Ross Juniors Walking Football team maintained second position in the newly formed Herefordshire League after the latest round of fixtures at the Hereford Academy last week.

On a cold damp Monday night at the obscure time of 8-30 pm, proof that the FA have difficulty booking pitches at more convenient times, Ross played two league matches.

• Ross 2 Hereford Scrumpy Boys 3

Ross have been doing battle with the opposition since the game was invented but never in a league.

Early domination by the Scrumpy Boys led to a rasping shot by Mark Catlin and 1-0. Ross soaked up the pressure and looked threatening, which helped them to equalise with a firmly struck effort from Dixie Collins.

The opposition then scored a fluent second but Ross again came back, and a long range effort by David Rooke levelled matters at 2-2.

Unfortunately, a misunderstanding from a pass back gifted the opposition the win, and with David Rooke sin-binned for ‘running before he could walk,’ Ross missed out in a close encounter.

• Ross 3 Hereford Bulls

Ross did the double over the Bulls with the score line repeated from the first encounter.

Ross’ defence, well marshalled by Nick Morgan, was seldom troubled and the midfield alliance of Alan Essex, Dixie Collins and David Rooke controlled the game, with Brian Tingle linking well up front. A dynamic brace of goals from David Rooke and a penalty from Dixie Collins completed a comfortable win.

The Walking Football section continues to flourish, and playing membership is healthy enough for consideration to be given to entering a ‘B’ team in the league.

Whilst all players get the opportunity to play in teams amongst themselves on a Thursday night, a number of players are close to selection for the league team and deserve the opportunity of wider competition.