The league season finished a few weeks back, but the season finale was the League Cup held at Avenue Stadium in Dorchester. The Dexters 50s team travelled to the tournament with a large squad and optimism around laying some markers down for the 2024/25 season.
Tournament Overview
Tournament: Dorset Walking Football League, League Cup 2024
Venue: Avenue Stadium, Dorchester
Date: 9 June 2024
Format: One group of seven teams, with the top two playing in the Final
Dexters Performance
With so many new signings recently, 50s manager Andy Madden, was able to take a ten man squad, with a view to sharing game time around, giving our less experienced walking footballers some much needed tournament action. The feeling among the squad was one of determination, to show the other teams we’ll not be such easy opponents when the new season starts in the Autumn.
With one big group of seven teams, there was plenty of game time to go around. We succeeded in being difficult to win against – we may only have scored two goals, but we also only conceded four, in seven matches.
| Opponent | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Dorchester | 0-1 | Scorer: Simon Baker Top scorer from the last tournament, Gary Craig, ruptured his achilles tendon – in a boot for six weeks! Dorchester would eventually be runners-up. |
| Amesbury | 1-1 | |
| Weymouth | 0-0 | |
| Sherborne | 1-1 | Scorer: Luke Hitchen Luke adding another goal to his DSWFC 50s Golden Boot total |
| Bournemouth | 0-0 | |
| Eastleigh | 0-1 | Eastleigh would go on to win the tournament |
“Dexters finished 6th ahead of Weymouth. We lost only 2 games, which was the same as Dorchester, Bournemouth and Weymouth and one fewer than Sherborne. Just one win would have seen us finish in fourth. Of the 21 matches played, only three saw a team score more than one goal.”
We have definitely become far harder to beat than 12 months ago, but every goal we conceded was given away by losing possession or an error in passing.”
Andy Madden, DSWFC 50s Manager
“We have definitely become far harder to beat than 12 months ago, but every goal we conceded was given away by losing possession or an error in passing. Could easily have been different, but once again, the rub of the green was not on our side. I have no doubt, if Gary had not injured himself (no fault of the opposition), the results would have been very different. Well done fellas. Proud of your efforts.”
Group Table and Final Result
| Team | W-D-L | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eastleigh* | 5-1-0 | +5 | 16 |
| Dorchester* | 3-1-2 | +5 | 10 |
| Amesbury | 2-3-1 | +1 | 9 |
| Bournemouth | 1-3-2 | -4 | 6 |
| Sherborne | 1-2-3 | -3 | 5 |
| Dexter Sports | 0-4-2 | -2 | 4 |
| Weymouth | 0-4-2 | -2 | 4 |
Congratulations to Eastleigh, who beat Dorchester in the Final on penalties, after a 2-2 draw.
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One Response
Great summary. We also hit the woodwork a couple of times which typifies our luck in front of goal this season. But a promising start with our new players.