Poignant win as Legends net 14

Many of the senior players in the Legends set-up knew Chas personally and, after the popular musician – one half of the Chas & Dave double-act synonymous with Spurs – passed away on Saturday, the team wore black armbands in his memory and observed a minute’s silence prior to kick-off against a Charity XI.

Midfielder Stephen Clemence, whose legendary goalkeeper father Ray stepped in as guest manager for the day, led the way on the pitch with a 16-minute hat-trick in the first half, contributing to an eventual four-goal haul as the Legends scored seven without reply either side of the break. Jeff Minton also bagged a treble on his second appearance for the Legends side.

Kevin Watson latched onto a blind reverse pass from David Howells – who finished the match in goal – and played a one-two with Paul McVeigh before chipping the goalkeeper to open the scoring 14 minutes in, while Clemence made it two within 60 seconds with a speculative dipping shot from the edge of the box on the left side that dropped under the bar at the far post.

Howells set up Minton and Clemence to add to the scoreline on 20 and 22 minutes, before Clive Wilson beat his full-back on the overlap down the left, cut back for Paul McVeigh and he squared for Mark Falco to drill home his first goal of the season six minutes later. Clemence got in behind the defence to complete his treble with a left-footed shot just after the half-hour mark, with Howells firing through the keeper’s hands and into the net for number seven five minutes afterwards.

The Legends’ stalwart goalkeeper Gareth Howells was unable to continue at half-time due to illness so his sibling – 1991 FA Cup-winning midfielder David – stepped in between the sticks for the second period and upheld his brother’s clean sheet with a handful of impressive saves, including one from a free-kick shortly after the restart.

Glen Southam replaced the latter in midfield and blasted in for 8-0 on 57 minutes with Minton twisting and turning his way through the box and leaving his marker on the floor to score number nine on 65 minutes. McVeigh (74) brought up double figures with Watson (76) and substitute Micky Southam (78) extending the lead before Minton completed his hat-trick on 81 minutes. Clemence rounded off the scoring three minutes from time with a curler from the edge of the box.

Spurs Legends: Gareth Howells, Brian Statham, Clive Wilson, Kevin Watson, Stuart Nethercott, Justin Edinburgh, Jeff Minton, Stephen Clemence, Paul McVeigh, David Howells, Mark Falco. Substitutes: Andy Edmonds, Glen Southam, Micky Southam, Aaron Chinery. Manager: Ray Clemence.