Old stagers put on a fine show (From Gazette Series)

Old stagers put on a fine show

Cardiff Academicals Veterans 1 Dursley Town Veterans 2

A COLLECTION of the finest local talent this area has produced in the last 25 years was on display as Dursley Veterans concluded the group stage of their annual competition with a win over a mediocre Welsh outfit.

With more composure and finesse in front of goal, the size of the victory would have been by a much greater margin. The sorry tale of missed chances started early when Andy Llewellyn decided to fall over and kiss the ground like the Pope instead of coolly slotting the ball home.

The possession was completely dominated by Dursley, who knocked the ball around effortlessly with Chris Dolbear and Dave Stevenson in the thick of the action.

Dave Trinder caused problems for the Welshmen with his pace but was unable to put the finishing touches to several good runs.

The Dursley defence was seldom troubled with Danny McIntosh outstanding at the back, particularly when breaking forward with the ball.

It was a generally good natured game, with very few fouls except for one challenge by Llewellyn that was so late it missed last orders at the Kingshill.

Changes were made at half-time and within a minute of the restart substitute Chris Tatnell had trundled past a defender and crossed for Trinder to execute a finish of the highest quality.

This led to more pressure but no second goal until ten minutes from time when Trinder hit a sweet shot from 20 yards into the corner of the net.

The ageing Dursley midfield started to tire badly with Stevenson looking particularly fatigued.

Cardiff capitalised on this with a late consolation goal and could have almost got an undeserved equaliser had it not been for the agility of goalkeeper Jimmy Dykes, who pushed a screaming shot around the post.

Dursley now go into the knockout stages of the competition hoping for a glamour tie at Handsworth or St Pauls.