Dad, 53, ends retirement to play in goal for son’s football team – but lost 40-0
A dad who came out of retirement to play as a goalkeeper for his son's football team was unable to lay a glove on the opposition's strikers – conceding 40 goals.
But Adi Bunn, 53, insists he made around 70 saves to help keep the score down to a more respectable 40-0.
The tour company boss was called up by Sawtry Reserves FC after his centre-back son Archie, 17, pulled out following his coronavirus jab.
The team, in the fifth division of the Peterborough and District Football League, was without its goalkeeper as he was at a university open day – not a problem faced by teams in the Premier League.
As a result, Sawtry could only field a paltry eight players, and that included gaffer Dave May.
Despite the desperate numbers, they refused to postpone the fixture with highflying Peterborough Rangers — though things didn't get off to a great start.
Sawtry found themselves 19-0 down at half-time, making a second half comeback somewhat improbable, if not impossible.
Nevertheless, the gallant lads continued on and eventually succumbed to a 40-0 defeat, a scoreline better associated with tennis.
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The result meant on average there was a goal every 2min 15sec, making Bunn an outside shot for this season's Golden Glove award.
Bunn, from Huntingdon, Cambs, told The Sun: "We expected a spanking and that’s what we got. I lost count of the number I saved. Our physio said it could have been 60 or 70.
"I seemed to be on the floor or diving through the air all the time. By the end, I was feeling aches and pains. I lost track of the score."
Yet Adi added: "If you lose 40-0 or 1-0, it doesn’t make much difference, you’ve still lost. Yet it hasn’t dented my confidence. We never gave up and avoided getting a £60 fine by refusing to play."
Boss Dave, 46, revealed how Sawtry were forced to play the first 20 minutes of the match with seven men as one of the lads turned up late.
The club's opponents are top of their division in the 16th tier of the pyramid.
Player-manager Dwayne Rankin scored 13 goals, Tiago Dias 11, Chris Brown seven and Cameron Guest six while Daniel Neto, Carlos Djalo and Morgan Bartle found the net once apiece.
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