The Northern Ireland Over-70s walking football team brought the curtain down on a fine first season by finishing runners-up at a major tournament.
At the international invitational tournament staged in Redditch, Birmingham, the Over-70s (pictured) enjoyed wins over France, England B and the Republic of Ireland.
David Marcus and David Lemon scored in a 2-0 win against the Republic, while Lemon then grabbed a double in a 2-0 victory against the French.
Northern Ireland lost 3-0 to England in their final game on day one of the tournament. On day two, however, they defeated an England B side by two goals to one. Lemon poked home the opening goal and Harry Larkin won the game with a trademark piledriver.
Their final game in the tournament was against Republic of Ireland B and it ended goalless. It was enough though for them to come second overall.
Meanwhile, in the Over-60s category, a depleted Northern Ireland initially found the going tough. They ended day one with three draws and one defeat.
They drew 0-0 with Wales in their first encounter before losing 3-0 to the Caribbean.
Manager Gary Barclay rang the changes for the third game, which was against tournament favourites England. And the team put in a tremendous performance as they drew 0-0.
Next up was a match against Isle of Man. Northern Ireland dominated, however IOM took the lead. Michael Mahood finished superbly to make it 1-1, and that’s how it finished despite Northern Ireland creating plenty of chances in the closing stages.
Day two began with a fine 1-0 win against a strong Poland team. Gary McKeown was the scorer.
Northern Ireland followed that up with a 1-0 win over Republic of Ireland, with the goal coming from debutant Jim Rea.
Their last game of the tournament saw them take on Guernsey and they ran out comfortable 2-0 winners thank to goals from Anthony Cafolla and McKeown.
Despite three straight wins on day two, it was not enough to make up the ground from the first day and they just missed out on a top three finish overall.
Manager Barclay and coach Jim Morgan were delighted with the performances from both teams.
"This season has been exceptional. Both squads won their first tournaments, with the 60s also getting to a final in Portugal and the 70s gaining two runners-up spots. It reflects the skill and commitment shown by the entire squad," said Barclay.
