Squad:

 

Lawrence

kevin

George

Ian

Martin

Les

Paul

Grant

Chris

 

 

So the start of a new Over 60s Kent Walking Football League season with our first game at home to Whitstable. With some old faces missing, and some old new faces making their debut for the 60s, the Strollers went into this game hoping for a better start to the season than last year.

 

BayCity started the game on the front foot and bossed possession for the first ten minutes. However, despite keeping the ball well and creating opportunities, BayCity failed to test the Whitstable goalkeeper with any meaningful shots on goal. Whitstable seemed to grow in confidence because of this and had their best spell of the first half, with Lawrence pulling off a fine save to keep the Strollers level. It was soon after this that BayCity’s pressure finally paid off with Martin picking up a loose ball on the edge of the box, before hitting an unstoppable strike into the top left-hand corner of the Whitstable goal. 1-0 to BayCity and on the overall balance of play, well deserved. 

 

Like waiting for buses, the second goal soon followed. More pressure by BayCity created uncertainty in the Whitstable defence and Martin was there again to drive the ball home. 2-0 to the Strollers. 

 

Continuing with their patient possession football by making the simple pass and, if needs be, passing backwards, BayCity scored the best goal of the match. A 15+ pass move resulted in Kevin finding space for an unstoppable strike to make it 3-0 just before half-time.

 

Half-time and 3-0 to BayCity.  

 

An excellent first half for BayCity and a well-deserved lead. The only downside was the running offences, which, with our opponents, stood at 3-3 at half-time.

 

Half-time substitution: Chris on for Paul. 

 

The second half began similarly to the first, with BayCity dominating possession and the pace of play. Whitstable occasionally had a breakaway opportunity, but Lawrence managed to keep them at bay. It wasn’t long before BayCity’s pressure resulted in a free kick on the edge of the Whitstable penalty area. Martin rolled the ball back to George, who expertly passed the ball into the bottom left-hand corner of the goal. 4-0 to BayCity.

 

The old adage of ‘a team is vulnerable immediately after scoring’ played out as Whitstable put together their best move of the match and scored a well-deserved consolation goal. 4-1 to BayCity.

 

Soon after, another nice passing move resulted in Martin having the chance for his hat-trick with another powerful strike; however, he was denied by an excellent save by the Whitstable keeper, who touched it over the bar. This didn’t stop the Strollers from continuing to put Whitstable under pressure, and it paid off with one of their defenders giving away a penalty for encroachment. Unfortunately or fortunately for Whitstable, BayCity didn’t take advantage of the scoring opportunity, and it remained 4-1. 

 

Substitutions: Les on for George and Paul on for Martin. 

 

No sooner had play restarted after the substitutions, Whitstable were penalised for their fourth running offence. No mistake on this occasion, with Grant scoring from the spot to make it 5-1. 

 

The last few minutes saw BayCity continue to keep the ball and see the game out for a well-deserved victory. Overall, a solid performance from the Strollers.

 

As far as wanting a better start than last season – mission accomplished! 

Thanks to Chris Smith for refereeing the game and to Tony Old and Nobby for your support.