Walking football match report from Kings Leisure Centre

Oranges - 1

Dave Pople, Clive Vaughan, Pete Rendell, Kevin Rosser, Robin, Rob Sheldon, Ben Chick.

Goal - Pople

Yellows - 4

Tim Richens, Paul Chick, Paul “Jock Rodgers”, Andy Burgess, Steve Gooding, Steve “Hendo” Henderson, Bruce Bayliss.

Goals - Henderson 2, Burgess, Rodgers

Ref

Neville Hiscox, of Cheddar

A torrential downpour, the likes of which this group of experienced players had never encountered before in their many years of football, brought a premature end to a fantastic display of football.

It took the “heavens to open” and hailstorms (that meant players couldn’t see from one end of the pitch to the other) to force these hardy souls from the pitch with “Jock’s yellow’s” winning the game and Rodgers himself having scored a late goal, to the shock of all at the ground!

With well over 500 years of adult football on the pitch, the general consensus was that no one had ever played in such wet conditions as experienced on the night!

Captains Dave Pople and Jock Rodgers  sorted the teams, and the game started at a pace - slow - with Paul Chick once again the stand out player, and soon it was Andy “Budgie” Burgess who got on the scoresheet for his weekly goal, but the returning Steve “Hendo” Henderson added to the scoring, refreshed after his Mexican trip, with his deadly left foot (to no one’s surprise) and the yellows took a deserved 2-0 lead into the break. 

As well as Chick, the team was moving forward with menace, with Gooding and Rodgers a threat (or a nuisance, you decide!) in midfield and still, Bruce Bayliss was strong in defence and keeping the “orange hordes” at bay, making one vital interception to deny Robin a chance, when the youngster was clean through!

A change of goalie, with Dave Pople coming out of goal, saw the Oranges get a grip on the game as Pople himself, the latest new boy, Kevin Rosser, the brother in laws - Clive Vaughan and Pete Rendell - and the club youth prospect, Ben Chick started to dominate “down the hill”!! 

And it was only great defending and some superb keeping by Tim Richens that retained the 2-0 lead.

After a change of ends the deserved Orange’s goal came, as a great cross saw Dave Pople at the far post slot the ball in, past the helpless Gooding, to draw the teams close!

It took another great strike by “Hendo” to restore the two goal lead, but the weather was starting to worsen, and it got so bad that none of the yellows could see Rodgers, despite him calling for the ball throughout (not sure if it was the weather or the fact the yellows wanted to retain the ball!!)

But it was Rodgers who had the last laugh as, in the last minute played, he finished with aplomb to make the win comfortable for the Yellows.