HARLOW Town Pirates Walking Football teams played a further round of Essex Walking Football League matches in September. The Over 60s and 65s both completed their fixtures for the season. The Over 70s played in both the League and the Cup.

The Men’s Over 60s played their final round of Division 1 League fixtures for the season, needing good results to avoid relegation. However, they were up against the top two teams in Division 1 and also Southend, which was the only team that they could catch. The day started with a 0-3 defeat by Romford, followed by a 1-1 draw with Southend. They went into the final match against Blackmore Athletic knowing that they needed a win, but a 0-2 defeat saw Blackmore take the title, condemning Pirates to play in Division 2 next year.

The Men’s Over 65s also played their final round of Division 2 League matches and ended the season on a high by winning all 3 games. They started by with 1-0 victories over both Concord Rangers Yellow and Billericay Town White. In their final match they overwhelmed Billericay Town Red by 5-0 to finish the season in 3^rd place, jumping 4 places on the day.

The Men’s Over 70s started the month with a round of Cup group matches. They got off to a disappointing start by losing 0-1 to Romford, but two consecutive 1-0 wins over Leyton Orient White and Eastwood Falcons Blue, meant that they qualified for the finals day which will take place in mid-October. Later in the month they played four League matches, including against the top two teams. Pirates got off to a cracking start by beating 2^nd place Wakering by 1-0. They then followed this with 0-0 draws against Eastwood Falcons Blue and the League leaders Chelmsford City. Their final match saw a 2-0 victory in the return game against Eastwood, which eased any fear of relegation, now that the gap to the bottom two teams has grown to 11 points with three games remaining.

The Women played in the Cheshunt Memorial Cup and got through the early League stage with a 1-0 win over Steppers, followed by a 0-0 draw with Cheshunt Harris, a 1-0 win over Luton and a 0-0 draw with Cheshunt Blues. In the semi-final against Cheshunt Calos a narrow 1-0 win led to a final against Cheshunt Harris. The score at the end of normal time was 0-0, but Pirates took the Cup in the penalty shoot-out.

If you are interested in playing, please look at the Club’s web site https://www.harlowtownpirates.org.uk

for more information.