18/07/2026
🩵 FULL TIME 🩵
Aaron Tidey United 6️⃣-3️⃣ Punjab United
Today marked two years since Aaron passed away, and we were honoured to celebrate his life by hosting another memorial match against our good friends, Punjab United.
Before anything else, we’d like to say a huge thank you to Holbrook Sports & Social Club for once again providing the pitch, bar and food facilities. The support you continue to show us means more than you’ll ever know, and we’re already looking forward to doing it all again next year. 👏
The game itself got off to a difficult start for us. We created plenty of chances early on but couldn’t make them count, while the Punjab keeper was outstanding all afternoon, rushing off his line time and time again to deny us.
Punjab made us pay for those missed opportunities, with A***n calmly finishing twice to give them a 2-0 lead going into half-time. For the first time in Aaron Tidey United history, we found ourselves two goals behind at the break.
Something had to change.
We switched from a 4-4-2 to a 4-5-1, giving us more control in the middle of the park, and it made an immediate difference.
Jacob Vella pulled one back early in the second half to make it 2-1 and give us belief.
Not long after, Punjab were awarded a free-kick from some distance out. Ajay stepped up and produced an unbelievable strike into the back of the net to restore their two-goal advantage at 3-1.
From there, the momentum completely shifted.
C. Hudson deservedly made it 3-2 with a composed finish into the bottom corner, before Jacob Vella struck again to level things up at 3-3.
Game on.
Then came one of the moments of the day.
D. Briscoe, playing at left-back, picked the ball up outside the box and unleashed an absolute rocket into the top corner to put us ahead for the very first time. What a goal. 🚀
With the confidence flowing, Aaron Tidey United began to play the football we knew we were capable of.
K. Anderson found himself driving down the right-hand side. Everyone expected a cross… instead, he spotted the goalkeeper off his line and produced a sensational finish to make it 5-3.
To round off a memorable comeback, Jacob Vella completed his hat-trick. Nobody deserved it more. The effort he’s been putting in recently has been incredible, and today’s performance was a reward for all of that hard work. 👏🎩
Finally, we’d like to thank Punjab United. A fantastic club with great people who played the game in exactly the right spirit. It was a pleasure to share such an important day with you, and we wish you nothing but success for the season ahead. 🤝
Most importantly, thank you to every single person who came down to support us, donate, volunteer and remember Aaron with us. Seeing so many familiar faces on a day that means so much to our family made it incredibly special.
There were plenty of other performances that deserve a mention today too.
👏 J. Heenan made his Aaron Tidey United debut in goal while our number one was unavailable. Stepping into that position is never easy, but he was outstanding from start to finish. Thank you for coming in and doing such a brilliant job.
👏 G. Booth also made his debut, starting at centre-back before finishing the game in central midfield. Calm on the ball, strong in the tackle and dominant throughout. A fantastic first performance in an AT shirt. Welcome to the family!
🏅 P. Box was class once again. He controlled the midfield, covered every blade of grass and was involved in everything we did.
🛡️ W. Fell showed once again why he’s one of the first names on the team sheet. Solid, composed and an absolute rock at the back all afternoon.
⭐ E. McColl came on for another 15-20 minutes and continues to impress every time he puts the shirt on. At such a young age, he’s learning all the time and we’re incredibly proud to have him as part of the club. His future is very bright.
The truth is, we could honestly mention every single player today. Every lad worked unbelievably hard, stuck together when we were under pressure and showed exactly what Aaron Tidey United is all about.
Thank you all. You continue to do Aaron proud every single time you pull on that shirt. 🩵⚽
