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Club "Unity" Challenge - Men v Women
Cyril Ray Lewis
22nd July 2026
On Wednesday evening, a group of selected male players from our men’s section turned up at Bluecoats Academy to take on our Women’s team in a two match friendly. Colin Farmer gave up his time to referee the games and as usual controlled the games to his high standard.
This friendly clash highlighted the talent we now have in the ladies team in particular and the general consensus was that a good night of walking football was had by all, such was the appetite for the matches, it was agreed that we should indeed do it again!
Each of the two match teams were composed of different players so that all players, men and women, played a whole game in their selected teams.
The matches were unsurprisingly competitive with pride at stake for both men and women, however both games were played in the spirit of the game and all players must be congratulated for their attitude and sportsmanship in both games.
The first match was an absorbing affair with the men taking the lead early into the game through a long range effort from Bryce Taylor that caught out the women’s keeper, Phyl, as it whistled into the net. However, as the match progressed I think it was fair to say that most of the action was now in the men’s defensive half with keeper Jeff Grimes making some excellent saves from the influential Sharon Hilton in midfield and striker Becky Davies who was unlucky on several attempts, catching Jeff in top form on the night as the women constantly applied the pressure.
The women scored a well deserved equaliser when referee Colin, awarded them a penalty due to the running offences totting up against the men. Sharon slotted home comfortably from the spot. The men though were not to be out done and came back into the game and took the lead through Kev Perrott to make it 2-1 which ended up to be the final score of game one. A very entertaining game with good individual performances from both teams.
Game two kicked off with a change of players to both teams. Again it proved to be competitive, but this time the men were having most of the ball and were pressing constantly. There were individual battles all over the pitch but in particular between striker Lol Anderson for the men and Phyl Mattinson for the women who had come out of goal to play at full back.
The women were having their moments with Sharon dictating the play in midfield, Lisa doing good work on the right wing and Zoe up front a willing worker who was tireless.
Lol Anderson was proving to be a constant thorn in the women’s side and he opened the scoring for the men to go one up.
Good work from Lorette and Zoe in the corner resulted in a cross to Sharon who forced Garry Bench in goal for the men into a save, tipping her effort around the post.
The men had totted up three running offences and were again guilty of a fourth offence. Sharon again slotted home the resulting penalty to even the scores.
Towards the end of the match a long ball out of defence found Lol just yards from goal on his own (some might say goal hanging ?) and he slotted home past a helpless Sarah Long who had done well, but stood no chance of stopping the ball from finding the corner of the net. Final score 2-1 to the men.
The whole evening proved to be a success and a big thank you must got to the men who turned up to give the women a serious workout and practice for the coming season. Also thank you to referee Colin Farmer and Ray Lewis who looked after the men’s team. Also many thanks to the spectators who came along to support plus the injured Elaine Smith who was keen to take part and gave plenty of vocal support throughout. Thanks also to Steph for help with organising the evening and for her kit duties. To those who I have not named in this report, you know that you played your part and I am very grateful for your time and involvement.
We will do this again!
Report by Alwyn Day
This friendly clash highlighted the talent we now have in the ladies team in particular and the general consensus was that a good night of walking football was had by all, such was the appetite for the matches, it was agreed that we should indeed do it again!
Each of the two match teams were composed of different players so that all players, men and women, played a whole game in their selected teams.
The matches were unsurprisingly competitive with pride at stake for both men and women, however both games were played in the spirit of the game and all players must be congratulated for their attitude and sportsmanship in both games.
The first match was an absorbing affair with the men taking the lead early into the game through a long range effort from Bryce Taylor that caught out the women’s keeper, Phyl, as it whistled into the net. However, as the match progressed I think it was fair to say that most of the action was now in the men’s defensive half with keeper Jeff Grimes making some excellent saves from the influential Sharon Hilton in midfield and striker Becky Davies who was unlucky on several attempts, catching Jeff in top form on the night as the women constantly applied the pressure.
The women scored a well deserved equaliser when referee Colin, awarded them a penalty due to the running offences totting up against the men. Sharon slotted home comfortably from the spot. The men though were not to be out done and came back into the game and took the lead through Kev Perrott to make it 2-1 which ended up to be the final score of game one. A very entertaining game with good individual performances from both teams.
Game two kicked off with a change of players to both teams. Again it proved to be competitive, but this time the men were having most of the ball and were pressing constantly. There were individual battles all over the pitch but in particular between striker Lol Anderson for the men and Phyl Mattinson for the women who had come out of goal to play at full back.
The women were having their moments with Sharon dictating the play in midfield, Lisa doing good work on the right wing and Zoe up front a willing worker who was tireless.
Lol Anderson was proving to be a constant thorn in the women’s side and he opened the scoring for the men to go one up.
Good work from Lorette and Zoe in the corner resulted in a cross to Sharon who forced Garry Bench in goal for the men into a save, tipping her effort around the post.
The men had totted up three running offences and were again guilty of a fourth offence. Sharon again slotted home the resulting penalty to even the scores.
Towards the end of the match a long ball out of defence found Lol just yards from goal on his own (some might say goal hanging ?) and he slotted home past a helpless Sarah Long who had done well, but stood no chance of stopping the ball from finding the corner of the net. Final score 2-1 to the men.
The whole evening proved to be a success and a big thank you must got to the men who turned up to give the women a serious workout and practice for the coming season. Also thank you to referee Colin Farmer and Ray Lewis who looked after the men’s team. Also many thanks to the spectators who came along to support plus the injured Elaine Smith who was keen to take part and gave plenty of vocal support throughout. Thanks also to Steph for help with organising the evening and for her kit duties. To those who I have not named in this report, you know that you played your part and I am very grateful for your time and involvement.
We will do this again!
Report by Alwyn Day
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