Both sides prior to kick-off

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Dramatic finale in fans' friendly

by Matthew Eames

Fans of Dorchester Town could not have wished for a better day to run out onto the hallowed turf of the Jewson Stadium with Blaze Away ringing in their ears.

Both the Legends and the Young Wannabes sported black armbands as a mark of respect to Dorchester faithful Bryan Clark and began the match with a minutes silence.

The game started at an electric pace when Stuart Hole profiteered on a defensive Wannabes' error inside the first minute to cooly slot the ball home and send the Legends into an early lead.

Rather than being spurred into action the Wannabes looked shaken and the Legends took full advantage, testing the defensive pairing of Judge and Edwards time and again. Despite rocking, the younger team held their nerve and made a clever counter-attack only to see Matty Barrett wastefully squander a one-on-one with 'keeper Mark Stone.

The game's frenetic pace inevitably slowed and a subtle blend of inexperience and enthusiasm saw some tasty challenges fly in from all angles with Legends' captain Rob Hodder and the Wannabes' Cal Coleman managing to take each other out with both parties confused as to who was at fault. Referee Tim Limbach was required to step in time and again to settle disputes between both teams with the Legends' defensive rock Nick Rose being especially popular amongst the Wannabes squad.

As the match progressed the Legends carved out chance after chance with Chris Gould seeing his effort cleared off the line by the increasingly impressive Judge. The Legends continued in this vein with fellow strike partner Stuart Hole missing a golden opportunity to add to his tally on the half hour mark.

There was to be no let up for the Wannabes though with Chris Gould making no mistake and floating the ball over advancing keeper Dan Floyd to give the older side a 2-0 lead.

With the game continuing in the same mould the Legends had a third effort ruled out before they were almost stunned when Devin Ward burst through the back line only to be denied by a super save from Stone who made his sure his defence knew he expected better next time!

If ever a game can be said to be one of two halves it was very quickly evident following the break.

A combination of heat, heading into the wind and ageing legs soon saw the Legends' early discipline slip away. With the defence going walk-abouts Stone repeatedly saved the day as Wannabe forwards Chris Rawlings and Matty Barrett missed glorious opportunities.

Eventually the Legends' luck ran out and Barrett scored from an audacious angle to the delight of his team mates.

Tempers almost boiled over shortly afterwards when Legends right-back Matt Eames cynically fouled both Manvell and Judge in quick succession with Nick Grassby being unjustly blamed for causing the entire affair. The Wannabes settled quickly though and under the calming influence of Jason Aplin opened up the Legends again only to see a fine opportunity sail wide of the mark.

Shortly afterwards the Wannabes looked to have equalised with a deftly placed free-kick only for Eames to go down in the area under minimal pressure and win a foul for his team.

Justice shortly followed for the Wannabies though and their constant pressure paid off with Cal Coleman scoring a simple tap-in with the final kick of the game.

And so to the somewhat invetiable penalty shoot-out, where Matt Greenslade and Judge having both scored the first attempts for their respective sides. Unfortunately for the Legends, Sean Tizzard's following penalty saw the striker's knee buckle in his run-up and goalkeeper Dan Floyd saved comfortably.

With Barrett converting his spot-kick to give the youngsters the advantage, the pressure inside the Jewson Stadium intensified. But if any of the penalty takers were feeling it, it didn't show, with Rose and Gould converting for the Legends and Phil Edwards and Rawlings finding the net for the Wannabes.

Stephen Page, the oldest player on the pitch, levelled the shoot-out with his penalty, but moments later it was heartbreak for the Legends as man-of-the-match Mark Stone was unable to keep out Sam Napper's spot-kick, and the Wannabes celebrated a 5-4 shoot-out success.

Legends: Stone, Eames, Whittingham, Greenslade, R. Hodder, Rose, Grassby, Hole, O. Gould, C. Gould, J. Tizzard. Subs: S. Tizzard, Page, Cameron.

Wannabes: Floyd, Clarke, Manvell, Judge, Edwards, Aplin, Coleman, Ward, Rawlings, Barrett, J. Hodder. Subs: Napper, Williams.

An estimated £1,500 was raised for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance charity as a result of Saturday's match.

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