60s: Clean-sheets and no defeats

The 60s tournament brought the first round of Dorset Walking Football League fixtures to a close after the 50s and 65’s earlier in the month.

That’s 16 matches, across four teams in three age categories Dexter Sports. The 50s opened the season with two teams competing for the first time, followed by Dexter Sports WFC’s first ever outing in the 65s category.

The 60s may have been last to start their campaign, but they were by no means the least successful. The squad arrived in Dorchester with eight players, and came away with a solid start to the season.

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Matchday Squad
John Gray (manager), Mark Sanderson, Brian Hooper, Peter Cherryman, Peter Kane (captain), Andy Madden, David Bacall (GK), Mike Ryan

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Match One: Swanage (2-1)

Last season Swanage missed out on the 60s title by just two points – so this was expected to be a tricky match, and so it turned out. Swanage went one up in the first half, ahead of some personnel changes for Dexter’s at half-time, which changed the tide in our favour.

Goals from our captain, Peter Kane, and Brian Hooper topped off a second half in which we played well and deserved our first three points of the season.

Match Two: Sherborne (0-0)

After the morale boosting second-half against Swanage, the second match of the day looked like it might be easier. Sherborne had finished bottom of the division last season, which to be fair, was only one place above us!

On the day though, both teams cancelled each other out, for a 0-0 stalemate. The closest we came to scoring was when Andy Madden rattled the post in the first half.

Match Three: Dorchester (0-0)

Our final game of the day was against last season’s runners-up, Dorchester – on paper our hardest game. We survived some scary moments in first half, in which Dave (Bacall) made some wonderful saves to keep us in the match. Again, tactical subs were made at half-time, and the second half was a more even affair, which once again ended goalless.

After these three results, I’m pleased with whole squad and how we performed in defence and attack. I’m looking forward to rest of season with optimism.”

John Gray, 60s manager

Everybody else

The end of the 2023/24 season was pretty close, with just two points covering the top three. The first round of matches this season saw those top three teams collect eight points between them, with no wins and just two goals from 11 matches.

Bournemouth Reds sit proudly at the top of the table on goal difference from Weymouth, after two wins and a draw. Their compatriots, Bournemouth Whites are in third place, also after three matches. Defending champions, Eastleigh, are third from bottom, having played four matches.

The full league tables for all age groups (and the last couple of seasons too!) can be found on our tables and results page.

Future dates

The next round of 60s fixtures will be played on Sunday 17 November at Littledown, for Bournemouth’s home fixture.