Belgium O75 v England O80 Match Report

BELGIUM O75  0  ENGLAND O80 1

 On a bright but muggy day, England’s Over 80s took to the pitch to face the Belgium “Old Lions” represented by their Over 75s. With the anticipation of a hard contest, the England squad of 13 were eager to dominate the initial exchanges, which they did for the  10 minutes of the first quarter.  The midfield trio of Wilcock, Perryman and Spencer-Knott, controlled the middle of the park with ease; finding the forwards either directly or by passing into the paths of the attacking trio. After a few near misses, a reverse lob from the top of the circle by Gill nearly beat the Keeper, but his deflected save allowed the spinning ball to creep towards the goal where it was ushered over the line by Jones. 1-0 up!

 This set-back for the Belgiums shook the complacency out of their play and they visibly increased their speed and thought processes. Their number 8 showed his fitness and athletic ability by dribbling passed our defenders at pace but fortunately was unable to demonstrate any finishing qualities. By the end of the first quarter a pattern had been established on both sides.

With a squad of 17, the Belgiums used their ‘youth and numbers’ to try and run us off our feet, to no avail.  With a lead established, our defence came into the game with J I-M in goal, and his defenders Lomas, Murrill, Greenwood, Tranter and Parker resisting everything thrown at them. The forwards including Stephenson and Kavanagh, continued to probe but without any further goals.

By the end of the match we were tired, but resilient! This was a good performance against a younger team (who had played together at the LX Nottingham Tournament). At times we showed our ages and several of us noticeably slowed to a walking pace….. BUT…. It was a really good ‘team’ performance which we will need to take with us to Lugwigsburg (the European Championships) where we will meet up against Holland and Germany, and a game against Southern Cross. 

Finally, a special mention for Brian Perryman, a definitive ‘Man of the Match’ performance for his nonstop running and work-rate throughout the match. Ken Wilcock for his leadership, and Adrian Stephenson for his administrational ability in organising us all.  

NB The Belgians televised parts of the game and reported it that evening on one of their national channels. 

David Gill