‘Legends in the Wood’ delivers a day to remember in Kildare
With a lineup including icons such as Jaap Stam, Brian McClair and Wes Brown, the Premier League Legends XI put on a tremendous show for all in attendance.
The event was part of Allenwood’s ‘Legends in the Wood’ fundraiser, celebrating their 35 years in existence, and pitted the Premier League superstars of yesteryear against a variety of Allenwood Celtic Select sides.
The sun was high in the sky on a glorious May afternoon, with the game attracting an estimated 1,500 fans through the gates.
It was an all-United backline, with former Leeds United man Andy Couzens on the left and former Man United striker Brian McClair starting on the right. At 62, McClair was the oldest of the legends team, yet he stayed on the field longer than anyone and looked perfectly comfortable in doing so.
They were joined by a Champions League-winning centre back pairing of Wes Brown and captain Jaap Stam – with the former Man United legends the most impressive players on the pitch.
Liverpool and Ireland’s Jason McAteeer sat at the base of a midfield diamond behind Celtic and Aston Villa legend Stiliyan Petrov and Newcastle and Man United star Keith Gillespie.
Former Portsmouth, Middlesbrough and Everton icon Yakubu was at the head of the diamond, in behind the front two of Jermaine Beckford, best known for his time at Leeds, Everton and Leicester, and Jermaine Pennant, formerly of Arsenal, Birmingham, Liverpool, Real Zaragoza and more.
Allenwood held the Legends out for the first ten minutes until Yakubu released Beckford who turned his man before crossing into the six-yard box where the arriving Gillespie headed home to break the deadlock.
Another through ball from Yakubu led to the second goal, as Petrov lifted the ball sumptuously over the goalkeeper for a stunning finish.
Petrov then returned the favour moments later with a lovely cut-back for Yakubu to make it 3-0 and bring an end to the first game.
The second game began with Pennant and Yakubu off the field as Allenwood put up a much better fight, holding out the legends and creating a handful of chances of their own. Pennant was forced off injured early in the first game and unfortunately never returned.
A brilliant volley into the bottom corner gave the Legends XI a fortuitous lead midway through before adding a second moments later - with both goals coming from local sponsors who donated €5,000 each for the privilege of playing on the Legends’ side.
But the biggest cheer of the afternoon came when Jenny Donnelly got away from her marker - who just happened to be PSV, Man United, Lazio, AC Milan, Ajax and Netherlands legend, Jaap Stam - and turned home Allenwood’s opening goal of the afternoon.
There was to be no fairytale ending, however, as Beckford forced the ball home to give the Legends a 3-1 win.
Yakubu returned for the third game as an increasingly tiring Legends side struggled to break down the hosts.
It was another local sponsor who eventually put the Legends a goal up, but Killian Darling finished into the bottom corner with the final touch to give Allenwood a well-deserved 1-1 draw.
The fourth and final game saw Allenwood go in front for the first time when they scored from the penalty spot. The celebrations continued moments later when Evan Moore doubled Allenwood’s lead with a brilliant goal that looped into the top corner from miles out.
A third goal late on from Luke McCreery put the gloss on the scoreline for the home team as they finished 3-0 winners in game four, with the Premier League Legends winning by an overall scoreline of 7-5.
12-year old Luke, son of Allenwood Secretary, Jennifer, and one of the players on the day, Lee, was diagnosed with sudden onset type 1 diabetes only a month ago and ended up in Crumlin Hospital for five days with diabetic ketoacidosis, a life-threatening emergency that almost sent Luke into a coma.
When the touring legends caught word of this – and Luke’s worries if he would ever be able to get back playing football – the decision was made to spring a surprise on the McCreery family, with Luke getting on for the final ten minutes and scoring that magical goal to bring the game to a fitting end.
