Bardsey Football Club Vets

Bardsey 3 Garforth 0

The Vets team maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a hard-fought home win over Garforth. The fact that there was any sort of contest seemed remote as kick off time drew close and the away team had mustered only half a dozen players but frantic phoning and a good contacts list paid dividends as the game began with two full teams and subs on each touchline.

The early exchanges proved Garforth had thrown together a decent side. However, although, they enjoyed lengthy spells of possession and created a few chances throughout the afternoon, the home side always had the cutting edge.

A team that had scored 16 goals in it’s first three fixtures was soon back in the groove, with perhaps the best goal scored so far. Sutty took the ball high on his his chest,then, with his back to goal, spun and looped a volley into the top corner of the net. The second goal was another decent strike, ex-Partizan man, Martin precisely directing another volley into the bottom left hand corner from the edge of the area after a poorly directed clearance.

Keeper Andy Boanas was still the busier keeper, making a fine double save just before half time to ensure a 2-0 lead at the break.

It was more of the same after the interval, with Garforth moving the ball round well without managing to create many chances. Whatever got through was impressively dealt with by Bardsey’s number 1. Bardsey attacks were rare but always seemed more likely to bring a match-settling third goal. Garforth’s captain pushed up from the back in one last, big, effort to cause the league-leaders some late concerns, but his shot crashed against the bar and was cleared. That was the last moment of concern as the away team tired and the game was finally wrapped up in added time, as Jimmy Campbell exploited a big gap at the back to get a shot in, the keeper tried to block but the ball appeared to drop over the line before Jamie pushed it in to make sure. Jimmy didn’t see that, he’d already turned away, arms aloft, to celebrate with the home supporter.

Much like the home draw with Harrogate in the previous fixture, Bardsey had dug in defensively to ensure a points return. It may require a similar effort this weekend as Bardsey face their bogey team, Partizan, at

Scotthall Road

, aiming to beat them for the first time in the club’s short history. With two ex-Partizan players having joined the Bardsey old blokes squad this season, it promises to be an even spicier encounter than usual!

Leeds fans chip in to help the Vets..

Leeds United fans who log onto the OneMickJones.com website have been enlisted to help ensure the Vets look the part this season.

The website was set up by James Brown, the former editor of Loaded and GQ and a well-known Leeds’ supporter. It’s aimed at grown-ups who love football and music and has forums covering those subjects and an awful lot more. It has hundreds of members, many of them exiles keeping in touch with their home city from afar.

As a couple of the Vets players spend too much of their spare time staring at the latest postings on the website, an appeal was put out for funds to help purchase a new kit. Thus far, about a hundred pounds have been received and this will go towards a set of shirts bearing the onemickjones.com logo. As well as United fans, Cardiff, Wrexham and Hull supporters are also amongst those who’ve generously chipped in.

A number of the regular contributors who’ve donated money are now following the fortunes of the Vets club with interest, with Leeds United going so well, lets hope we give them double cause for celebration this season.

Bryn Law

Stevie G receiving the Veteran Managers 2008/9 award for the Bardsey

'Veteran Manager of the Year'

Chairman seems to be struggling to understand the ballot results which were later mysteriously destroyed in a fire.

The Vets team maintained their unbeaten start to the season but it was
a mighty close call!
An equaliser deep into injury time meant Bardsey avoided defeat
against Partizan for only the 2nd time in the club's history.
The chances of even a draw seemed remote as the home team established
a two nil lead with goals either side of half team. With the Scotthall
Road pitch being lashed with strong gusts and heavy rain, it was all
shaping up to be a miserable afternoon until hope was rekindled by Big
Al's diving header. His move out of defence and into midfield proved
an astute tactical switch on the part of the stand-in manager, Del.
Still the player-boss was less pleased about about being asked to come
off shortly after but the remaining unused sub was exhibiting early
signs of hypothermia on the touchline.
Both sides created chances but with time ticking down and no more
goals, Partizan were happy to keep running the ball into the corners.
With the game having moved deep into added time, they lost possesion
by the corner flag in the Bardsey half, the ball was launchef forward
and, suddenly, Phil B was clear through. Three home defenders forced
him out wide and apparently out of harm's way before Phil produced a
tremendous cross and jimmy Campbell floated in on the breeze to nod
the ball in. That was the cue for big celebrations for Bardsey.
Partizan went potty with the ref, the final whistle went and that was
that. A good point but we have to beat them next time, it's long
overdue.

Partizan Leeds 2 v Bardsey Vets 2

The long wait is over! The Vets’ finally played a game again after a 7 week lay-off and the break doesn’t seem to have knocked them out of their stride as they notched up a 5-1 win against Wetherby. Resplendent in their new kit, the Bardsey Old Blokes had to work hard for their success but the absence of regular keeper Andy Bonass was never really a problem, except for the fact that his replacement, Sellsy, made it to the Ings with about 30 seconds to spare before kick-off!

In truth, the stand-in was well protected throughout, so much so that he resorted to giving away corners in the second half, just to keep himself involved. At the other end, there were some excellent performances. Former Partizan man, Martin’s settling in well and he made some great runs down the left, particularly in the first half, tormenting the Wetherby defenders. The front two of Sutty and Jamesey deserve special mention for their efforts. They didn’t stop running all game and got their reward with goals, one for Sutty, two for Jamesey. After grabbing the last-gasp equaliser against Partizan in the last game, Jimmy Campbell picked up where he left off with another couple, in this one.

A two nil half-time lead was briefly reduced in the early stages of the second half but astute substitions helped steady things and Bardsey pushed on to record their first double of the season, going level on points with Harrogate in the process, with Bardsey having a game in hand.

The day was only really spoilt by the site of manager Steve Gilmour in his blue long-johns in the dressing room after the game. The comment was made that he looked like one of Santa’s little helpers, I think Santa’s got a hard enough job as it is..

Plenty of recovery time again, the Vets return to action with a game against Partizan on January 13^th.

So, season’s greetings to all our supporters, we look forward to a successful 2010!

Latest news from the desk of The Law-man (Bryn not Dennis) - online forum at

12-12-09

WETHERBY (1) v (5) BARDSEY

Latest News 2-2-10

It’s been several years since Bardsey vets last had a home game, but this weekend should see the return of the Old Blokes to East Keswick Lane.

Much has happened since the last fixture, including the demolition of the dressing rooms, so the Vets will be getting their first look at the temporary facilities.

It’s Pool who provide the opposition, the first of two meetings in league and cup. Pool inflicted a first league defeat on Bardsey last season, so the home team will expect another difficult game this weekend. Andy Bonass will be missing from the Bardsey line-up, he’s begun a new refereeing project on Sunday afternoons so will be unavailable for the next few weeks. The Vets’ scouting network has swiftly provided a replacement, with Miles Massey preparing to sign on. He was on the books at York and Barnsley as a youth before moving into the media . He’s now more likely to be filming football than playing it as he works as a cameraman. If he’s no good in goal, at least he’ll be useful for the end of season DVD! (Only joking Miles..).

Players are asked to confirm their availability to Del or Steve as soon as possible, with a big squad assembled and the side still unbeaten in the league, they may have some tough decisions to make on Sunday lunchtime

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Bardsey 2 v 0 Pool 7-2-10

Much has changed at East Keswick Lane since our last Vets fixture, notably the disappearance of the changing rooms and bar!

There were key changes to the squad assembled as well. The replacement keeper was called away to cover some football for one, others who'd declared their availability failed to show and so big Moz went in goal and we had just two subs on the touchline for the cup quarter final with Pool.

They had also struggled with getting a team so the person lined up to ref ended up playing for them and Stevie G, resplendent in tracksuit and desert boots, took the whistle,

Pool started really well and looked menacing from the off. Still, despite all their attacking play, it was unbeaten Bardsey who scored first. Sutty's proved an excellent addition up front and he added another to his haul, a fiercely struck shot from the edge of the box that took a deflection on it's way past a motionless keeper.

It was against the run of the play and Pool continued to dominate up to half time but that excellent back line held firm. On the one occasion when they got through, the Gaffer disallowed their goal for offside. There weren't too many protests..

Hodgey's harsh words at half time prompted a much better second half response. Playing up hill and on a really sticky pitch, the Vets fought their way back into the game and finally started to look the part. There were chances to double the lead, a great piece of skill from Jamie opened up a chance for a shot which hit the post and Phil B, as industrious as ever, saw a shot hit the side netting.

At the other end, Pool had plenty of possession but Moz was pretty well protected. As time ticked on, the clock seemed to slow as our ref seemed to have decided to play extra time even though we were winning.

Pool threw everyone forward, including their keeper, in these last, long minutes, winning a succesion of corner But Bardsey had the real scoring chances. Jimmy Campbell was back on from the sidelines and provided the most memorable moment of the match as he managed to get the ball up and well over the Pool cross bar from half a yard out with not an opponent in sight. He didn't let that calamitous miss affect him though and when another cross camd his way shortly after, he studied all the angles before ensuring a place in the semi-finals. There was still time for our goal-hanger extraordinaire to have another ruled out for offside, a decision he was still debating in the showers twenty minutes later.

Yet another hard-fought win but there's great team spirit and discipline in this hard-working squad,qualities that may yet reap their reward.

BARDSEY 4 v 1 WETHERBY

Bardsey Vets can now look forward to their first ever cup final after securing a win against Wetherby, a victory due in no small part to the contribution of the club's latest signing, Dean Windass.The former Premier League striker contributed two assists and a goal in4-1 win against the home side at the Ings, although the semi-final was not without it's scares.
A squad of just 13 assembled for the game, after a couple of late withdrawals and no-shows, so it was a real boost to have both Windass and new goalkeeper Chopper on hand to help out. Windass had originally been signed as the replacement for Andy Bonass, but Chopper's arrival meant he could move to a more recognisable role, much to the bemusement and amusement of the Wetherby lads. They'd had even less success in raising a squad and started the game with only ten players.

Despite that, Wetherby took a shock early lead. A ball over the top saw Big Al done for pace by the opposition's number 10, he took the ball onand finished well, so Chopper's first action was retrieving the ballfrom the back of the net. That was a wake-up call and from there on in the new keeper was rarely involved but many chances were made and missed before the scores were levelled. Del's deep ball from the right was headed back across the six yard box by the new striker and Hodgey arrived in time to direct the ball in over the line.
The away side took the lead just before the break, another deep cross from the right landed on Dean's right boot and he lashed a volley infrom a tight angle, a goal that I'm sure means as much to him as any ofthe others he scored in a long career...

Steve Gilmour's half time tongue lashing had even Windass reeling, he later described it as being as devastating as Phil Brown's on the pitch at Man City. He did, however, interrupt the stream of criticism to point out that he'd actually scored a good goal, a point with which the angry manager was forced to agree. It must have done the trick though, as the place in the final was virtually guaranteed a few minutes after the restart, as a Windass corner landed perfectly for a well-timed run from Hodgey, his second and Bardsey's third.

By now, Deano had three players following him everywhere and one of the trio flattened him as he went for a header, a penalty was awarded.
Incredibly, the man who stepped up to take it was Sutty, that's confidence for you! When he saw his effort pushed away by the keeper he may have regretted stepping forward but he didn't let it get him down and wrapped up the scoring shortly afterwards at the end of strong run into the area.
After a long afternoon for the Wetherby defenders, there was further cause for concern as Bryn Law was thrown on to play up front alongside Deano for the closing stages, their relief was obvious as the final whistle went 30 seconds after he moved menacingly back onto the pitch.
Amidst the Bardsey celebrations and commiserations, the new boy stayed around for photos and autographs, Deano that is, not Chopper, followed by a couple of pints and chips and beans in the Wetherby sports clubbar. Proper football!
So, a first semi-final win for the Vets at the third time of asking, a final against Boroughbridge awaits, at the home of the Second division's runaway leaders on March 28th. One of the two teams will win its first ever trophy.

Older reports below.

POOL V BARDSEY

7th March 2010

A lovely sunny day for this game, a beautiful view from the changing room, but alas no Windass for this game, he was busy watching his former club ship 5 in at Everton, he reported back that all three flavours of pies at Goodison were spot on.
No Bryn Law either, he was busy fighting off the Leeds Rememberance crew coming down the left flank at Garforth Town.

Team: 4 - 4 -2
Chopper,
Dell, Mo, Big Al, Roger
Broomy, Hodgy, Damo, Paddy
Sooty, Phil B
Subs: Jamie, Jamesy, Old Alan, Steve Lascelles

We didn't start well at Pool on a roller coaster shaped pitch with little grass on it, that did not constitute good football, which is probably just as well as Bardsey seemed incapable of any.
Pool had most of the possession and threatened the Bardsey defence from the first minute, they always seemed to have time and space, where as when Bardsey had the ball there were few options and no time allowed to create any, and possession was wasted time and time again.
12 minutes in and the ball got to Phil Beesting in the left channel, he cut in past two defenders and rifled a shot into the far corner of the Pool net, giving their keeper no chance at all, a great individual goal.
Were things about to settle down, not likely, the worst goal we have conceeded in the three year history of the team occurred shortly after, we were in possession, Roger passed to Hodgy who was probably under too close attention to be given it, but he managed to control it for a change, and laid the ball back to big Al at centre half, Pool had just previously been on the attack and their two forwards were still 20 yards behind the Bardsey back line, Big Al under no pressure at all, unless it was the size of the bung he must have received, calmly turned and passed it straight to the Pool no.8 who duely slotted passed the hapless Chopper in goals, 1 - 1 (Phil B assisted by Phil B, Pool no.8 assisted by Big Al).
About 25 minutes gone and Stevie G decided he'd seen enough, he took off Sooty, Damo, Paddy and Dell?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?, some of the lads said after they thought Dell's reaction wasn't a showing of team spirit as he trudged very slowly across the pitch, Dell explained that it wasn't that at all, it was because he had never been subbed before in his life, so he didn't know what to do, and he had taken one full blast in the orchestra's 5 minutes into the game so was a bit tender in certain area's, (the women of Leeds can rest easy though, Mrs. Larner confirms they are now back to full working order).

The substitutions really worked well, and we were soon 2 - 1 down, a move down the Pool left and a cross found the no.9 unmarked 10 yards from goal, and a flicked header into the far corner left Chopper wishing he had turned up even later than he actually did, (traffic on a Sunday!!!).
To be fair to Chopper he was left with no chance on either goal, and his overall command of his area was faultless throughout, a great aquisition for the team, and probably only him and Jamesy came out of the game with any credit.

We nearly went 3 - 1 down when Maurice tried a triple salko 40 yards out from goal, and drilled himself in to the ground, fell over and presented the Pool forward with a ono on one with Chopper, but he chipped tamely into the keepers hands and the danger was averted, however the 6"5" 16 stone rugby playing Maurice, (who was sporting one blue and one pink boot, yes pink), stayed on the ground with a damaged pride bone, it must have been quite an injury as he was soon to come off, and was replaced by Dell at sweeper, where he belongs.

Half time came and went.

The game carried on much the same, with only flashes from Phil B and Jamesy anything to write home about, and a couple of brave goal keeping instances from Chopper, hope the scabs soon drop off Ian.

The ref was very quick to blow for offside everytime Bardsey went forward, Dell and Big Al explained in no uncertain terms what they thought of his decisions, (ref had obviously forgot his cards or both would seen some colour), and low and behold the ball found Jamesy a good 5 yards offside and the ref didn't blow, and Jamesy duely finished well, amazing how far a bit of abuse can get you.
The game remained a bit scrappy until 10 to go when Jamesy found himself in the Pool box again with only the keeper to beat, and made it 3 - 2.
Bardsey hung on with some desperate defending at times, but I think Pool ran out of steam a little, so the tactic of letting them have the ball all the time really worked in the end.

All in all a fortunate result, but it's the sign of a good side that can play that bad and still win.

Next Game Harrogate away at Tadcaster Albions ground Thursday 18th March - 19:30 kick off - meet no later than 18:45.

10-9-10 Bardsey 5 - 3 Boston

The Vets' season got underway with a hard-fought win against local rivals Boston Spa. The opposition have clearly been recruiting in the summer as they turned up with 15 players. Bardsey, on the other hand, started the game with just ten. Despite that, the ten men raced into a two goal lead, as Andy Liddell made a sparkling debut. The former Barnsley, Oldham and Wigan man has long-standing links with the football set-up at Bardsey and it was brilliant to see him getting involved with the Vets.
His cross set up the first for Phil B to score with a header for the first time since 1987.
Andy then stuck in the second, passing the ball in from a tight angle.
The Vets then got up to a full XI as Metsy made a belated appearance. A third goal soon followed as Andy L drifted a shot into the top corner.
Boston's new faces were still causing problems though and Ian made a couple of fantastic saves to underline his status as 'best keeper in the league'. Still, Boston pulled a goal back as a shot deflected in off Big Al but normal service was quickly resumed as new man, Willie, dropped in a terrific ball which Andy Pye handled brilliantly to control then score from close to the touchline.
That was the half time score but with the temperature high and no subs, it always promised to be tougher in the 2nd period.
Boston started well and another scruffy effort brought them back within two goals. Luckily a 50 yard ball from the back saw Law play in Liddell for number five, surely game over?
Well, no, Boston headed a third before more good link-up play saw Phil B stick in a sixth. That was that but it could and should have been more. 'Lids' hit a fantastic shot from distance which sailed over the keeper, hit the stanchion at the back of the goal and bounced back out. Sadly, the ref was the only person on or around the pitch who didn't see it go in and he waved play on, much to the amusement of both sets of players.
A good way to start the season and with a few returning players, our attacking line-up should tear it up this season.
Well done Paul, back from retirement, Jamie Lorimer and Willie for helping ensure we could put a team out.
MOTM has to be Andy Liddell, great lad and terrific contribution.
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