The squad for the final Lincs League Premiership match day at the Bradley Football Development Centre Grimsby on Wednesday May 17 was:
Tony Fisher
Dave Guest
Chris Keirl
Lee Tillen
Andy Vessey
Steve Adcock
Paul Beard
Tim Marsden
With 3 games to play Strollers knew that 7 points would clinch the Premiership title for the first time. Sleaford Academicals were once again absent so a draw and a win against Boston and Lincoln would get the job done.
First up was a very strong Boston United side. In a tight game Stamford created more chances than their opponents, but both goalkeepers were on good form to ensure a goalless draw. Next up were Lincoln Invictus. Strollers controlled this game from start to finish and recorded a 2 – 0 victory, courtesy of clinical finishes from Steve Adcock and Andy Vessey, to win the Premiership League.
On Wednesday June 14 Strollers returned to Grimsby for the Lincs League Cup. The squad was:
Bill Whittle
Chris Keirl
Dave Guest
Paul Beard
Bill Heath
Andy Vessey
Steve Adcock
Tim Marsden
The competition started with 3 group games. First up were Grimsby Ancient Mariners. Stamford controlled this game, but missed a number of chances before Bill Heath clinched the win with a well taken goal for a 1-0 win. In the second game Strollers faced a strong Grimsby Corinthians side who took an early lead. This only seemed to spur Stamford into action and a flurry of well taken goals from Andy Vessey 2 and Steve Adcock saw Strollers record a 3 – 1 victory.
The last group game was against Long Bennington, the Championship League winners. Again Stamford controlled the game without translating their superiority into goals, until Dave Guest scored a cracker from long range to give Strollers a 1 – 0 win.
3 wins in the group set Stamford up for a semi final against Grimsby Ancient Mariners. Strollers were fully warmed up at this point and won comfortably 3 – 0 with 2 long range strikes from Dave Guest and a tidy finish from Andy Vessey.
In the final Stamford faced Boston United. Based on past encounters this promised to be a tight affair. However, excellent finishes from Bill Heath and Andy Vessey put Strollers in the driving seat. Boston managed to pull a goal back in the second half but Stamford were able to see out the game to register a 2 – 1 victory to win the Lincs Cup for the first time.
Overall an excellent Lincs League season for the Over 60s Prem team who played 20, won 16, drew 3 and lost 1. Congratulations to all the squad.
Thanks also to Tony Fisher, not pictured, who was part of the league winning squad.
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