50s: The end of the season is fast approaching

The penultimate round of the Dorset Walking Football League was to determine which teams would still have title aspirations in the final round in mid-April. Dexter Sports Storm were hoping to be in the mix, while, Thunder were hoping to build on an encouraging Round Four.

We were at 1610 Sports Centre for the third tournament in-a-row. Both squads (Storm & Thunder) had one sub and relatively settled squads from the previous round. Luke (Hitchen) returned for Storm after injury and Jase (Sheath) took his place in Thunder’s starting line-up after missing out last time round to celebrate his fiftieth birthday.

DSWFC Matchday Info

50s League Round Five, 2025/26

📆 Sunday 1 March 2026, 12:00
📍 1610 Sports Centre, Dorchester

Thunder matchday squad

Mark Cope 🧤 | Dave Lodge 🧢 | Chris Cockwell | Nick Webb | Simon Allen | Paul Gillis | Jase Sheath

Storm matchday squad

Billy Bulloch 🧤 | Luke Hitchen 🧢 | Mark Williams | Darren Snell | Gary Craig | Pete Mitchell | Chris Short | Simon Baker

DSWFC Tournament Report

Dexter’s Storm

Storm went into the third consecutive Dorchester tournament looking to get their floundering title challenge back on track. As recently as January the squad firmly believed a challenge for top spot was on. The results achieved last time out in round four weren’t those of potential champions, so title aspirations were in the balance.

Opponents	Score & highlights
Bournemouth Whites	Drew 1-1 Great team goal finished off by Gary Craig for his 13th of the season.
Amesbury	Lost 1-3 Chris Short scored with his second goal in two tournaments since returning in League Round Four.
Dorchester	Lost 0-1 The goal conceded was from a penalty (for non-walking offences). Luke blue carded for dangerous play.

Dexters Storm tournament report by Gary Craig

Storm 1-1 Bournemouth Whites

First up for Storm was Bournemouth Whites. Pre-match we talked about not underestimating The Whites like we had previously. We started the game really well – passing the ball around in the first ten minutes really well, and this led to the opening goal.

Simon “Bakes” Baker found himself forward on the right, he passed back to Darren “Snelly” Snell, who found Luke on the left. Luke passed to Simon who’d stayed forward for his second involvement of the move. Bakes cut it back to Chris Short who in turn squared it to Gary, who got good contact with the ball and Storm were one up after a fantastic team goal.

But, from that point the whole performance changed! We stopped doing the simple stuff and let our opponents grow in confidence, and with just two minutes to go they equalised. That’s how it ended – what started off so well really did become very disappointing.

Storm 1-3 Amesbury

Next up were league leaders Amesbury. The Storm squad were on a mission to put right what had gone wrong in the previous game. But Amesbury, with there 15 man squad, were not going to be easy opponents!

We started the match well again and had a couple of chances early on. Mark (Willaims) had been brought in to man-mark there main threat and he did a fine job, but it’s hard to keep a good team quiet and we soon found ourselves 2-0 down!

Chris (Short) conjured a piece of magic on the edge of Amesbury’s box, when he swivelled onto a loose ball and swept the ball into the net past the unsighted keeper. And just like that we were back in the match. Unfortunately, our lifted hopes didn’t last long and Amesbury hit us with another goal, and saw out the match to win 3-1.

Storm 0-1 Dorchester

So then we took our fragile confidence into the last game of the day against a tricky Dorchester. It was a very even game – a battle of the midfields. Both teams remained solid at the back and the game remained goalless at the break.

We started the second half pushing for the opening goal. Unfortunately, we clocked up four non-walking offences part way through the half! Previously Billy (Bulloch) had bailed us out of previous situations like this many times. But, despite getting something on the ball, it found it’s way over the line and The magpies were 1-0 up.

We were still in it and still battling when Luke challenged for the ball in midfield. He caught the Dorchester player, gave away a foul and received a blue card. A man down and with time running out, we weren’t able to score the goal we so desperately wanted, and the match finished 1-0 to The Magpies.

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What started off as promising day ended with bitter disappointment. Storm only have one win in seven matches now, and the wheels have properly come off the title challenge in the last two league tournaments. Only one clean sheet in that seven match run will need to change if a top three place is to be secured.

Dexter’s Thunder

On the whole, the season so far for Thunder has been one of “near misses”. So many good halves of football (especially in the early stages of matches), but poor game management has cost us dearly in so many second halves. It’s a situation recognised by everyone involved, and a major area of attention for us. Could League Round Five of the 2025/26 season be any different?

Opponents	Score & highlights
Verwood	Drew 1-1 Captain Dave Lodge scores his second of the season. The equaliser was in the last 30 seconds after a defensive error.
Bournemouth	Lost 0-2 Defender Simon Allen injured (Achilles) inside five minutes. First goal conceded through a penalty after Jase Sheath denied a goalscoring opportunity (blue card as well).
Weymouth	Lost 0-1 Nick Webb injured (Ankle) – likely to be out for the rest of the season.

Dexters Thunder tournament report by Simon Allen

Thunder 1-1 Verwood

The day started confidently for Dexters Thunder, controlling long spells of the first half against Verwood. We went in to the break 1-0 up after Captain Dave (Lodge), scored his third of the season.

Leading at half-time meant we “just” needed to manage the game well – pass it around, hold the ball, take our time, and don’t force it. You get the idea! Unfortunately, we didn’t seem to get it at all – our defending was ragged and our time on the ball was hectic at best!

Incredibly we got to the last minute of the match with our clean sheet still in tact, but then we managed to find the the self-destruct button (again)!

After a couple of minutes looking like we actually knew how to control a game of football, there was a rush of blood to the head, as well as an inexplicable pass across our own box. The Potters’ forward nipped in behind the defence and smashed the ball in off the crossbar past a furious Mark Cope in goal.

There was barely time for us to kick off before the match finished and we’d blown more points in the second half of a match for the eighth time this season!

Thunder 0-2 Bournemouth

This was always going to be a tough match against Bournemouth, the defending double champions. We were doing okay in the early minutes of the game, but then Simon (Allen) picked up an Achilles injury and had to leave the pitch. It was apparent that he’d not be able to play again on the day, with the best part of two matches still to play.

With the team doing their best to hold firm, a soft penalty was given against us. Jase and one of the Bournemouth forwards came together just outside our penalty area. The Cherries player fell dramatically to the floor, winked at Jase, and a penalty and blue card were given! The spot kick was dispatched straight down the middle of the goal and it really was an uphill struggle now.

When it came, Bournemouth’s second goal was so predictable. The ball was at the feet of the player we’d already identified as having a rocket of a shot – we failed to close him down and the ball was resoundingly smashed in past Mark again. There was no coming back from that, and the game remained that way until the end.

Thunder 0-1 Weymouth

This was a tight match from the offset. We played some decent controlled football and the game was goalless at half-time. In the second half we were on top, including a great shot from Jase parried by the ‘keeper.

But then match really opened up, which probably doesn’t suit us just at the moment. Weymouth (inevitably?) found a way through to go one up. With just a few minutes left Nick was denied by the ‘keeper once more after a fantastic move.

During this match Nick picked up a nasty injury on his ankle – he chose to stay on, but really, he shouldn’t have. The injury will keep him out of action for a while, including the final league tournament in mid-April.

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Another day of “what could’ve beens” for Dexters Thunder. A win was in reach in the first match, followed by two more games where we were competitive. Everybody gave their all, but with an injury in two consecutive matches, the squads lack of depth really hampered us.

DSWFC Player Season Stats

Here you can see the DSWFC 50s tournament appearances and goals for the season to date.

Player	Tournaments	Goals
Allen, Simon	5	0
Baker, Simon	5	0
Ball, Martin	3	0
Bulloch, Billy	5	–
Cockwell, Chris	3	2
Cooke, Simon	2	0
Cope, Mark	5	–
Craig, Gary	5	13
Excell, Mike	2	1
Gillis, Paul	3	0
Gorridge, Neil	1	0
Hitchen, Luke	3	4
Lodge, Dave	4	3
Mitchell, Pete	1	0
Robbins, Toko	1	0
Sheath, Jase	4	4
Short, Chris	2	2
Shute, Andy	2	0
Snell, Darren	5	1
Webb, Nick	5	1
Wheeler, Darren	1	0
Williams, Mark	3	0
Wilson, Andy	1	0

League Overview

With one more league round to go, which is three matches for all teams, Amesbury have themselves a seven point lead over Eastleigh, and nine over Bournemouth, who’ve now won four on the spin to mount a late season challenge.

Amesbury need just three points to guarantee top spot – their matches on the final day are Bournemouth Whites (9th), Bournemouth and Dorchester (5th). If they don’t get the job done against The Whites, it could be squeaky bum time when they play Bournemouth in the next match, as the gap could be one point with just the final match to play!

Why not take look at the Dorset Walking Football League tables. It includes all the results and history of the 50s, 60s and 65s over the past few seasons.

Future dates

The sixth and final round of the 50s Dorset Walking Football League is scheduled for Sunday 12 April 2026. We’ll be playing on home turf at the County Ground in Hamworthy (kicking off around teatime). Check with your club organisers before travelling though, just in case there are any changes.

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