LONDON TOUR 2021

REVIEW

ALDERSHOT LEG

MAIN GAME – CHEDDAR 3 (R. Young, Hooper & Randall) ALDERSHOT 0

Cheddar started their first game on tour, their first ever tour, with a game specially dedicated to massive Aldershot fan, Keith Hooper, who proceeded to score the second goal of the tour in a game that the visitors dominated from start to finish.

The game started with cheddar having a strong line up, despite the absence of Kev Attwood & Jerry King, including Tim Richens at the back, ably supported by goalkeeper Chris King the midfield was Shaun Palfrey, Paul (the Manager) Rodgers & Russell Young, with a forward line of Paul Randall and Keith Hooper.

The game was end to end and Rodgers made substitutions to ensure that all players were fresh throughout, but it was the visitors who opened the scoring as a pattern was set for the rest of the tour, the ball being played into the feet of Randall who held it up superbly then released at just the right time for the onrushing (but not running) Russell Young to slot home the first goal of the tour.

The same provider, Randall, was also to create the second goal and this time it was Keith Hooper who slotted home superbly. After many changes of personnel, to give all players the chance to play, the game settled into a pattern of both teams looking to attack but being held up by strong defences.

To all intents and purposes, it was going to finish 2-0 but, deservedly, the last credit for the game had to go to Randall, as he slotted home a third goal for the visitors to make a comfortable looking, but hard working, win for Cheddar.

SUBSIDIARY GAMES

Cove Rapidly Ageing Pensioners ("CRAP") 3-0 Cheddar

A much-changed Cheddar side then played against Cove, and the game was dominated by the central midfield player for Cove (who had played for Sutton United in their cup shock, many years ago, over Coventry City and had only reached 50 recently), his extra energy showing alongside of his supreme talent, and the most enormous pair of feet the visitors had ever seen.

The Cove side scored at regular intervals, despite a lot of hard work by the Cheddar side, who were already showing signs of fatigue, (and a desire to get to the pub!)

That said, the Cheddar side worked really hard to contain the excellent hosts but were unable to register a goal on the game. A game, once again, superbly refereed by the official (as commented upon by pretty much all of the Cheddar squad!)

Real Cove Rapidly Ageing Pensioners ("Real CRAP") 2-2 Cheddar (Hooper, Randall)

This game looked like being a repeat of the previous one as the Real Crap team raced into a 2-0 lead and Cheddar continued to look exhausted, after their long journey!

However, there was a real “sting in the tail” in this match as three major events ensured that the Cheddar side left Aldershot with a win, a draw, and a defeat under their belt!

Firstly, with not long to go and the score 2-0 Keith Hooper, the super striker, popped up to give the game an exciting finale, by scoring from close range.

Secondly, there came a major managerial decision as Paul Rodgers, made a huge substitution which included bringing on Paul Randall, to really go for it in the last minute!

As a result, the third major event happened, with the last kick of the game as Randall smashed the ball home (some say it was a “Hendo like” toe poke) to equalise and send the Cheddar “hordes” into raptures, whilst manager Rogers claimed the credit for his tactical substitutions, introducing not only the scorer but the players who provided the assist!

WEST HAM LEG

Cheddar arrived at West Ham after a long journey, which should have been a short one and through a few of the players, so their usual thorough preparation was not undertaken.

The team for split in two 2 with the main Cheddar side playing against the strongest Hammers team (sadly missing Alf Garnett & Clyde Best) and the others on both sides playing against each other, on the parallel pitch.

MAIN GAME – CHEDDAR 1 (Randall) WEST HAM 0

In the main game the Cheddar side dominated the match, without “putting it to bed”, but were playing some good football, whilst staying very organised when having to defend.

It was a game of very few chances and any time that West Ham did breakthrough they found the colossus, Chris King, in Cheddar’s goal, too much to beat.

Later in the game Cheddar’s ex-professional footballer, Paul Randall, was able to score the winning goal to give bragging rights to the Somerset side!

But throughout the game the attacking threat of Kev Attwood and Jerry King was very much to the fore, and Paul Rodgers was giving a fantastic wing impression of an “old Ryan Giggs”, as well as covering back when required.

Excellent defending cover was provided, as always, by Tim Richens and Shaun Palfrey.

All in all, it was a good game of football, well played and competed and also extremely well refereed at the end of which the better side had just sneaked the victory that credit has to go to all involved for an excellent game of football.

SUBSIDIARY GAMES

West Ham B 1-0 Cheddar B

The other group settle down the game, with Russell Young taking at least 5 minutes to get into the match, after having a laughing fit (whilst mentioning the words Greenhill House!!)

But once the game did settle down it was a surprisingly high standard, but unfortunately the Cheddar side could not contain their hosts, who scored a fine goal to win the match; a match superbly refereed by Mervyn Brean, despite the back chat given to him by one individual in the home side (a player described by the official as “needing a bloody haircut”!!)

Another notable event was the “battle” between Wobble for Cheddar and Brian for West Ham, with most pundits feeling that the individual “tussle” was a draw between the two!

West Ham B 0-1 Cheddar (King)

In the next match the Cheddar side, which had beaten the strongest West Ham side, then played against the other West Ham side, but never really took advantage of their superior ability, and were guilty of taking their opposition too lightly!

Despite the massive presence at the back of Richens, who was busy marking two players, despite only being one himself, the Cheddar side did not take advantage of their numerical supremacy until much later in the game.

The game was probably summed up in one incident where Richens, busy marking both Brian and Chandra, called back his manager, Jock, to “help out with the marking”, only for Jock too “tell him that he could probably cope!” (In far more colourful language though!!)

With not long to go it looked as though the West Ham side may hold the Cheddar side, but a crucial intervention by Jerry King, scoring a late goal, meant that Cheddar was able to claim the victory! But once again both teams deserve credit for their efforts and the spirit in which the game was played

West Ham 0-0 Cheddar B

In this match, the other Cheddar side restored some pride, after their defeat to the other West Ham team, by holding the strongest West Ham side to a creditable 0-0 draw.

This result showed that the Cheddar squad that went on tour had good depth and were able to hold their own with some very good players.

The only downside for cheddar was that Steve Grant, who had not long arrived, suffered an injury to his knee which meant he went in goal for the next game, and after that could take no further part!

Cheddar 4-0 Cheddar B (Randall 3, Attwood)

At this point the two clubs then had a pair of inter-team matches.

The game between the two Cheddar sides was a one-way game, with the Cheddar team beating the Cheddar B team quite comfortably, with a hat trick to Paul Randall, taking him to the lead in the race for the tour “Golden Boot”.

The most memorable moment of the game was when one Cheddar player, Bob Bunn, now playing outfield as Steve Grant was in goal, decided to do his own impression of Cheryl Ward (one of the Cheddar Ladies players) and do some hacking at the back of Paul Randall’s calves!

However, Randall, with his hat trick, had the last laugh and Bob Bunn was able to go back in goal for the rest of the tour!!

TEAMS THEN “MIXED UP”

West Ham 0-0 Cheddar

In this game, defences were very much on top, and honours were even as the West Ham team once again frustrated the other side but were also unable to create or score any opportunities.

Several West Ham players felt that Bobby Moore had “come back to life” when commenting upon Tim Richens quality defending at the back as Richens once again helped his team keep a clean sheet!

Cheddar did create a couple of chances but were unable to put them away, and both teams could feel relatively pleased with that performance and the game as a whole.

West Ham B 1-2 Cheddar

In complete contrast to the game on the other pitch, which was slightly dull, this was a memorable game for everyone involved as the Cheddar side managed to make up for the fact that West Ham had won in the opening encounter by just about scraping a 2-1 victory.

In a game of many memorable incidents the crucial ones were that James (a player borrowed from West Ham) scored one goal, with the other Cheddar goal coming from a penalty

The penalty itself was not the main talking point, as this was taken by Paul Randall, who was, to this point, scoring for fun! His penalty was saved by the keeper, only two rebound to Jerry King who slotted home.

But, befitting an ex-professional striker, Randall, rather than bemoan his penalty miss, actually claimed an assist for this!

The most memorable point of this game however was, whilst the scores were very close, the home team was awarded a penalty by referee Mervyn Brean, and West Ham’s Brian stepped up to take the penalty, but a fantastic full length save by Chris King denied the diminutive striker a goal; King receiving complaints from most people in the ground for saving what would have been Brian’s first ever goal!

The game finished 2-1 to Cheddar, and both teams had really enjoyed the game, once again!

West Ham 0-1 Cheddar B

This was yet another relatively uneventful game in which both teams played good football, competed hard but failed to create very few goal incidents of note!

This was a game in which, for Cheddar, the game was dominated by anyone with the surname King!

In goal Chris King was imperious and kept yet another clean sheet, a deserved reward for his great performances!

At the other end it was Jerry King claiming the credit, as he scored yet another winning goal to give his team a fully deserved and enjoyable.

West Ham B 1-0 Cheddar

In the final game of the day cheddar were narrowly beaten by a super strike, and then failed to grab the equaliser that their overall play deserved.

There was an early goal for the West Ham side, scored by an ex-apprentice, who cut in beautifully on his left foot to shoot low and hard past Bob Bunn in the Cheddar goal.

Just after the game Merv Brean explained to Tim Richens that “that player has got the great left foot, so block it!”, the only shame being that Merv told him this AFTER THE GAME rather than before!

Cheddar went after the equalising goal and had a lot of play but failed to get the final chance.

However, with very little time left, they were awarded a penalty, which most people thought Russell Young was going to take, as he put the ball down, but instead it was Kev Attwood who stepped up to smash the ball towards the goal, only to be denied by a fantastic save by the West Ham keeper!

Soon after, the final whistle went, and the home side had won the game, yet another enjoyable, but well competed, battle between two sides that played the game in the right way.

ORIENT LEG

Leyton Orient Football Club welcomed Cheddar Walking FC to Ashton Playing Fields for the first time. This was Cheddar’s penultimate set of games in their tour against teams including Aldershot, West Ham and Chelsea. There was a good friendly atmosphere pre-kick off on what was an overcast late morning.

Thankfully, the rain held off to allow for a set of 20-minute games with five teams participating in the mini-tournament with Leyton Orient Reds, Whites and Blues playing against Cheddar Stripes and Cheddar Bibs teams.

MAIN GAME – CHEDDAR 1 (King) ORIENT 0

The game between the main Orient team and the Cheddar side was, contrary to other days, the last game of the day and it was a superb game where all of the available Cheddar players got some match time.

Rodgers started his team out with a strong unit and carefully managed his subs and managed his team carefully, allowing players to enjoy their day whilst also giving 100% to win the match, a combination that is not always easy to achieve!

Despite several chances being created there was only one goal in the match and that fell to the lethal foot of Jerry King, who scored the goal that his overall performance throughout the morning deserved.

Throughout the game Attwood was influential as was Randall, whilst Richens and Palfrey were solid at the back, despite several Orient players appearing to “push” the running laws.

Equally it was hard for the cheddar side to get to grips with the “no tackling” rule that Orient used on the day.

It also should be said that the game was superbly refereed, by a referee who allowed the game to flow, was not too pedantic and generally was well liked by the players of those sites.

SUBSIDIARY GAMES

Orient Whites 2-0 Cheddar Stripes

Leyton Orient Whites came out of the traps quickly and asserted themselves in their game against Cheddar Stripes.

With good shape and a disciplined performance, the Whites looked threatening in attack with A. Taylor and Manicom while being solid in defence with combinations of Bancroft, Rains, Duddridge and M. Taylor offering stern resistance to any perceived Cheddar threat.

Cheston was also excellent in goal pulling off a number of good saves.

The Whites pressure was starting to stretch the Cheddar defence and the inevitable breakthrough arrived when Manicom latched on to a through ball from A. Taylor to calmly slot the ball past the keeper.

The Whites were starting to dominate the game, buoyed by their opening goal when, following a passing move from back to front that included Cheston, Bancroft, Duddridge and Manicom, the ball eventually arrived at the feet of A. Taylor making a darting move in behind the Cheddar defence. After putting Chris King on his backside, A Taylor calmly lifted the ball over him and into the net.

The Whites were cruising to a victory and perhaps should have been more ahead when a free kick was awarded to Cheddar outside the Whites box.

The Cheddar player seemed to strike the ball directly into the Whites goal. The referee initially ruled the goal out due to the free kick being indirect. The Cheddar player claimed that the ball had struck a Whites defender on the way to goal resulting in the referee somewhat controversially changing his decision to award the goal to Cheddar. The game ended just after the restart which may have been a factor in the referee awarding the goal. Cheddar cannot recall who scored this goal, but it sounds like a Shaun Palfrey shot and therefore should possibly be allocated as an own goal!

Orient Reds 0-1 Cheddar Bibs

The first game of the day was a closely contested game between Leyton Orient Reds and Cheddar Bibs which had few chances at either end.

Weston was at his best to almost achieve a clean sheet and Schneider and Green looked threatening at the other end of the pitch but were unable to get past the combination of Tim Richens in defence and Bob Bunn in goal. Cheddar moved the ball well playing off their ex-professional centre forward, Paul Randall, who had played for Stoke City and Bristol Rovers during his career. And it was Randall who helped set up the winning goal as he set up Kevin Attwood for the only goal of the match.

Steve Grant was also a nuisance to the home defence throughout, and the shared responsibility on the right between Robert Sheldon and Mervyn Brean ensured that the team were able to keep a deserved clean sheet.

Orient Reds 0-1 Cheddar Stripes

The Reds played well in this game and had the best of the possession.

They had a number of chances created by a busy midfield with combinations of Bloomfield, Schneider, Myers and Brennan. Green looked threatening up front with his incisive darting movement and Brooks, the skipper, was commanding at the back. But this midfield was in a great battle with Rodgers, Young & King for Cheddar.

The game seemed to be heading for a stalemate, but for a lapse in concentration that let in the Rodgers to slot home past Cheston for what proved to be the winner.

Although the team would not admit it, they were chuffed about the fact that Rodgers had scored the winning goal as he worked so hard on and off the pitch during the whole tour and really was great for the team’s morale throughout, especially at times when things were getting tiring which they did for these “old boys”!

Orient Blues 0-3 Cheddar Bibs

The Blues got off to a slow start in this game and allowed Cheddar to dominate the opening half.

Orient were already two down before half time, as the Attwood/Randall combination created and scored twice, and it could have been more if it was not for Weston in goal, with a show of agility that defied his age.

After the break, the Blues came out and completely turned the game on its head.

It was now the Blues that pressed Cheddar back with Stevenson, Barrick and Cox bossing the midfield and putting in the dangerous Ridley who was troubling the Cheddar defence with good movement and explosive shooting. But once again Richens weas just too good for the Londoners and stopped them over and over again, supported by Bunn in goal and also Brean/Sheldon in defence.

It was a surprise that the Blues had not been rewarded for their efforts and domination of the second half of this game.

With time running out the Blues had to take more risks and the game became stretched allowing Cheddar in for their third in the last few minutes of the game, once again Randall and Attwood creating the chance for Atty to score and get his hat trick (for which he still hasn’t bought a jug!!).

Although, the Blues went down in their first game it was encouraging to see how they bounced back in the second half and took the game to Cheddar. Birnbaum was solid in defence and O’Brien and Rehal were busy in midfield.

Orient Blues 0-0 Cheddar Stripes

The game between the Blues and Cheddar Stripes ended in a stalemate. The Blues had some good chances but could not find the back of the net. It was also sad to see Ridley experiencing a reoccurrence of an injury that had kept him side lined for a couple of months. We wish him a speedy recovery and for him to keep his chin up as it won’t be long before he will be back banging the goals in for the Orient.

This was a game most memorable for the referee and the fact he dismissed Rodgers (after the Manager told his team “Not to argue with the ref”!!!!) and that Young refused to play while he, Colina, was “in charge”!!

Orient Whites 4-2 Cheddar Bibs

The Whites domination of a good Cheddar side was mightily impressive with the whole Whites team putting in a fantastic display of all that is good about the Orient’s philosophy and strategic organisation of play. They ruthlessly implemented their game plan.

Goals flowed backed up by a strong defence. A Taylor was the first to threaten the Cheddar goal slotting home early in proceedings to put the Whites one up, seizing upon a rare error by Richens, who gambled on intercepting a ball, but missed it and injured himself.

The Whites were relentless and continued to push for more and then, perhaps against the run of play, Cheddar equalised, through Attwood.

Undeterred, in the second half, the Whites came straight back at the West Country team with Bancroft coming out of defence to hit a sublime curling shot from distance into the Cheddar net to restore the Whites lead. The O’s were now in full flow and followed up with two quickfire goals from Duddridge and Manicom to put themselves fully in control.

It seemed that Cheddar had “hit the wall” mentally as they simply ran out of steam, and all three goals came in as many minutes, metal tiredness was the problem, although the team seemed physically tired too!

Perhaps, from an Orient coaching point of view, you were to be slightly critical you would question the Whites’ game management as they continued to push for more goals only to allow Cheddar to pull one back to give themselves a squeak of a chance of getting back into the game. But that would be over critical of the Whites impressive display against a good Cheddar side.

But equally the Cheddar side deserved credit for the way that they buckled down and really competed hard in the last few minutes, and the goal that they scored was totally deserved!

In fact, Cheddar created several chances, which they could not convert and eventually lost the game 4-2.

All the Orient teams played well but the Whites were the outstanding team of the day with two wins out of two and finishing with the most points out of all the teams and impressive goal tally of six for and three against.

One player from each team, Cheddar and Orient, was presented with a ‘Team Player of the Tournament’ medal which was much appreciated by the Cheddar teams. The Orient players who were awarded medals were: Reds – Gerry Schneider; Whites – Alan Taylor; Blues – Maurice Birnbaum

And for Cheddar it was Stripes – Jerry King, and Bibs - Kev Attwood.

The morning was rounded off with Tony Wahlhaus, Club captain, presenting the Cheddar captain with a Leyton Orient pennant with the Cheddar captain reciprocating by presenting Orient with a gallon of Wilkins cider and a block of Cheddar cheese.

This was an excellent morning’s walking football played to a very high standard by both sets of teams and it was a pleasure for Leyton Orient to host Cheddar on their min-tour. Orient wish Cheddar well and hope to see them at some point in the future on their home turf.

Leyton Orient played two goalkeepers across the three teams: Tony Weston, Len Cheston.
Leyton Orient Walking FC Reds squad: Derek Myers, Tony Brooks (Cpt), Gerry Schneider, Colin Green, Mick Brennan, David Bloomfield.
Leyton Orient Walking FC Whites squad: John Bancroft (Cpt), Alan Taylor, Graham Manicom, Peter Rains, Phil Duddridge, Mark Taylor.
Leyton Orient Walking FC Blues squad: Maurice Birnbaum, Jon Barrick (Cpt), Alan Cox, Trevor Ridley, Ajit Rehal, Mike O’Brien, Phil Stevenson.

Goals Scorers: Manicom 2, A Taylor 2, Bancroft, Duddridge.

CHELSEA LEG

MAIN GAME – CHEDDAR 0 CHELSEA 1

Cheddar arrived at Chelsea (and probably the most exciting game for Tim Richens, being a Chelsea fan!) after a tough morning’s football at Orient, and a long drive from Northeast London down to Southwest London, around the car park known as the M25!

After a “wee break” and cup of tea/coffee, the Cheddar players assembled at the side of the pitch to watch the Chelsea players undergo a pretty rigorous pre-match warmup (Cheddar's warm up was literally the walk to the cafe and back!)

Rodgers started the game with a strong unit of seven players with Bunn in goal (as King was still injured with a “poorly pinkie”), Palfrey and Richens at the back, Rodgers himself, Attwood and King in midfield, and up top was Randall leading the line.

It was apparent early that the Chelsea team was a well drilled and organised team as they knocked the ball about, but they were unable to breakdown a stubborn Cheddar unit that was, although stretched, able to compete at all levels.

And early blow came for Cheddar as Richens, unopposed by any Chelsea player, turned his ankle and was in severe discomfort, and still is at the time of this report!

Soon after this, the only goal of the game came as Richens, who with hindsight should have been off the pitch at the time, felt his ankle collapse and the ball run free to the Chelsea striker, who went through to smash the ball past Bob Bunn.

At this stage Richens realised that it was no good to continue and came off to try to allow his ankle to recover, being replaced by the other Tim, Youngberg.

The new line up settled quickly for Cheddar, and they were also able to make some effective counter attacks but every time they did, they came up against a goalkeeper who was just not going to be beaten on the day!

Manager Rodgers made several substitutions whilst trying to play himself, but was not getting great support from the side-line, and this was distracting his own game, in which he was playing really well.

At the break the score was still one nil to Chelsea, though there were chances for both teams at either end, however the attacks were up against stubborn resistance from two very good goalkeepers.

The second half so very much the same pattern and there was even the chance for a disallowed goal to happen as, after a foul by Cheddar, the ball came to Rogers quite a distance out, the old campaigner struck a shot with his left foot which flew into the top of the net, but unfortunately was disallowed, as a result of the previous foul.

Cheddar continued to attack with King and Atwood at the forefront of most of the good things that happened, King earning the player the match award from the Chelsea team for his overall performance, but despite lots of good possession the Chelsea goalkeeper was simply not to be beaten on the day.

There was still time for Richens to lose his temper, quite unnecessarily, and let himself, and his team, down by leaving the pitch, much to his own embarrassment!

However, this should not take away anything from the fantastic performance put in by the team, who were probably playing one game too many after a long and tiring tour; but who competed tremendously through the whole game and on another day could have easily achieved a draw, or even a win, that the play they showed deserved.

At the end of the game there was a presentation of a pennant from the Chelsea team to the visitors, who reciprocated by providing them with a gallon of Wilkins cider and a block of cheddar cheese!

The team would have liked to have stayed and socialised with the Chelsea group, who were great hosts, but a long tour had come to an end and all of the players concerned were keen to get home, get their heads out and get some sleep!