Manchester Walking Football April 2024

All Reports By Kevin Williams

Week 1 – Over 70s Division 1 & Over 60s Divisions 1 & 2

Over 70s Report

In Division 1 Blackpool Senior Seasiders will have been relieved to pick up their first two points of the campaign, in two of six matches that ended up all square yesterday at HSV.

Bury Relics run of clean sheets was extended to a remarkable eight – although they also failed to register at the other end; four draws keeps them in contention though.

Manchester Corinthians look to be a danger to all, and their 8 point haul shot them to the top of the table; they might take some shifting too.

Tameside Striders Blues had a mixed bag of a day, but 5 points keeps them on the coat tails of the leading group, whilst Rochdale AFC Strollers matched that, recovering well from a last gasp defeat at the hands of the league leaders.

Over 60s Report

Fleetwood Town Flyers lowered the colours of league leaders Wakefield Wanderers in the latest instalment of the top division today, winning 2-1. However, the West Yorkshire side remain top dogs as they still picked up 5 points courtesy of beating Bolton Arena Blues, by a single goal.

Kingsmaid are still firing blanks by their standards, with just three points on the day, leaving them in unfamiliar territory near the foot of the table.

Bolton Wanderers Blues fell only to the top of the table side, and lead the chasing pack; but they all have some way to go to catch Wakefield Wanderers, not least Bury Relics who despite suffering defeat only twice in 8 games, need to start picking up a couple of wins soon, if they are to avoid the wooden spoon.

Blackpool Senior Seasiders and Rochdale AFC Strollers share the spotlight at the top of Division 2 at the end of the second round of games, with the Dale remaining unbeaten on the day. The finale between these two sides came pretty close to ending that run though! The Seasiders carry a big attacking threat, in every sense, and it took some determined Rochdale defending, and a touch of good fortune, to keep that clean sheet in the last game of the day.

Manchester Corinthians problem seems to be in front of goal, defensively they are sound as a bell, but are possibly counting the days and weeks before Mick Tarpey returns to the fold. There’s certainly little wrong up until that point, from goalkeeper Dave Hunter on throughout the squad.

The Panthers pounced to claim 8 points on the day, to force themselves right into the reckoning for promotion. Preston North End share the bottom rankings with Corinthians, but both know that a good haul from May’s fixtures and that scenario will change.

In the 20 games played today in Divisions 1 & 2, 12 ended in 0-0 draws [Ed]

Week 2 – Over 70s Division 2 & Over 60s Divisions 3 & 4

Over 70s Report

Burnley Clarets found their Division 2 legs at Heywood on Wednesday, courtesy of two wins and two draws. They climbed to the top of the table on goal difference, edging out Salcom. They could have had a clear points advantage but for a fine last gasp penalty save by Preston’s keeper, Clarets skipper Dave Stobbs the unlucky victim.

Stobbs however, did find the net in what was a crucial match against Salcom, with Stuart Gradwell making it 2-0. Gradwell also bagged the winner against Bolton Arena to send the Clarets home content with their days work.

It was a mixed bag for Bolton Arena, their day evenly split between 2 wins and two losses, and whilst they sit second bottom, they are only 4 points off the leaders. Similarly positioned are Rochdale AFC Striders, who in common with a few teams around, could do with unearthing a goalscorer.

Preston North End Senior Whites will feel the same way, and although they failed to trouble the opposition goalkeepers on the day, sit a handily placed third just a point off the pace. A very tight division.

Over 60s Report

The bookies have stopped taking bets on Winstanley Walkers topping the Division 3 table in June, as the Wigan side hammered home ten goals in four matches on Thursday. It was almost a day of clean sheets for them too, with only Bolton Wanderers Whites breaching their defence. That leaves the Bolton club 7 points behind in second place, with a vastly inferior goal difference.

The others are playing for pride in reality, because mathematically, it could be over by May. Rochdale AFC Striders picked up two decent points during the morning, but really needed a result against Moston Brook FC, which they failed to get. Burnley Clarets have also yet to win this season, and it looks between them and the Dale for the relegation shoot out in June.

A hectic schedule in Division 4, with 15 games to be played, pitches 3 and 4 resembled a conveyor belt at times.
At only 12 minutes per fixture, perhaps it’s not that surprising to see ten of those games remaining goalless. Others might point to the performance of the referee [yours truly] who oversaw six of them!

It’s tight at the top, with Ribble Valley leading Bury Relics Blues on goal difference only. That pair have opened up a four point lead over Wakefield Wanderers Whites, but with so many games still to play, ten each, it’s far from time for anyone to sing just yet [he said, skilfully avoiding offending anybody at all].

With that number in mind, none of the three clubs in the bottom half of the table [Bolton Arena, Salcom and Roach Dynamos] can be assured of avoiding the wooden spoon, with the Roach lads encouraged by their return of 6 points following an enforced blank opening day.

Week 3 – Over 70s Division 3 & Over 65s Divisions 1 & 2

Over 70s Report

Winstanley Walkers remain the only unbeaten team in the 70s 3rd Division, after mirroring their opening day sequence of two wins and two draws, each of their games closely fought affairs. Chasing them hard are newcomers Hawarden Strollers, who have taken the step into the GMWFL in their stride, so to speak.

Only five goals were scored in the 10 games played, and 80% of them were claimed by the top two, Panthers breaking the monopoly in a win over Tameside.

That result left those two clubs, along with Moston Brook FC, sharing a three way tie for the wooden spoon, with identical records of Played 8, Won 1, Drawn 4 and Lost 3. The goal difference of -2 is also identical, along with a points tally of 7. Plenty to play for at both ends of the table.

Over 65s Report

The rarified air at the top of Division 1 is obviously something that Wakefield Wanderers are accustomed to. They’ve fielded many teams over the years who have sat comfortably at the top of the pile, and this week was no exception. They put their noses in front by a whisker, courtesy of wins over Bolton Arena and Bury Relics, who last month shared top spot with them.

The Yorkshire side were prevented from building a bigger lead when being held to draws by both Manchester Corinthians Reds and Blackpool Senior Seasiders, which proves that there is real strength in depth at the top table.

The Seasiders once again failed to find the net, and that is proving to be their downfall at the moment. Corinthians, scored just the two, but they were instrumental in gaining four points in two games and pushing them up to 3rd place.
Bolton Arena were another side to leave their shooting boots at home, and they slipped to fourth as a result.

Preston North End raced to the top of the second tier, winning three of their four fixtures and shooting 9 points clear of Rochdale Strollers, the only team to deny them on the day.

Ray Richards has put together a good team who attack and defend quickly, and in numbers, promotion is theirs for the taking, it would seem, although Ray is old enough and wise enough to take nothing for granted.

Rochdale AFC Strollers four draws basically anchor them in second place, and it’s the same story for Panthers, Manchester Citizens and Moston Brook FC, who shared the spoils in four further games. No shortage of goals though, with 13 scored across the board.

Week 4 – Over 65s Divisions 3 & 4

Over 65s Report

Last month’s four way table deadlock in Division 3 was smashed apart by Winstanley Walkers, who plundered 7 points from their three fixtures to go 6 points clear at the top.

Salcom backed up last month’s comment that there were a lot of points to play for by emulating their Wigan rivals, to leapfrog Rochdale AFC Striders and Burnley Clarets, but they will need to produce something special to bridge the gap.

Both Lancashire clubs will be disappointed to have gleaned just the single point from their three games, and that particular relegation battle seems to be in their hands.

The opening clash of the Division 4 matches pitched the top two teams against each other, and it produced a crucial win for Wakefield Strollers as they sent Manchester Corinthians Whites unbeaten record crashing, 1-0 the final score.

That leaves just 1 point between the leaders with six games to go, one to follow in the coming weeks. Ribble Valley WFC still have a say in this argument, despite also losing to the Yorkshire side, putting them a further point behind in third.

From a personal point of view, it was a pleasure to referee the final game of the day when Tameside Striders Whites and Wakefield Strollers played out what I thought was a shining example of how to play walking football, despite it ending nil-nil. No running, no dangerous tackles, just honest endeavour and a determination to play the game properly, thoroughly enjoyable.

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