PLAYERS playing without being pestered by parents, no prima donnas and a result that did not resemble a rugby score.

Now that makes a refreshing change.

For this was the perfect advert for junior football between two sides who played the game the way it should be played at this age.

And in a keenly contested match, it was only the width of a post that prevented Trawden from grabbing a last-minute equaliser and a share of the spoils they deserved.

Naturally there were players who were better than others with Trawden strike pair David Pugh and Jonathan Graham in fine form. For Readstone, Thomas Halliwell, Tony Howarth and Jack Dugdale also played well.

However every player on the pitch made a telling contribution - none more so than Trawden defender Hugo Leaver who captured the spirit of the game as his determined tackling more than made up for his lack of skill elsewhere.

And Pugh and Readstone defender Daniel Howarth both gave disciplined displays as they spent the whole game shoulder to shoulder without so much as a push, shove or kick out at their opponent.

Readstone showed their intentions when shoot-on-sight Tony Howarth tested keeper Matthew Rushton with two shots in the opening minutes before Trawden responded when Pugh rounded off a fine run down the left wing with a shot that was held by Charlie Stanworth. Then Stanworth produced the save of the half when he turned away Jamie Byrnie's thunderbolt shot from the edge of the area.

However Readstone took the lead in the next attack and Howarth's decision to pass instead of shoot paid dividends as he found Chris McKearnan who cooly slotted the ball home.

Both sides continued to attack at will and Readstone grabbed a vital second just before the break which owed a lot to good fortune.

Jacob Uttley picked the ball on the edge of the area and his shot took a wicked deflection which left Rushton with no chance in the Trawden goal.

Both sides had little time to catch their breath at the break as the second half continued at the same frantic pace.

Again Pugh and Graham threatened the Readstone goal but neither were given a second to settle by Daniel Howarth who didn't let the pair out of his sight.

Rushton then came to Trawden's rescue with a fantastic save from Halliwell after good work from Tony Howarth.

But Graham's hard work finally paid off when he scored with another deflected goal that hit a defender and looped over the stranded Stanworth. Trawden very nearly grabbed a last-gasp equaliser when Pugh hit the post from close range after Graham's corner caused havoc in the Readstone box.

If this is what junior football is all about then we could do with a repeat performance.

Man of the match: Daniel Wallin (Trawden) and Charlie Stanworth (Readstone)

TRAWDEN CELTIC UNDER EIGHTS: Matthew Rushton, Hugo Leaver, Daniel Wallin, Luke Haggan, Kane Sheenan, Jamie Byrnie, David Pugh and Jonathan Graham

READSTONE UNITED UNDER EIGHTS: Charlie Stanworth, Jacob Halliwell, Alex Palfry, Daniel Howarth, Jack Dugdale, Elliott Bywater, Tony Howarth, Chris McKearnan and Elliot Artingstall.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.