The WFLAs InterLeague Tournament can be a tricky one.
It requires someone in each age group to build a rep squad from different clubs and get them to play in the Tournament.
Well done to all people who offered to run squads this year. Volunteers were in short supply because, to be fair, it’s not an easy job. It’s a rep side, which is a fair representation of the standard of our League.
We have entered the 65s for the last three years. In the semi-final, played a while back at Bicester, we had some of last year’s players and our whole defensive squad present, Steve Palmer, Brian Blackburn, Ian Thompson and Alan Castle.
Come the final, none of the above was available and with some last minute changes the team on the day was Kevin Schmid, John Field and Simon Evans from Watford, Danny O’Sullivan, Mark Foster and Ivan Dmytrenko from Aylesbury and Micky Richens from Highworth. We basically gelled players from two teams, with Micky up front.
We drove to Coleshill, had our boots inspected, borrowed a pair of molded from a departing sixties team and settled in for a hot couple of hours. Ivan got injured in the first ten minutes(Unlucky Ivan) and the only consolation was that team selection was straightforward after that.
The quality of the opposition was high, including familiar faces from Bisham (playing for other Leagues) and of course familiar faces from other competitions.
All matches were close affairs. We opened with a 1-0 loss to Surrey the outcome of a twoagainst one attack, during a disputed decision. We beat Lancashire 2-0, lost to Birmingham 4-1 and lost to Essex 1-0. We finished fourth out of five.
Simon, John and Ivan joined the team for the first time but showed their experience and slotted in well. Simon, our sole defender, controlled things at the back and John, returning from a serious achilles injury, did equally well, hugging the right flank for 80 minutes and setting up a goal for Danny against Birmingham.
Kevin made several great saves, distributed well, and pulled off a penalty stop against Essex in the final game.
Mark Foster drove forward into the space created by the two wing halves hugging the touchline and hit two hot shots (sounds a bit like hot pots) against Lancashire.
Micky must have hit the woodwork seven times as he carved chances out of nothing, over hefour matches. All in all, we hit the frame ten times or more with two efforts bouncing out from the inner post.
We could have been more defensive but when you lose the first match you must go for it a little, to be in with a shout. We weren’t far away, in fact, just a few inches. The second turning point, after the Surrey loss was our penalty hitting the post against Birmingham at 1-2down, with them catching us two against one, as the ball rebounded out. Momentum turned the other way and with Birmingham’s running count set back to zero, they benefited from a couple of deflections to end up 4-1 winners.
Interesting referee for this match. His explanation of decisions was like a human VAR. It was impressive. Games were a bit fast, but the refs did well.
A close game with eventual winners, Essex 0-1 rounded off the day with an in off the post shot separating the teams and that win clinching it for Essex ahead of Birmingham. Always nice to play the WFA South of England team.
For six players, who had never combined as a team before, we did better than well.
Despite the hard work it took to make this happen it was a very enjoyable day with some great football being played by all the teams. Thanks to Bill Murney and The WFLA for organising and for all our managers stepping up and dealing with the several last-minutechanges.
Really pleased our Ladies’ teams got a great return from their efforts after their timeslots were switched several times and well done to the 70s for playing after seceral pull outs and time changes.
Report by Danny O’Sullivan
Manager of the Men’s over 65s
