The Northern Ireland Walking Football squads got their season off to an encouraging start when playing games against England and Wales.
They faced the English and Welsh in Cheltenham as they build up to this year's IWFF World Championship in Sweden.
The Over 60s (pictured) played four shortened games on day one against England Over 65s teams and narrowly lost three of them before a 2-1 victory got them into their stride, with both goals coming from Anthony Cafolla.
Day two brought much more focused performances.
In their first game they took on world champions England Over 60s and came away with a 1-0 victory thanks to another Cafolla goal and a goalkeeping masterclass from Ray Ritchie. It was only the second defeat for the England team in seven years.
Next up was a game against Wales and a comfortable 3-0 win was registered thanks to another two goals for Cafolla and one for Jackie Fenton. A final game, against England B, was a close encounter, with a winning goal for England in the last minute.
Northern Ireland Over 70s played England Over 75s in their first game and lost out 1-0.
But things improved in the next three games. They had two draws, 0-0 and 1-1, with Drew Mearns grabbing the goal with a well struck shot, and their final game ended in a 2-0 victory. Both goals were scored by David Lemon.
Their day two matches, against England Over 70s, were much tougher and resulted in three defeats and one draw.
Afterwards manager Gary Barclay said he was extremely proud of all the players who competed in Cheltenham and that the Northern Ireland Over 60s beating world champions England was a particular highlight.
