided being megged with a last second clash of his knees another where he did a lovely fingertip save from another toe bunger that was sailing into the top corner.
All in all a very good display from Bury that could have easily been a very high scoring game but for the Ribble keeper.
Final score
Bury 3 Ribble Valley 0
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Third game against Curzon Ashton
Subs – Graham, Kev Amos
Again a very different game this one which I’m tempted to just sum up as … cancelled each other out.
Curzon perhaps had the slight upper hand forcing some good saves from Keith but Bury had a couple of decent chances Kev B probably should have scored twice, one effort was stopped by a great reaction save the other was just a poor scuffed shot that scurried to the bi line in embarrassment.
Final score
Bury 0 Curzon Ashton 0
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Final game against Preston
Subs K Swain, I McCann
Dare I say it? Another very different game.
Preston have a good team and like to press which leaves acres of space to exploit once the ball is turned over.
Bury did this extremely well and probably should have been scoring a lot of goals but it’s not always as simple as that and Preston’s highly entertaining talkative keeper kept them at bay for a long time but eventually Graham had some joy when his initial effort bounced out for him to sink the rebound into the net, Preston’s keeper was jokingly asking his teammates to hit Graham so I obliged on their behalf ( don’t worry I didn’t hurt him).
Preston again pressed ..on….. their striker had a tremendous shot which brought out an impressive full length fingertip save from Keith excellent stuff, but again… acres of space to exploit for Bury due to the high press, Graham had a free walk from the half way line all the way to goal but a Preston player ran like the clappers ( I’ve no idea what that means but I dare say I’ll find out) and nobbled him right on the edge of the area resulting in a Penalty for Bury which Graham dispatched with ease.
The Preston player was fortunate to still be on the pitch but it was the last game and the ref was understandably lenient.
Preston have a very skillfull striker but he does tend to try and dribble the entire team whilst ignoring his teammates who are well positioned so he just kept running into a wall, Kev A , Graham, Dave Lutkevitch Alan Blackley Kev B … I think he pretty much ran into all of us at some point… I think Bury’s motto should be “You Shall Not Pass”
Or perhaps that’s his motto… anyway it makes life easier when the other team ….isn’t .
Final score
Bury 2 Preston 0
Seven well deserved points ( coincidentally I was just reading about a young player who is called J Seven-Seven who scored in the 77th minute in his last match) he’s Seventeen.
Justin Seven-Seven is a 17-year-old footballer playing as an attacker for West Bromwich Albionwho went viral for a series of unique numerical coincidences matching his name, shirt number, and scoring times. [1, 2]
Detail Information
Full Name Justin Seven-Seven
Current Club West Bromwich Albion (U18 / U21)
Shirt Number 77
Position Attacker / Centre-Forward
Age / Birth Date 17 years old (Born May 10 or October 2009)
Key Viral Coincidences
- The 77th-Minute Goal: He scored a goal in the 77th minute while wearing shirt number 77for West Brom’s U21/U18 side against Sutton United in the National League Cup / EFL Trophy. [1, 2, 3]
- The 7th-Minute Goal: In a separate match against Ipswich for West Brom U18s, he scored a brace with his first goal arriving in the 7th minute. [1, 2]
I do like a little bit of football trivia 😊🏃➡️plus according to this he was born in May and October which… is a 5/6 month gap… now if it was a seven month gap I’d be impressed
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Report by Kevin “Shakespeare” Bates
