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Over 2,200
attended the Stewart Vaughan benefit match to pay tribute to
Stewart. Stewart was able to play for a few minutes at the start
of the game, having made an emotional entrance to the ground
through a swathe of children from Brockham Badgers FC, St
Martins FC and Dorking Girls, who had formed a guard of honour
for the teams, and Stewart in particular.
Portsmouth were wonderful in all respects - in the build up to
the game, in the team they put out and in the way they treated
the game with a seriousness unusually seen in friendlies of this
nature. At least 12 first team players for Pompey played a full
part in the game, with the likes of England international Glen
Johnson playing for all 90 minutes of the match. Harry Redknapp
turned up for the match, as did stars Sol Campbell, Kanu and
Andy Cole, to add their support to Stewart and sign hundreds of
autographs without complaint.
Great efforts had been made to get the game played, with
volunteers working really hard to get the game on. Even then,
torrential rain on the day led to a heavy, very muddy and wet
surface, and again all credit to Pompey and their players for
going ahead with the fixture.
The game was a competitive affair, although both sides had
agreed the game should be played with minimal contact due to the
conditions. This produced a fast flowing game, made more
exciting by the unpredictable nature of the pitch due to the
conditions. Dorking had their chances, but against such an array
of premiership superstars, inlcuding LuaLua, Benjani, Matt
Taylor, O'Brien, Richard Taylor, Todorov, Douala, Stefanofic and
others, Dorking were unable to make too much of an impact.
Portsmouth
produced some great attacking football and led 5-0 at the
interval. Goals from Todorov (3), LuaLua, Benjani, Matt Taylor
and
Douala
gave Pompey a 7-0 win
Dorking News |