Our 65s enjoyed a highly encouraging start to the 2026/27 Dorset Walking Football League season, navigating a demanding four-match opening round in Weymouth to claim two wins, one draw, and just a single narrow defeat.
The campaign kicked off in an expanded division, with newcomers Salisbury and Wimborne making their division debuts to bring the 65s league up to nine teams, expanding on the seven that competed last season.
Along with the new entries, the league saw a rebrand from the Round One hosts, as Weymouth renamed their two outfits to the Strollers and Wanderers (formerly Claret and Blue).
Matchday Info
🏆 65s League Round One, 2026/27
📆 Wednesday 21 October 2026, 13:00
📍 Redlands, Weymouth
- Steve Bailey 🧤
- Glen Goodwin
- Peter Cherryman
- Peter Kane 🧢
- Andy Wilson
- Merv Young
- Stuart Katon
- Terry Clark
- Peter Sharp
📰 Tournament review
Matchday events provided by… Peter Cherryman & Andy Wilson
Match 1: DSWFC 1-0 Eastleigh
The team could not have asked for a tougher opening fixture, lining up against last season’s reigning league champions, Eastleigh. In what proved to be a remarkably tight and disciplined affair, DSWFC held their nerve. The deadlock was finally broken by Stuart Katon, who slotted home a superb match-winner on his 65s debut to seal a statement 1-0 victory and kick off the campaign in style.
Match 2: DSWFC 0-1 Salisbury
Confidence was high heading into the second match, but division debutants Salisbury proved to be incredibly stubborn opponents in their first-ever game in the 65s league. Another closely fought, tactical battle looked destined for a stalemate, but Salisbury managed to find the definitive breakthrough, leaving us with a narrow 1-0 loss despite an admirable team effort.
Match 3: DSWFC 0-0 Wimborne
The third fixture saw us share the points with the day’s second set of league debutants, Wimborne, in a goalless draw. While the attack struggled to test Wimborne’s stand-in goalkeeper, the defensive unit stood tall. Goalkeeper Steve was the star of the match, producing a string of spectacular saves to keep a clean sheet and secure a valuable point.
Match 4: DSWFC 2-1 Bournemouth Whites
The final match of the day was played in atrocious conditions, as driving wind and torrential rain made standard football nearly impossible. We adapted quickly and took the lead through a well-taken goal by Pete Kane. However, Bournemouth fought back tenaciously to level the score.
The drama intensified when Pete Cherryman was forced into a desperate, last-ditch tackle to prevent a certain goal. The challenge resulted in a blue card, sending Cherryman to the sidelines for a two-minute suspension and conceding a penalty! Stepping up to the plate, Steve came to the rescue once again, pulling off a brilliant penalty save to keep the scores level. And don’t forget he also saved two penalties for the 60s the previous Sunday!
Spurred on by the heroics in goal, we pushed forward to seal a dramatic victory with a late second goal. Fittingly, it was Stuart Katon who found the net once again to secure the 2-1 win. It caps off a remarkable fortnight for Katon, who remarkably scored on his debut for the 60s just the previous weekend.
Read how Stuart and Steve also contributed to a solid start to the season for the 60s just three days before their 65s debuts.
🔢 DSWFC results
| Opponents | Score | Scorers |
|---|---|---|
| Eastleigh | 1-0 | Stuart Katon |
| Salisbury | 0-1 | |
| Wimborne | 0-0 | |
| Bournemouth Whites | 2-1 | Peter Kane, Stuart Katon |
DSWFC Player Stats
| Player | Tournaments | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Bailey, Steve | 1 | – |
| Cherryman, Peter | 1 | 0 |
| Clark, Terry | 1 | 0 |
| Goodwin, Glen | 1 | 0 |
| Kane, Peter | 1 | 1 |
| Katon, Stuart | 1 | 2 |
| Sharp, Peter | 1 | 0 |
| Wilson, Andy | 1 | 0 |
| Young, Merv | 1 | 0 |
League Overview
Double Champions, Eastleigh, struggled to get going at the start of this campaign. After losing to us in their first match, they also lost to Bournemouth Reds before recovering against Weymouth Strollers (0-0) and Dorchester (1-0) to end the day on four points.
Runners-up from the last two seasons, Bournemouth Reds, made the most of Eastleigh’s indifferent start to finish top of the table after League Round One with three wins and a draw, the same as Weymouth Wanderers. The Wanderers also managed clean sheets in all four of their opening matches.
Another team keeping a clean sheet on the day were debut club Salisbury (W2 D2 L0), who sit just one place above Dexter’s in the early table. Just below DSWFC are the other debutants Wimborne. The defending champions, Eastleigh, sit sixth just ahead of Weymouth Strollers on goal difference.
Bournemouth Whites and Dorchester will both be hoping for better fortunes as the season unfolds over the next few months, as they sit in the bottom two places ahead of League Round Two in November.
Why not take look at the Dorset Walking Football League tables. Our page includes the results and history of the 50s, 60s and 65s over the past few seasons.
Future dates
The next date on the 65s fixture list is Wednesday 18 November 2026, when we’ll be playing League Round Two at Wimborne Town FC (kick-off at 11am). Check with your club nearer the time before making the journey though!
Get in touch
The physical and mental health benefits of regular exercise are well known. If you’re interested in playing football in a friendly, safety first environment, get in touch with Dexter Sports Walking Football Club now…
Follow us
For more tournament updates during the course of the season, including the 50s, 60s and 65s teams, be sure to follow us on our various social accounts to be ahead of the game…
Disclaimer
This article has been created and published in good faith. Any expressed opinions are those of the author and not necessarily those of Dexter Sports Walking Football Club.
This article was generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence. All facts, quotes, and claims have been reviewed and approved by our human editorial team.
Reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information at the time of publication. You should expect the information to become outdated the older the article becomes.
