Planet Swans ArchivesTrundle was without a doubt the star of the show for many of those present as he demonstrated the full range of his skills on an afternoon where the only winner that really mattered was charity as thousands were made in the name of Swans Aid on the first ever celebrity match at the Liberty Stadium.
And I think it is fair to say that this will not be the last as the Swansea public turned up in their numbers to watch the game which was eventually won 14-12 by the Adam Woodyatt XI .
The actor, who has played Ian Beale since EastEnders started back in 1985 even managed to score one of the goals himself to the biggest cheer of the afternoon although it is fair to say that whilst he may not have eaten all the pies he had certainly munched his way through a fair proportion of them during his time on the hit show.
Trundle on the other hand was looking far leaner and fitter than I think he ever did as a footballer and from the moment he recreated his famous shoulder roll inside the first five minutes of the game you knew what kind of afternoon we could expect at the Liberty.
In goal for the Woodyatt XI was Swansea Chairman Huw Jenkins in the first half and he made some good saves during the opening 45 minutes although his lack of height was proving to be a problem as he was chipped twice by Harvey in the first half which saw the Danny Dyer team fight back from 5-1 down halfway through the half to be level at 5-5 by the half time interval.
Harvey had four by half time but it was Trundle who scored the goal of the half when he waltzed through the Dyer defence (Dyer by name, Dire by nature?) to find the back of the net but it was also former Blue star Antony Costa who scored two great finishes in the first half as well.
The goals continued to fly in during the second period with Nathan Cleverly helping himself to 5 and Harvey 6 whilst I think Trundle scored either 4 or 5 as did Frankie Fryer from Soccer AM who combined brilliantly with Trunds at times to score some goals that would have made the Swans themselves proud.
There were cameo appearances from Nev from the Call Centre and Swansea’s very own Kevin Johns both of whom made up for their lack of pace with good humour and neither really put a foot wrong – well bar Nev who wasted some good chances which could have made the difference at the end.
Three times I ended up Tweeting that the last goal had been scored but when the 26th and final goal went in it was after Danny Dyer himself had been sent to the halfway line by Kevin Johns to take the stoppage time penalty and he finished it with some style past Adam Woodyatt who had taken the gloves for the last kick of the game.
When 10,000+ people turn up for a game of this type then you know football fever has well and truly gripped Swansea and whilst it is not a gauge on which we should base an opinion to extend a stadium it certainly suggests that affordable football in Swansea will be watched by the public.
A huge well done to all those involved in organising today and no doubt there will be more to come next summer as I have a feeling this may become a regular event on the calendar at the end of every season and who is to say that we won’t get a bigger crowd next season?
And how great was it to see Lee Trundle back in action at the Liberty again – a true Swansea legend.
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