50s: What the Heck Happens on Saturdays?

The final league round of the 2023/24 Dorset 50s Walking Football League was played at Bournemouth’s home venue, The Littledown Centre. The weather was decent, our tails were up after a decent Round Five and we had drummed up some support to come and cheer us on. What could possibly go wrong?

Pre-tournament Form

Our first match of the morning would be against Amesbury who are on a six match unbeaten run (W4 D2) since the start of February. They kept a clean sheet in five of those six matches, only conceding one goal to Dorchester in a 2-1 win. It should be noted that one of their wins was a 3-0 walkover against Verwood in March.

Match two was scheduled to be against Eastleigh, immediately after they will have played a stuttering Dorchester. Since the turn of the year, Eastleigh have only lost one match (W5 D2 L1), scored 17 and conceded just five.

So in summary, our last two matches of the season would be against two in-form sides looking at a possible runner-up spot. As for our form, we picked up four points from our two matches in March and were hoping to end the season with a four match non-losing streak.

Matchday Squad

Here our 50s Manager, Andy Madden, has his say on the teams performance…

Sunday saw us battle it out for 6th and 7th place in the final round of the Dorset 50s Walking Football League. Littledown in Bournemouth was buzzing with walking footballers from across the county shaking hands, offering warm hugs and wishes of good luck – all teams playing on the same day certainly adds to the fun of the league.

Dexters were grateful for the support of members, partners and Molly the dog (somebody had informed her that sausage rolls might be on offer), all attending in the hope of cheering us on to a couple of victories. Sadly, they were to be disappointed with the results which followed.

Dexter Sports 0 – 3 Amesbury

The phrase ‘a game of two halves’ is something of a cliché in football, but this game was more a game of several phases. We started strongly, holding our shape, the ball and our opponents at bay. Unfortunately, a misplaced pass let them in to score the opening goal. The second half, mirrored the first in being a fairly balanced game but two more errors resulted in two more goals against.

Dexters 0 – 3 Eastleigh

The boys played some glorious football at times passing quickly, moving into space and making themselves available to receive. We had three decent chances to score in the first half, but still found 0-0 at half-time. Mistakes which have thwarted the whole season returned in the second half, and we lost this match by the same margin as the first.

“Full” Matchday Lineup

Conclusion

Before the new season starts, we need to assess what happens on Saturdays. The 50s players regularly show fabulous skill, communication and understanding at our Friday night sessions, but for some reason, nerves and a shortage of confidence creep in on Sunday, and we often look like a different group.

Results aside, the season has been a lot of fun. All the players are supportive of each other and I am grateful for and proud of their commitment and reliability. We must not forget that walking football is a means to exercise, good health and being part of a team. There are few reasons why next season cannot see Dexters competing at the other end of the league.

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But I really need to find out what the heck happens on Saturdays!”

Andy Madden, DSWFC 50s Manager

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And finally, some words from the 50s Captain, Paul Gillis…

I thought we played really well in both first halves and 0-0 at the breaks didn’t do us justice with the amount of chances we had. The second half in each match was disappointing. There are things we will have learnt from them though.

As a collective, and individually, we need to improve our fitness to be able to compete higher up the table. I’m convinced we are a better team than the table and our performances indicate, but we need to be able to turn what we are capable of into what we do.

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