A crowd of 550 including the Mayor of Merton flocked to Old Rutlishians’ ground in Merton Park to witness an Old Ruts Past XI beat an AFC Wimbledon XI 2-1 in a lighthearted first half. AFC’s team included manager Terry Eames, his assistant Nicky English, Commercial Manager Ivor Heller and a number of backroom staff.

The emphasis was very much on fun as the crowd lapped up the beautiful weather and watched Glen ‘Trigger’ Mulcaire open the scoring for AFC before Old Ruts hit back with two strikes from Jimmy Wilkes.

AFC’s new signing Peter Smith made his debut and the former Shelbourne player (who appeared recently on ITV’s ‘Popstars: The Rivals’) impressed with some good touches.

The second half was more serious as the Old Ruts first team took to the field against a much stronger AFC Wimbledon XI. Aided by a guest appearance from ex-Chelsea and Spurs star Jason Cundy the Ruts scored three times without reply through Lee Poulter (2) and Jones Bamfo.

But the scoreline was almost irrelevant as the most important result of the day was that £7,000 was raised for the Hedley Atkins Ward at Guy's Hospital. This is the charity chosen by Old Rut David Murphy who sadly lost his wife Nikki to cancer in December 2002 at the age of 33.

“This has been a truly fantastic day,” said Murphy, who earlier led the teams onto the pitch with his three-year-old daughter Niamh as mascot. “I would like to thank the Mayor of Merton and the players, staff and fans of AFC Wimbledon and Old Ruts for supporting this worthwhile cause. And of course to the many Old Ruts who helped organise and staff the event.”

Old Ruts (first half) - David Williams, Lee Caffell, Graham Larcombe, Jeremy Capper, Iain Worley, Howard Meredith, David Morris, Simon Hithersay, James Wilkes, David Murphy (captain), Darren Knott. Subs: Steve Rowlands, Scott Hawley, Danny Poulter, Nigel Watford.
(second half) - Roland Heal, Matt Coulson, Philippe Rivet, Alan Whiter, Jason Cundy, David Cundy, Steve Nicola, Phil Rea (captain), Lee Poulter, David Murphy, Leon Trowbridge. Subs: Iain Worley, Jones Bamfo, Che White.
Manager - Graham Clayton

AFC Wimbledon squad - Dennis Lowndes, Marc Jones, Brendan Farrell, John Egan, Glen Mulcaire, Peter Smith, Ally Russell, Neil Robson, Ivor Heller (captain), Nicky English, Ray Merry, Matt Lowndes, Daniel Couch, David Fry, Chris Philips, Terry Eames.