FOR the Teign Drifters, the first two rounds of this season’s Walking Football League showed how much their top player and the league’s top scorer, the late Andy Burry, was missed, reports Rob Morson.

His skills couldn’t be replaced but there were clear signs that his spirit and resolve to play well and enjoy the game as a team player had not been forgotten.

Round three of this season’s walking football league saw the Drifters ‘A’ team still struggling to get somewhere near last season’s form that saw them reach second in the Premier Division. In their first game, they faced the dominant, and undoubtedly very talented team from Torquay, last season’s champions, and were soundly beaten 5-0.

However, they showed great resolve in their next game against a Kingsteignton team, winning 1-0 with an excellent move: a pinpoint pass from Darren Walsh to captain Steve Robert’s who shot with accuracy and venom to beat the oncoming goalkeeper.

Drifters ‘A’ played very well in their third game but their opponents Argyle Pilgrims were allowed an early goal to stand, despite protests for a running infringement. This proved to be the only goal, despite heroic efforts from the Drifters to equalize.

Their next opponents were Plymouth and the Drifters put up a decent performance but lacked a killer shot to capitalise on good forward movement and were undone by Plymouth’s only shot of the game, another 0-1 defeat.

In their final game against St.Martin’s, Drifters deservedly won with the best of the play and an excellent goal from Steve Mudge, who found himself alone in the opposition half where he latched on to a through ball and, with a couple of shimmies to floor the goalie, he coolly slotted the ball into an empty net.

All in all, this round showed a definite improvement in play and results for Drifters ‘A’, despite a big change in players from last season and unavoidable absences from the squad.

In the second tier, the Senior Division, the DRIFTERS ‘B’ team were top of the division before the start of this round.

In their first game against the second-string Torquay team, the ‘Blues’, Drifters ‘B’ were dominant, showing exceptional work in defence, but a few half chances were left unfinished and a goalless draw was the outcome.

In their next game against Horrabridge, Drifters ‘B’ were just as dominant. After many close misses, there was a late frenzy of attempts on goal from several players ending with Pete Lee smashing the ball goalward….only the goalpost stopped a score. However, just in time, Ian Pybus slammed home a great shot from all of 20 yards to secure a well-deserved victory 1 - 0.

Drifters ‘B’ third game was a frustrating, slightly niggly game against South Ham with few chances at either end, finishing goalless.

Their fourth game was against the Exeter Strollers, and another victory came thanks to good all-round play and an excellent move which involved most of the team, finishing with a great cross-field ball from player-manager Dave Fay to the goal-scoring machine that is Ian Pybus, who could hardly miss from close range to score the only goal of the match.

Finally, Drifters ‘B’ had to face Alphington where a close match ended in a 1-0 defeat due to a last kick-of-the-day penalty. Least said, this was the only spoiler of the day for what was otherwise an impressive set of performances.