Sunday, May 27

Liam Tilley testimonial match — at Launceston Football Club

Launceston?Legends 1

Plymouth?Argyle Legends 3

LIAM?Tilley celebrated 20 years at Launceston Football Club on Sunday with his testimonial match as a club legends side took on Plymouth Argyle Legends at Pennygillam.

On a baking hot day, a crowd of over 200 came out to watch the game and pay tribute to the 35-year-old in what could potentially be his final ever appearance in a Clarets shirt.

After more than 700 appearances for the club — including 660 for the first team — Liam was given a guard of honour by both sets of players.

The game itself was played at a leisurely pace although there was plenty of quality on show — none more so than Argyle’s strikeforce of 58-year-old Bradley Swiggs and Truro City legend Stewart Yetton.

Argyle took the lead inside 20 minutes when Swiggs’ excellent backheel set up former Northern Ireland international striker Warren Feeney, who fired the ball into the back of Paul Hider’s net from 15 yards.

Argyle kept the ball well without creating too many further chances and were made to pay a couple of minutes before the break when striker Sam Davey was fouled inside the Argyle area, allowing Liam the chance to score from the penalty spot.

As you would expect, he rifled the ball into the far left-hand corner to make it 1-1 at the break.

There were plenty of changes throughout the game and Argyle went back in front when a fine save from Hider ended up with his defender Paul Banks somehow putting the ball into his own net.

They added a third not long after when Yetton was played in one-on-one with Hider and rolled the ball across for River Allen to sidefoot in the easiest of finishes.

The rest of the game passed off without note although Tilley was substituted late on to thunderous applause from everyone inside the ground.

Once referee Andrew Quinn blew the final whistle, all of the players stayed on the pitch to take photos before Tilley was given a plaque from the club by co-organiser of the day Paul Hider, which read: ‘Liam Tilley, thank you for your 20 seasons of dedication, you’re a true Claret’.

Once that was done, people headed to the bar and the hog roast with many spending the rest of the evening in the clubhouse.

Liam admitted that the day couldn’t have gone much better.

He said: “It was above and beyond anything I could have imagined. Paul (Hider) and Nicki (Ellacott) did such a fantastic job. I’m very humbled by it all and the weather definitely helped.”

One thing Liam certainly wasn’t as comfortable at as playing football was his guard of honour.

He said:?“It was a very nice gesture even if I did find it slightly embarrassing although I was more than happy to score from the spot considering I think I’ve missed three of the six I’ve taken previously.”

When asked whether the whole day has made him rethink his retirement plans, he was typically honest.

Liam said: “It certainly made me very aware that I’m going to miss it but I’m still going to be taking a step back.

“However it was a great day and we spent plenty of time reminiscing about times gone by and drinking afterwards.

“I’d like to say a massive thank you to Paul and Nicki for organising such a great day and to everyone for coming!”

Launceston Legends —

Paul Hider, John Harrison, John Tape, Dave Medland, Matt Hutchings, Liam Tilley, Dan Tilley, Adam?Yeo, Robert Blake, Shane Hooper, Alan Yendell, Matt?Hodgetts, Jon Dawe, James Cole, Sam Davey,?Chris Head, Paul Luscombe, Richie McCue, John Endacott, Andy?Hunt, Steve Greenaway, Nigel?Colwill, Paul Banks

Argyle Legends —

Carl?Bradford, Steve Brownlow, Joe Davey, Paul Edwards, Leigh Cooper, Lee Coxon, Warren Feeney, Paul Smith, River Allen, Stewart Yetton, Bradley Swiggs, Darren Garner, Shaun?Sullivan