GMWFL Spring 2023 – Frustrating day for over 70’s

3rd May 2023
At last a lovely sunny day welcomed the teams to Heywood for the third day of the GMWFL over 70’s Spring 2023 season.
The Relics were unbeaten on the day but were frustrated to only come away with a six point haul from the four games after being on top in all the games.
A big positive for the Relics was the return to playing action for Coach Ken Buggie after two years out due to illness, welcome back Ken.

Relics 0 – Blackpool 0
Relics controlled the game with plenty of possession and shots but failed to beat the Blackpool Keeper,. Shots early on in the game from Ken, John W, JoMo, and Tex only ended up as corners. The Relics frustration resulted in a nervous last few minutes as the Relics were on three offences, another one and it would be a penalty to Blackpool but the Relics saw out the last few minutes with a few ore chances but without scoring.

Relics 1 – Tameside 0
Relics were on top from the start with an early shot from Keiran on the right just going wide of the keepers left hand post. A few minutes later the keeper miraculously saved a shot from John W, as he was going down to his right he manage to stick out his left hand to finger tip the ball round his left hand post. Jomo got the ball in the net for the Relics with a quick move across the front of the area from left to right and fire a right foot shot past the keeper, but the goal was disallowed for running. Jomo was through a few minutes later and was brought down as he was about to shoot, the ref awarded a penalty to the Relics for ‘denial of a goal scoring opportunity’ by the Tameside defender. JoMo smashed the penalty low to the keepers left to give the Relics the win and three points they deserved.

Relics 0 – Corinthians 0
The game was a noisy, scrappy, game and difficult for the Ref with Corinthians playing a physical game and appealing against, what seemed to be, every tackle from the Relics. Both sides had chances with Relics keeper Ed making some good saves. At the other end the Corinthians keeper was kept just as busy. A good passing move from Bob > Keiran > John W saw John’s shot saved. Another move from John W > Keiran but his shot was over the bar.

Relics 0 – Rochdale 0
Rochdale hadn’t scored yet this season and didn’t really threaten to break that duck against the Relics with Tex keeping the dangerous Dale striker at bay. An early shot from John W was saved by the Dale keeper, a few minutes later John W was set free from just inside the Dale half by a pass from Tex, John was one on one with the keeper, but the keeper managed to parry the shot out to JoMo on the edge of the area his quick reaction shot hit the post. A late shot from John W, was deflected just past the Dale post.

So, a frustrating day for the Relics players Ed (gk), Tex, DaMo, Bob D, Jomo, John W, Keiran, Ken unused sub Keith B, and manager Keith S.

For all the 2023 fixture and results see the Match Centre page here …

GMWFL Spring 2023 – Tough day for Relics 60’s Stripes

26th April 2023

For once Heywood is bathed in sunshine, slightly cool, but ideal for football. Unfortunately the results didn’t match up with the weather with the Relics over 60’s Stripes losing all three games 0 – 1.

First game – Wakefield
Wakefield went ahead midway through the first half when a good through ball found the striker with his back to goal on the edge of the area, with a sharp turn and shot he fired past Eddie in the Relics net.
The second half highlight was a four offence penalty to the Relics. Andy Rich stepped up a fired the spot kick down to the keepers left but as the keeper dived to the right he stuck out his leg and managed to clear the shot with the toe of hs left book, so close to the equaliser, but Wakefield help on for the win.
Final score Relics 0 – Wakefield 1

Second Game – Roach Dynamos
Both teams were struggling to find some rhythm early in the game, but the Relics had the ball in the net for what looked like a perfectly good goal, with a good passing move Nev > Ken > Nev > Mike B who blasted great shot passed the keeper, but the ref, who was a lng way from the action seemed to succumb to the Roach appeals and disallowed the goal claiming Mike was in the area..
Straight from the second half kick off Roach were more alive and scored whena player burst through from the centre and slammed the ball past Eddie.
Final score Relics 0 – Roach Dynamos 1

Third game – Ribble Valley
The game was a bit of an untidy affair with Ribble having the advantage. Ribble went ahead when a man was free on the edge of the Relics area to slot the ball past Eddie on the right, the ball hit Eddies right hand post spun along the goal line and hit Eddies left hand post, it then spun back towards the right hand post again, but came to rest on the line in the middle of the goal. The ref gave a controversial goal saying the ball had crossed the line, but to the frustrated Relics fans on the touch line it certainly didn’t seem a goal. Another tough decision against the Relics o the day.
The Relics had a chance for the equaliser late in the game when they were awarded a penalty. This time Mike B stepped up hit the ball to the keepers left as he dived to his right.
The keeper stuck his left leg out, the ball hit his toe, shot up and hit thr bar and blunce out of te are direct to a Ribble player who touched the ball back to the keeper. More tough luck on an unlucky day for the Relics. To make it three 0 – 1 results on the day.
Final score Relics 0 – Ribble Valley 1

A tough day for the tesm .. Eddi (gk), Mark T, Nev K, Mike B, Watford Mark, Mr Bond, Andy Rich, Ian McK

For all the 2023 fixture and results see the Match Centre page here …

WFLA National Cup – Relics 65’s just miss out in Regional Final

26th April 2023

Relics 65’s just missed out in the WFLA National Cup Regional Final, losing 1 – 0 to Blackburn in a tough game which could have gone either way.
The Relics had the better of play for the first 5 mins, but Blackburn came back into the game and went ahead when a through ball found Ian McCann free to slam the ball past Gaz in the Relics goal. Blackburn 1-0 up.
Ian McCann was the centre of the next incident when he was sin binned one minute before half time for four offences. Blackburn down to five men for the next five minutes.
The Relics tried to take advantage of their extra man as they worked a few openings for Gerry L but his shots were off target, and Pete Shev who shot over the bar.
Blackburn managed to weather the five minute storm and wit their man back on had two goals disallowed. The first after about 12 mins in the second half was disallowed for running, the second about two minutes later was disallowed for being in the goal area.
The last few minutes saw the Relics piling up the pressure and pushing Blackburn who seemed to be in panic mode.
Blackburn held out for the last few minutes to seal a win which was tough on the Relics.

Well played to all the Relics Gaz in goal who pulled of some great saves, Alan B, Tex, Pete Shev, Gerry L, Tony G, John , Graham W. and manager Ken.

For all the 2023 fixture and results see the Match Centre page here …

WFLA National Cup – Relics 65’s reach Regional Final

22nd April 2023
Over 65s Reach WFLA National Cup Regional Final

Bury Relics Over 65’s played their Walking Football League Alliance National Cup Semi-final on a cool, overcast day in Heywood last Saturday. It was a High Noon showdown between 2 top teams, Kingsmaid and Relics, who had met only 2 days earlier in a league match which Kingsmaid had shaded 2-1
Although injury and holidays had limited selection options the Relics still had a quality line up on show. The squad was Gaz (GK), Pete Shev (Centre Back), Tex (Right Half), Alan (Left Half), John M (Centre Midfield) and Graham (Centre Forward) with Kieran both Manager and sub and John Wardle drafted in as Assistant Manager in case Kieran had to play.

Before the start the ref briefed the teams on the competition rules which differed from the normal league rules. Blue cards would be shown to players who had either 3 contact fouls or 3 running fouls with no penalty awards for accumulated team fouls. 20 minutes each way.

Kingsmaid started well, playing with a high intensity whilst testing the ref’s running boundaries, in stark contrast to the Relics who looked nervous and shaky. Kingsmaid had 3 shots in the first 4 minutes, utilising the tactic of knocking it long to their immensely skilful centre forward but limpet like defending by Pete Shev denied him the space to get enough power and accuracy to really test Gaz. However, the Relics started to get a foothold in the game as Graham and John looked to cut out the long pass up to their lone frontman making them go wide where Tex and Alan’s relentless pressing forced turnovers in possession.

Our first chance came when Graham intercepted a pass out from their goalie and blasted past the post on 7 minutes which gave us a much need confidence boost. After a nice team move on 9 minutes, Tex had a great shot which their custodian saved high to his right. The last good chance of the half fell to John on 13 minutes after good hold up play and lay off by Graham which just slid past the left post with the keeper beaten. The final 7 minutes of the opening period saw a chess game as both teams probed for openings against well drilled outfits with the major incidents being both John and their extremely mobile midfielder both picking up their second running fouls so now walking the tightrope of a Blue card. Overall, Kingsmaid had the better possession but we had the better chances as half time arrived.

The management duo went into action with Woggy giving the general team talk imploring them to give our man in possession an easy option and Kieran giving individual feedback to each player on what he wanted in the second half.
After the break Kingsmaid again started well with good pressure but a breakaway led to John rattling the post and, by extension, their belief. We began playing great football, having 4 good shots in the process, equally shared by Graham and John, and started dominating.

Then from our poorly taken corner Kingsmaid broke upfield and had a 2 v1 where they looked certain to score but Pete handled the situation Baresi-like, cutting out the final pass and knocking it back to Gaz. Normal service then resumed with more good interplay between Graham and John leading to another well driven shot from Graham flashing past the post.

On 37 minutes Tex delivered a beautifully struck diagonal crossfield pass from right to left which was magically dummied by John straight into Graham’s feet who controlled and turned first time leaving his marker for dead. He advanced on goal with a singular intent and just before the D he toe bunged it under the keeper’s despairing dive off the inside of the lefthand post and it just crossed the line before nestling in the sidenetting on the opposite side of the goal.

We had 3 minutes to see out the game which we did very effectively with Alan coming into his own closing down space all over the pitch. When the very impressive and consistent young ref blew the final whistle it was to the relief of all of us not to have to go into extra time.

A deserved victory against a stand out team in a match played in a sporting manner. All our players had great games but a wee special mention for Pete who never put a foot wrong throughout against a very dangerous opponent and Gaz who gave us the solid base and quick distribution to build from the back

So the Relics are through to the Regional Final which wll be played on Wed 26th April 2023 at Heywood. al spectators are welcome, so try to get down to supporrt the Relics.

Many thanks to Ian McK for the comprehensive report.

GMWFL Spring 2023 – the over 65s stay top in April

Bury’s nifty 9 were sensational last time out, to give Bury top spot in the league, an impressive 2 points clear of 2nd placed Kingsmaid. However, this time around there were forced changes to the squad; there were no Tony G, Gerry L nor Dave L but star striker Jomo was drafted in to give a squad of 7 players. Compounding the disruption was the absence of Klopp-Ken, who was not around to pick the team and shout encouragements. Pat the cat was promoted to chief coach. The sun, amazingly, was shining at Heywood, and after a lecture from the league about not-running in walking football, the games got underway. First up were Bury’s biggest competitors, Kingsmaid.

Club Kingsmaid versus Bury Relics Over 65’s
To watch extended highlights of this game, click-here.
The final result was a 2-1 loss.

Goal: Kingsmaid take the lead with a ball played up to their #77, who lays off to the winger and he scores to make it 1-0, click-here.

Goal: Bury quickly hit back to equalize, through the trio of John W, Graham and Jomo. JW plays a ball up to Graham, who redirects the ball, with a deft one-touch pass, to the on-rushing Jomo, who side foots powerfully through their keeper to score, click-here.

Goal: disaster for Bury as a stray distribution pass gives an assist to #77, who makes no mistake at close range to give Kingsmaid a win, click-here.
Result; Club Kingsmaid 2 – 1 Bury Relics Over 65’s

Bury Relics Over 65’s versus Manchester Corinthians
To watch extended highlights of this game, click-here.
The final result was a 0-0 draw.
Goal: no goals in this game.
Result; Bury Relics Over 65’s 0 – 0 Manchester Corinthians

Bury Relics Over 65’s versus Preston North End
To watch extended highlights of this game, click-here.
The final result was a 1-0 win for Bury.

Goal: a fabulously worked team goal, with the added ingredient of individual genius at the end. After several passes, Alan plays the final pass to assist Graham, who body swerves to fool the defender, cuts inside and loops a calm finish over the keeper for a 1-0 lead (click-here).
Result; Bury Relics Over 65’s 1 – 0 Preston North End

Bury Relics Over 65’s versus Bolton Arena
To watch extended highlights of this game, click-here.
The final result was a 2-0 win to Bury.

Goal: this shows any keeper can make a mistake with distribution; the Bolton keeper throws out too close to Graham, who intercepts and plays the ball into the middle for Jomo to make the score 1-0, click-here.

Goal: A bit of controversy with this one. Following a Bury interception and shot, their keeper makes a save, but the rebounding ball is rolling out of the area. Their defender side-foots the ball before the ball has fully left the area, so while his foot has not traversed the goal area line, the ball was mostly still in it as he hits it (see the photo above/below). In any case, the Ref gives a penalty. Bolton protest, and the keeper asks for VAR verification. The Chimpanzee with the camera shows him and then proceeds to forget to film the actual penalty. Jomo scores a great penalty, top left-hand corner (a bit like Lindelof’s), to make the score 2-0. Click-here to see the buildup.
Result; Bury Relics Over 65’s 2 – 0 Bolton Arena

This time out Bury managed the results of 2 wins, a draw and a loss, which is a total of 7 points gained. Kingsmaid managed 8 points on the day but as they only managed a single win last time, Bury remain top with a 1 point superiority. Overall, the team played very well with a changed squad, particularly since John W also picked up an injury in the second game. From goalkeeper to attack, everyone contributed to the good play of the Relics. Here is a montage of Gaz’s saves from today (Click-here) and excellent goals can be seen above. So, well done all players and staff. The comedy moment was provided by Dr. John, who forgot to switch the camera back on, following VAR controversy for the Bolton penalty, and missed Jomo’s excellent penalty. Thanks to the players and staff: Gaz (GK), Graham (C), Tex, John W, Alan B, John M (Jomo) and Pete S. Backroom staff of Pat and Keiren. Thanks also to the supporters who watched and encouraged the team. Report Dr. John.

Photo Gallery

WFLA National Cup – Bury Relics over 60s versus Bolton Arena

This nice summary was provided by Andy Van R; To be fair today was (due to injuries etc) a bit of a makeshift side, who had probably never played together, who did really well. Each player gave it their all and can hold their heads up, in fact there was a chance which grazed the bar and a good goal disallowed, which would have made it 1-1, after that you never know. However, this Bolton team will give ANY team a game and Keith is right (I think 🤔) when he says if it hadn’t been for Gary, who knows how many they would have scored. Things weren’t helped when Dave L got injured, from then on there was no subs to freshen up the side. So onwards and upwards and heads held high!

Motherwell Ian also made some comments; it was his first proper competitive fixture and as a consequence, consulted the Ref on what the basics rules were, prior to KO. Walking and non-contact was the information relayed. However, from the off, the speed of the game was super-fast, and any notion of non-contact was quickly squashed as a defender came through the back of Ian as he was about to shoot in a rebound. No penalty given! As is noted above, Dave L was injured early on, and that meant Relics played most of a 40-minute game with just the bare 6 players. Ergo, losing just 3-0 against a very good Bolton side was a pretty reasonable result, considering the circumstances and a makeshift side.

Result; Bury Relics 0 – 3 Bolton Arena

Squad: Gaz (GK), Graham W (C), Keith “The Wall” S, Dave L, Mike B, Alan B and Ian M.
Manager, Ken B and photos by Kodak Keith H.

Photo Gallery

GMWFL Spring 2023 – Frustrating day for Over 60’s

6th April 2023
The Relics over 60’s were unbeaten on the day and ended the day second place in the table above third place Wakefield on goal difference, and just one point behind leaders Kingsmaid.

First game Kingsmaid. As always the game with Kingsmaid was close, with Relics Tony G keeping Kingsmaid’s dangerous forward under control. The Relics had the ball in the net first, when the Kngsmaid keeper parried a shot Dog was on the edge of the box and slotted the ball home, but the ref disallowed the goal due to the ball being in the area, very close decision.
Kingsmaid also had the ball in the net shortly later, but this was als disalloed for running.
Final score Relics 0 – Kingsmaid 0

Game 2, Corinthians. Another tough game, and again the Relics were denied what would have been a match winning goal from Ian, his shot was ‘saved’ by the keeper and spun back over his body into the net, but the ref deemed it ‘keepers ball’ as he said the ball had gone above head height from the keepers save. A harsh decision as everyone else on the pitch and side lines thought is was a goal.
Final score Relics 0 – Corinthians 0

Game 3 Rochdale. Finally Relics get the win they deserve from the good play on the day. First goal from Dog, soon followed by the second goal from Graham W. Rochdale got one back late on from a four offence penalty.
Final score Relics 2 – Rochdale 1

Game 4. Wakefield. Another tough game to end the days fixtures for the Relics, both teams fighting for top spot. The game was hard fought with not many chances. The best chance went to Wakefield when they were awarded a penalty late on in the game, but General Gaz pulled off a remarkable double save as he touch the spot kick onto his left hand post only for it to rebound direct to the penalty taker who fired another shot direct on target, but Gaz had got to his knees and kept hold of the shot above his head. A superb piece of goalkeeping.
Final Score Relics 0 – Wakefield 0

Well played to all the team, Gaz (gk); Keith S; Tony G; Gordon A (aka Dog); Ian McK; Graham W; Kev Amos;

For all the 2023 fixture and results see the Match Centre page here …

GMWFL Spring 2023 – the over 70s still unbeaten but drop to 2nd

Everyone is getting older, and a few players around the Relics are closing on the grand age of 70. The clubs own answer to Dennis Bergkamp, Ken B, is soon to be 70, and can be unleashed onto the GMWFL’s over 70’s defences. Another is Tuesday football’s Alan, who this week turned 70, and is good enough to play in the league. That said, there was already a surplus of players today, including Sir Pat the cat and Tony on the sidelines. It’s conceivable that Relics could have two over 70s teams. In any case, it’s always good to have quality players as back up.

Going into today’s fixtures, Bury were top of the league courtesy of goal difference, and the question was, after so many draws last time out, could Bury find the net more often to turn draws into wins? Breathing down Bury’s neck are Blackpool, on the same points. A sizeable support for the Relics had turned up to see if Bury could remain top of the league.

Blackpool Senior Seasider’s versus Bury Relics Over 70’s
To watch extended highlights of this game, click-here.
The final result was a 0-0 draw.
Goal: no goals in this game.
Result; Blackpool Senior Seasider’s 0 – 0 Bury Relics Over 70’s

Bury Relics Over 70’s versus Tameside
To watch extended highlights of this game, click-here.
The final result was a 1-0 win to Bury.

Goal: a good interchange of passes between the 2 John’s, which culminated in Jomo supplying Captain England Keith B with a sublimely weighted pass, to take him clear of the last defender and to shoot passed a panicking keeper. A great goal for 1-0, click-here.
Result; Bury Relics Over 70’s 1 – 0 Tameside

Bury Relics Over 70’s versus Manchester Corinthians
To watch extended highlights of this game, click-here.
The final result was a 0-0 draw.
Goal: no goals in this game.
Result; Bury Relics Over 70’s 0 – 0 Manchester Corinthians

Bury Relics Over 70’s versus Rochdale AFC Strollers
To watch extended highlights of this game, click-here.
The final result was a 0-0 draw.
Goal: no goals in this game.
Result; Bury Relics Over 70’s 0 – 0 Rochdale AFC Strollers

For all the games today, except against Corinthians, Bury were the dominant team, with the tangible superiority of more shots than the opposition. On another day, Bury could have thumped Blackpool 5-0 and scored more against Tameside. We also had good chances to beat Rochdale and even had a good opportunity against the Corinthians. I think most of the shots we had were pretty good, and the reason we didn’t score was more down to good goalkeeping by the oppositions. Maybe I am wrong in that assertion, but that’s how it looked to me. In contrast, the Corinthians had more shots than we had, and brought the best out of Rock Steady Eddy in goal; what a superb goalkeeping performance. I think he’s saved more points for Bury than I have ever saved on my Tesco club-card. One of the best saves today, was a great recovery save from an over hit back-pass. You can see it as part of a montage of his saves, click here. The passing from all the team today was crisp and incisive, including in the build up to Captain England Keith B’s goal. Keith took it superbly, with the Tameside keeper having no chance to save it.

After the end of play today, Blackpool went top, as they managed to score more goals than everyone else, and secured 2 victories on the day. The comedy moments for the day were supplied by Bob and John W, with Bob firing a missile of a shot high onto the fence (the gyroscopes totally malfunctioned), and John W did some tricky skills, that was so silky and complicated that they even bamboozled himself (click here to see them).

Thanks to the squad and staff on the day: Players Eddy (GK), Dave M, Bob, Tex (C), Keiren, Keith B, John M (Jomo) and John W. Staff: Ken, Sir Pat and Keith S. The Relics were backed up by good supporters. Photos by Kodak Keith H, report and videos by Dr. John.

Photo Gallery

WFLA National Cup – Mixed fortunes for the Relics 65’s and 70’s

The over 65’s go through to the next round, but the over 70’s are controversially knocked out as the Relics enter the Walking Football League Alliance National Cup for the first time.

The over 65’s first round tie was against Preston.
The over 70’s first round was a mini league between, The Relics, Manchester Corinthians and Salcom on 30th March 2023

Over 65’s – 29th March 2023
For the over 65’s it was one way traffic with birthday boy Graham Walton having a particularly good day scoring all four goals for the Relics in a 4 – 0 victory.

Over 70’s – 30th March 2023
Due to the number of teams entering the ove 70’s section the first round was a mini league between The Relics, Manchester Corinthians and Salcom.
First game was Salcom with the Relics running out 2 – 0 winners.
Relics were straight on after the Salcom game against Corinthians. In a tough game Relics went down 0 – 1 but were controversially denied an equaliser by the referee who spotted an infringement even though both sets of players thought the goal should have stood.
Final game was Salcom v Corinthians. The relics needed Salcom to win to go through to the next round, the final score was a 2-2 draw which meant that Corinthians win the group to go through. Bitter disappointment for the Relics.

Over 65’s Gallery

Over 70’s Gallery

Well done to both sets of players
Over 65’s:- Pete Shev; Graham Walton; John Wardle; Eddie Ford (GK); Alan Blackley; Dave Lutkevitch; Tony G. and manager Ken Buggie
Over 70’s:- Pat Fitgerald; Tex; John W; Keiran T; JoMo; Bob D; Keith B and manager Keith S

Thanks to Kodak Keith Hayes for the photo’s

For all the 2023 fixture and results see the Match Centre page here …

GMWFL Spring 2023 – Solid start for the over 60’s Stripes secures second spot

Bury Relics Over 60’s Stripes started their Greater Manchester Division 5 Walking Football league campaign on a bright but breezy day in Heywood.
The squad was Eddy (GK), Mark’s Thomas & Buckingham, Nev, Keith H, Ken Bond, Mike B and 2 late call ups, Tex and John Wardle, filling in for Pete Shev and John Howson. Ken Bug was Team Manager, with Keith S and Sir Pat also in attendance along with a handful of supporters.
A solid first day resulted in a win, draw and loss which was a good return all things considered.

First up were Wakefield Wanderers Whites whose skilful Number 3 was immediately identified as the danger man and so it proved as his shoot on sight policy paid off halfway through the first half, after an even opening period, when he fired a goal into the bottom right corner from 8 metres out. Eddy got a hand onto it but the power behind the shot took it in. Relics then pushed forward for the rest of the half with Ken and Keith both having good shots just past the post.
The second half was one way traffic as Mark B sprayed the ball around from the back and Relics battered their goal with 8 good shots from John, Nev, Mark T and Mike but all were blocked, saved or just off target. The opposition tactic of kicking for touch was frustrating but ultimately effective as the time they managed to waste certainly slowed down our siege of their goal and they held out for a 1 – 0 victory.

Our second match against Roach Dynamos started off at a frenetic pace of both foot and mouth. Shots and fouls aplenty from both teams followed until just before half time when our 4th foul resulted in a penalty being awarded against The Relics. Roach’s combative number 7 booted it ferociously high down the middle but Eddy stood tall and palmed it over the bar with 2 hands.
The halftime break brought some respite from the madness with Ken doing a brilliant job of resetting and settling us down. In the second half the pace slowed as Roach were on 3 fouls but we came out strong right from the off with 4 good shots making their goalie work hard. However, Roach came back equally strongly with Eddy making 3 cracking saves. Eventually, the Dynamos discipline cracked and a fast run off the ball handed us a penalty. Again, Ken had planned for this at half time and Keith had his orders which he executed perfectly with a well stroked shot to the keeper’s left. 1 – 0 up with 2 minutes to go was a good position but the kitchen sink was then thrown at us by a team with nothing to lose. Some desperate defending eventually led to Mark T being blue carded for a last ditch tackle on the edge of the D. We suffered the double punishment of a spot kick award which was blasted by a different taker above Eddy’s head into the top of the net. We then had a squeaky bum last minute to hold out for a 1 – 1 draw with a man down which was safely navigated when the ball sailed over our bar with the last kick of the match.

Ribble Valley was our final game; they are a skilful team with great movement and provided a tough test. Both teams exchanged a couple of shots at the beginning of the half which the keepers dealt with well. The Valley then started to dominate possession which left us chasing shadows and we quickly accumulated 4 fouls resulting in yet another penalty which to Relic relief was missed.
The second half saw some great walking football from both teams but class always tells and accomplished international, Tex, scored the only goal of the game with a magnificent powerful, low, angled drive through the goalkeeper’s legs which went in off the inside of the back post after been sent free by a lovely pass from Mike. Attacks continued in the final minutes as the game see sawed but eventually Eddy cemented the 1 – 0 win with a great diving save low to his left after a last second Valley breakaway.

Congratulations to Ian McK on his first report. Well done Ian.

For all the 2023 fixture and results see the Match Centre page here …