Middlesex Over 65's Festival

On a beautiful sunny morning we left Hemel for our monthly visit to Bannister's Sport Centre, Harrow, which normally as its own micro climate of wind and rain, but today it was perfect!

We had two fairly strong squads with Dave Chalkwright making his debut with our Pale Blue squad, who started with a well fought game against Inter Muswell Hill RIP with debutant goalkeeper Mike Wallis making some good saves. 0-0 the final score. Cedars were next up and as always they provdied a stiff challenge. Our lads, led in defence by the every dependable Steve Buckey, kept them to few chances. However, a well taken shot did put them in the lead. 1-0 the final score.  Vintage Watford gave us another stiff challenge, but a well worked goal from Mike Wood made the final core 1-1.

Our midfield, marshalled by captain Steve Manly showed some real quality at times with debutant Dave Chalkwright and Barry Lustigman supporting well. Dave Rose and Brian Petrie also provided quality when needed.

A new team in the shape of Barnet 75's was our final game which ended in a well earned 0-0 draw.

Squad: Mike Wallis, Steve Buckey, Barry Lustigman, Steve Manly, David Rose, Mike Wood, David Chalkwright, Brian Petrie.

Our Dark Blue squad started their morning with a hard fought game gainst Welwyn Extra Time. Few chances were created by either side so a 0-0 was a fair result.  Our next game against Meridan was another tough game and we created most of the chances, but an unfortunate goal gave Meridan the lead. With seconds left on the clock we were awarded a penalty for running offences, but a well saved penalty kept the final score to 1-0. Local rivals Watford were next up, and after complaining about lack of respect, the referee quite rightly wouldn't allow the Watford keeper the sit on a ball in his goal! As usual this was a very physical game and our lads gave as good as they got, much to the dismay of the Watford players. 0-0 the final score. At this point in proceedings it fair to say our lads had stuck to their shape with Cliff Leat defending and leading the team with superb leadership; Alastair Greene was as usual busy in midfield and causing defences real problems without creating any clear cut chances. Andy Smith, Ken Rose, John Bines and Lisa Willocks all had put in a good shift. John Cahillane in goal made some great saves, including a penalty against Watford for an infringement in the box. Our final game was against Bumble Bees from Barnet and once again it was a physical battle. If it was a boxing match we would have won on points with Cliff Leat frustrating their striker throughout the game, until midway through the second half he stormed off in rage accompanied by foul language after a strong, but fair challenge from Andy Smith!  With literally minutes remaining another strong challenge from Cliff Leat resulted in him being blue carded! 0-0 the final score.

Squad: John Cahillane, Cliff Leat, Ken Rose, Alastair Greene, Andy Smith, John Bines, Lisa Willocks.

So both squads ended with three draws and a loss which is not a bad return, considering we had no recognised keepers or strikers!