A Day Trip to Swindon
The All Stars were invited to Grange Drive Leisure Centre for a 4-club mini tournament hosted by Highworth involving Calne Town All Stars, Highworth, Swindon Town B and Chippenham. There was no ice cream on offer but a trophy was at stake, the Ian 'Harry' Stonham Trophy.*
Whilst the results weren’t what we hoped for the games were closely fought and didn’t reflect how well we played. Swindon Town B were the winners on the day and well deserved too.
The wider Calne All Stars team comprised of stalwarts Sion, Graham, Kevin and Bob with our top new signing Gordon, making his debut today (and played really well) supported by Neil from Stonehenge, Martin from Highworth and Doggo from Swindon in goal. Thanks for volunteering guys.
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| Sion H, Gordon C, Doggo, Neal C, Kevin G, Martin O. Graham N, Bob B. |
Match results, with each team playing each other twice.
Match 1
1 v 0 to Highworth. Other than the goal, nothing in it. Gordon’s first game and one where he started left side of a midfield two with Kevin.
Match 2
2 v 0 to Swindon Town B. A good performance from Swindon, who moved the ball well across their team.
Match 3
1 v 1 against Chippenham. Following what looked like a clear foul, the ref raised the whistle… but didn’t blow, most on the pitch had stopped, however Chippenham’s striker carried on and scored. The moral of the story is… something about whistles and playing! Neil scored a good goal and we were unlucky to draw this one.
Then, in the second round of games, our performances improved further as we settled in.
Match 4
1 v 0 to Highworth. Another close game and a goal late in the match.
Match 5
1 v 0 Swindon Town B. We played well and kept them at bay with shots on goal largely from a distance. Their control of the ball was good.
Match 6
1 v 1 draw with Chippenham. We played well against an established side and were unlucky not to win (there was some post-match discussion as to whether we won or drew but the referee recorded a draw). Gordon was rested for this one as it was his first tournament and we were easing him in. Neil scored a cracking goal, his second of the day.
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| The winners... Swindon Town B, without the Ian 'Harry' Stonham Trophy 🏆 |
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| And with the trophy! |
A special thanks to referees Alan S and Paddy A and a big 'Thank You' to Andy S and the Highworth guys for organising the tournament, keeping us all on track to play within the 1-3pm time slot, and creating a good friendly atmosphere to help increase participation to a wider walking football audience.
Next up?
No further ‘All Stars’ games are in the diary at this stage but there will be if 2024 was anything to go by. To help organise more, balancing established recreational session attendances and league commitments, Sion has set up a Coordinator’s WhatsApp group to help book these into diaries in a timely way. Representatives from Chippenham, Highworth, Swindon, Cirencester, Hungerford, Devizes and more have been signed up. Watch this space.
If you want to know more about what Calne All Stars is about and how it differs from the regular Calne teams, click here.
*Ian 'Harry' Stonham, of Highworth, is a recent retiree from Walking Football. This one-off mini tournament is a celebration of his footballing life as he has hung up his boots for one last time.