CHARITY GAME

[Raingod]

What happened, who turned up for each side? Was it a successful day?

[AnfieldTowner]

Report from the website repeated below - the only first team players, other than Darren, were Micky Parcell, Ryan Blackman & Dan Rumens - so well done to them! Yet again, it was freezing!

 

The Charity match between an Enfield Town XI and a Darren Purse XI held on Sunday 29th April raised £1,600 for Enfield Young Carers.

The day started with a walking football match, and the participants paid to play with all proceeds going to the nominated Charity.

The main event at 1pm featured a mixture of the current first team squad, the management team, Darren Purse’s former playing colleagues and some of our young Under 18 prospects. On an unseasonably cold day, many of the crowd chose to watch the game from the warmth of the bar!

The first goal arrived in the 13th minute, as the Purse XI took a 1-0 lead. Then just two minutes later, they doubled it to make it 2-0. Nine minutes later, Darren’s XI made it 3-0 and were cruising two minutes later with a fourth. It was 5-0 at half-time of the 30-minutes-each-way game.

The second-half saw the Enfield XI look a lot livelier and they finally netted their opener in the 45th minute, to make it 5-1. Ten minutes later, the Enfield XI were awarded a penalty, which was, unusually to say the least, successfully converted by the match referee; the man with the whistle making it 5-2! In the closing moments of the match, a cool chip from Ryan Blackman finished the game off nicely - with a 6-2 victory for the Darren Purse XI.

The match finished with Ed Thompson's son in goal, and that wasn’t the only family connection on show. Andy Leese was joined by his two sons, and Darren Purse’s son Luca also played a full part in what was an enjoyable afternoon's football.

Club President Roger Reed said “We were pleased to be able to help this local charity and delighted that our supporters gave so generously. Thanks are especially due to Andy Leese, Darren Purse and John Meehan who worked hard to get the two teams together, to Scott Reed at Alchemy Creations for designing the programme and to match officials Terry and Charlie Barnes and our own Glen Hosford."

Pamela Burke, Chief Executive at the Enfield Carers' Centre said “We were pleasantly surprised at the generosity of the fans and volunteers and thought the partnership with Enfield Town FC a thoroughly worthwhile one. Thanks again for approaching us and for regarding family carers as worthy beneficiaries. The funds raised will go a long way to helping us provide activities for young carers aged 5-18years.”

It is still possible to make a donation through the associated Just Giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/etfccaring

 

Updated 08:46 - 1 May 2018 by Ken Brazier