65+ Derby League MD7

Over 65s Thursday April 9 MD7 @ ‘We are Derby Padel’

Strollers Over 65s squad for the final match day of the Derbyshire Walking Football League 2025/26 season was:

Kevin Chadwick GK

John Hutchins

Tim Marsden Cap

Paul Humphries

Steve Bones

Jez Norris

Going into the final match day of the season Strollers found themselves in third place in the league, 2 points behind Boston in second and 9 behind Ashbourne top.

So our fist match of the day was a crunch one against Ashbourne. Strollers enjoyed the lions share of possession and created the better chances. However, we were caught on the break when an Ashbourne forward slid in to force the ball home from close range.

Undeterred Strollers continued to push forward and were rewarded with a penalty following a foul denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity. Unfortunately the penalty was missed and Ashbourne held on for the win.

Next up was Boston who were missing their regular keeper Danny Tempest and England International Steve Slater. Strollers totally dominated this game and created numerous chances, however, Tony Fisher in the Boston goal played a blinder and the match ended 0-0.

The third game of the day was against Derby County, again Strollers controlled the game and created lots of chances. However, the opposition keeper was on top form and the game ended 0-0.

Our fourth game of the day was against Etwall. Unfortunately, this game was abandoned with the score at 0-0 following an injury to Steve Bones which required a visit to the Royal Derby Hospital. Fortunately, Steve was given the all clear in the early hours of Friday morning to return home.

The fifth game of the day was against Heanor, Strollers picked up where they left off before the injury to Steve and took the lead through a trade mark left footed drive from John Hutchins. Unfortunately 2 late goals against the run of play gave Heanor a 2-1 victory.

Our last game of the day and our last chance to get a win was against Matlock. Despite the earlier disappointing results and the injury to Steve, Strollers continued to dominate possession and take the game to their opponents, 2 well taken finishes from Jez Norris ensured a 2-0 victory and 3 points.

Overall MD7 was disappointing results wise with 1W, 3D, 2L. On the plus side Strollers finished their first season in the Derbyshire WF League in third place behind Ashbourne and Boston, and gained the reputation as the ‘best footballing team’ in the league.