John Wilcock Memorial Trophy - 20th April 2024

 On a suitably perfect day for football, the John Wilcock Memorial Tournament was played out at Rossett Sports Centre, in the presence of Lesley and Ted, John's family members, who kindly donated a trophy to be presented to the winning team henceforth to be known as the 'Roadrunner Trophy'.

This four-team round-robin tournament got off to a strong start for two of the teams, Orange outplaying Grey with some neat passing and decisive finishing at 2-0, while Blue overpowered Yellow and ran out 3-0 winners. Both winning sides looked strong and were paired in the next set of games, battling to an evenly fought 1-1 draw. Grey took the opportunity to close on points with a 3-0 hammering of a slightly off-colour Yellow. This meant that, going into the final set of games, three teams were in with a chance of winning the inaugural tournament.

Tension built when Grey and Yellow both opened up 1-0 leads against Blue and Orange, respectively. If the scores stayed the same, Grey might yet shade it and win the trophy! But just when needed, Blue lifted the mood and came back with a vengeance, scoring two goals to sneak a hard fought 2-1 win against Grey. Could Orange do the same and boost their goal difference to snatch the title? No. It never looked likely, and a frustrated Orange were pipped at the post despite grabbing a late equaliser. 

Blue is the colour on this occasion. Many thanks to everyone who took part or contributed in other ways, whether on the organisational front, as spectators or in making additional donations to an excellent cause in John's memory. Over £600 was raised for St. Gemma's Hospice and we have just been informed that 'corporate sponsors' of St Gemma's Hospice will ensure that our donation will be matched £ for £ meaning that our donation will now be worth over £1,200 to St Gemma's. Best result of the day! 

Results

Grey 0 Orange 2

Yellow 0 Blue 3

Blue 1 Orange 1

Yellow 0 Grey 3

Grey 1 Blue 2

Orange 1 Yellow 1

Table

                W D L F A Pts

Blue         2  1  0  6  2  7

Orange    1  2  0  4  2  5

Grey        1  0  2  4  4  3

Yellow      0  1  2  1  7  1

On Friday 19th April, Strays' members attended the funeral of Rich Cooper, who passed away after a long period of illness on 21st March. He was 60 years of age. Although Rich was not well enough to represent the Strays on the field, he was a good friend and team-mate to many of us and will be sorely missed, not only for his amazing football ability but also his sharp wit!

Thoughts are with Jackie and Jacob and all of Rich's family and many friends.

Rod Clifton

Secretary

HSWFC