OLD BOYS REPORT: YATE TOWN 5 CHELSEA 3

Chelsea Old Boy Steve Finneston reports on a tough afternoon for his team out in the west of England.

Chelsea Old Boys made the long trip down to Yate, near Bristol, for an eight-goal thriller which saw us claw our way back from a four-goal deficit.

Unfortunately Kerry Dixon cried off at the last minute - apparently his passport had expired! Meanwhile, Neil Shipperley made his debut for the Chelsea Old Boys, after cancelling his regular Sunday pilates and aerobic classes.

Yate included former Swindon, Bristol Rovers and Luton striker Steve White in their side, as well as Michael Meaker who played for QPR and Reading.

The match was refereed by former Premiership referee Steve Dunn. I wouldn't say he was biased against the Chelsea Old Boys but he was carried off shoulder-high by the Yate players after the game.

The match started off badly for Chelsea and after 20 minutes we were 3-0 down. Only some great saves from Dave Beasant prevented a much worse scenario.

We rallied a bit before half time and a cross from Dave Lee was turned into his own net by a Yate defender to make it 3-1 at the interval.

But Yate started strongly after the break and scored a couple of quick goals to take a 5-1 lead.

Then, finally we began to find a bit of form and a great solo goal from Gareth Hall reduced the deficit.

Peter Rhodes-Brown was weaving some magic on the left wing and one of his crosses found Neil Shipperley in the box. Shipps was brought down and Steve Dunn awarded a penalty after Shipps' fall registered 25.9 on the Richter scale inside the Bristol area.

Rosie stepped up and an emphatic strike made it 5-3. We finished the stronger team but couldn't find the net again despite the efforts of Dave Beasant, who finished the fixture up front!

Chelsea Old Boys: Dave Beasant, Gareth Hall, Mark Nicholls, Kendo Nagasaki, Clive Wilson, Dave Lee, Darren Barnard, Clive Walker, Neil Shipperley, Steve Finnieston.

By Steve Finnieston.