More fun in the sun at Rushden

The Strollers sent two teams over to Higham Ferrers today to take part in the Rushden and Diamonds Walking Football Festival.

Both teams, Stamford White and Stamford Red, fielded competitive teams and enjoyed some good results.

Played as a 'festival' rather than a tournament, the competition involved playing in a group of 4 and then an additional game against a team from another group.

The Whites fielded a particulalry strong team and after letting the first game slip, finishing 1-1 against FFAN, never looked back with thee dominant performances after this. Changing formation after the first game to a 2-2-1-1 line up, a very flexible back two/midfield constantly fed Steve and Scott whilst the whole team worked hard to close down the space and mark opponents.

Whites:

D 1-1 FFAN (Scott S)

W 2-0 Huntingdon (Steve G, Scott S)

W 3-0 Northampton Green (Scottt S 3)

W 7-0 Rushden & Diamonds (Scott S 4, Steve G 2, Will B)

Squad: Trevor Oliver (gk), Taff Lovesey (capt), Steve Gates, Kurt Garbutt, Paul Blakemore, Scott Sawers, Will Barrett

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The Reds started even stronger with a solid 3-0 win over Bedford but even though competitive and tight, lost their next two group games by 1-0. They bounced back though and beat a strong Barton team by 1-0 in another tight game.

Reds:

W 3-0 Bedford (Keith B, Mark V, o.g)

L 0-1 Northampton Black

L 0-1 Kettering

W 1-0 Barton (Keith B)

Squad: Robin Gosling (gk), Tony Laughton (capt), Keith Bratt, Cameron Brownlie, Kevin Browne, Andy Walton, Mark Vallerius

Our thanks to the organisers who did a great job and to the teams who played the festival in good spirit despite the fact we had volunteer refs. The heat made things tough but with cold water bottles provided by the organisers, everyone stayed hydrated and calm.