A select few from Premier over 50’s league made history by representing the new league against the Welsh over 50’s vets team.

On Sunday 12th January 2014 a team selected from the Premier over 50’s league vets travelled to Wales for a match against Welsh over 50’s team. The pitch had a perfect surface which would enable any team to play good football and would not allow excuses for bad passes or ball control.
Steve Hern was selected to lead the Premier vet’s team. The game started at a fast pace and the premier vets soon realised they were in for a hard game. The Welsh team played some great football right from the start and immediately had the premier vets on the back foot. They dominated the midfield and continued to play fast one touch football which enabled them to keep most of the possession. After 10 minutes the Welsh played a superb ball into the box which was hit first time by the Welsh striker. It was a perfect strike which was heading for the roof of the net however the premier vets goalkeeper Phillip Walters got his fingertips on the ball to push it onto the bar and over for a corner.
Premier vets were constantly defending and occasionally got into the Welsh area however they had a strong defence to deal with most threats. The Welsh team finally got a break through after 27 minutes by beating the off side trap. The Welsh team then scored again just before half time as the weather changed and the rain started to fall horizontally.
Premier Vets changed the formation at half time and put 5 in midfield and left one up front. This seemed to even out the play and allowed the premier vets to attack a bit more in the second half. However the Welsh always seemed to be able to move the ball quickly and used their full backs well. The welsh scored two more in the second half, however the premier vets never gave up. The premier had their best spell in the last 15 minutes in which they created a number of chances.
A perfect pass from Andy Bennett allowed the striker to collect and turn. Martin Woodley hit a shot from outside the area which was going into the top left hand corner. The Welsh keeper was keen to keep his clean sheet and made an astonishing save to keep the score at 4-0. Premier vets started to push up higher on the Welsh defence which forced them into some errors, Jamie Spooner closed down quickly and the ball bounced off the keeper going out to Martin Woodley and he hit it goal bound with the keeper lying on the ground. The ball was on its way into the net when a defender put his arm up to stop the ball. A penalty was awarded and the penalty was taken by Andy Bennet who was having a great game. The keeper guessed the right way and made another great save and that was to be the last kick of the match, with the Welsh team winning by 4-0.
The match was played in a very competitive manner and the Welsh team fully deserved the win as they played some quality football throughout the match.
The Premier League over 50’s team were as follows:-

Phillip Walters (Keeper) Droitwich FC
John Carvey Droitwich FC
Martin Weston Pershore FC
Peter Cross Pershore FC
Steve Hern Goring FC
Martin Neagus Goring FC
Andy Bennett Chinnor FC
Robin Pykett Chinnor FC
Jamie Spooner OCC Vets FC
Richard Wightman OCC Vets FC
Nigel Barrett OCC Vets FC
Paul defreitas Guest
Martin Woodley OCC Vets FC

I would like to thank all the players for travelling over to Wales to represent the Premier Vets over 50’s league and there managers for allowing them to play. I would also like to thank the Welsh team for their hospitality before, during and after the game. They made us all very welcome and we look forward to them visiting Oxfordshire for the return game when we can return the hospitality.