Match Day at The Oaks ⚽

Sunday came round bright and grey at The Oaks - the home of Baldon Sports, and the venue of last year's charity match. For the second year running, two grassroots clubs had given up their Sunday to play in Aleks's name. This time the visitors were Chislehurst Wanderers, where Aleks has spent the season learning the game at soccer school.

⚽ The Match

Baldon are an experienced side. Chislehurst, by their own honest count, were the underdogs - and the scoreline told the story: Chislehurst Wanderers 0, Baldon Sports 4.

But anyone who was there will tell you the score didn't capture it. There were touch-and-go moments at both ends, crunching tackles, a few diving saves, and plenty of laughs along the way. Before kick-off Aleks took to the pitch for a kickabout with the players - kicking the ball as hard as he could past a grown-up goalkeeper, then marching back to the touchline with the swagger of someone who'd just scored a hat-trick at Wembley.

Hearts Out at the Touchline

The sidelines were full. Families, friends, supporters - many drawn in by Friday's Metro feature. Collection buckets with QR codes did the rounds, and people kept reaching into pockets. Children leaned on the railings watching adults play; older kids ran the touchline. Mark Ede - Chislehurst's manager for the day, and Aleks's coach at soccer school the rest of the time - moved between the technical area, the touchline, and the buckets, holding the whole afternoon together.

To the Pub

When the final whistle blew, everyone walked the short distance to the pub. The football didn't stop - the Premier League was on the big screen. But mostly it was kids running around with the collection bucket, asking polite questions of strangers who happily emptied their wallets. Drinks, chats, more donations.

The total raised so far is just over £1,000 between the bucket and online.

💛 Thank You

Mark Ede - for organising this match, like last year, and making the impossible look easy.

Marc Dolby - for bringing Baldon Sports back to play for Aleks, just as you did last year, and for showing up in the kit yourself.

The players of Chislehurst Wanderers and Baldon Sports - for putting in 90 minutes for Aleks. You ran your hearts out.

The supporters and the pub - the ones who turned up, the ones who donated, the ones who shook the bucket. You make these days happen.

The kids with the buckets, who worked harder than some of the players.

And to the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, who carried Aleks through twelve months of Ewing Sarcoma - every pound from today helps the next family hear "we've got you" the way ours did.

Another unforgettable Sunday. 💛