Wales out-manouvered by RAF!

Wales Veterans’ Football accepted an invitation to take a ‘mixed-age’ Representative squad to North Wales to face the RAF Veterans at Rhyl FC’s Belle Vue Stadium on Friday 26th August, as a curtain raiser to the Rhyl Air-show the following day.

With last minute injury victims Davies and John unable to start, Manager, Rogan ‘Duracell’ Matthews was forced to select a squad with an average age of 55...and 62 year old Huish was helped onto the pitch by his midfield partner, Steve White, to face an RAF midfield who had just returned from an 18-30s holiday!

The game was evenly-matched for the first fifteen minutes and despite a long, tiring journey the visitors played with surprising intensity. Disaster struck however, when a mistake allowed the RAF striker to stride forward before crashing home from just inside the penalty area.

Wales responded well with Miller and White prominent but the well-drilled opponents limited Wales to a handful of half-chances, including a fine Matthews free-kick which was tipped away by the keeper. The desire for parity left the visitors exposed and two moments of indecision were punished by the clinical RAF strike-force and they took a 3-0 lead into the interval.

Mathews sent on Army loan players Spruce and Woods, who offered some extra energy, and Wales pressed forward for a consolation, but strikers Fredriksen and Hutchings were well-marshalled by a very mobile home defence and Wales were inevitably punished again, despite the heroics of their gloveman Ian Davies, and the hosts secured a flattering, and it should be said, slightly hollow 4-0 victory!

Squad:
Ian Davies
Rogan Mathews
Paul Averies
Jonny Williams
Jon Parkinson
Ross Hutchings
Paul Murphy
Karl Miller
Steve White
Alun Huish
Gavin Davies
Steve John
Dave Murray
Mike Fredriksen