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Non League: Charity 24 hour match in Lowestoft ends in a 791-goal thriller!
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The event was held at Ormiston Denes Academy in Lowestoft, and involved a total of 49 footballers playing in rotation.
To keep things simple, the 24-hour marathon was split into games of around an hour, with the score reset at the end of each match.
Players were able to stay on for more than game in a row, with some remaining on the pitch for up to three hours continuously.
The game, organised by 26-year-old Jonny Kutts, kicked off at noon on Sunday, with the final whistle blown at noon on Monday.
Mr Kutts, who works at Alexanders College in Woodbridge, came up with the idea to help him raise sponsorship for Children in Crisis, which provides education to children living in poor countries. He has a place to run the London Marathon for the charity, and wanted to do something a little bit different to raise the sponsorship money.
“I thought about it as an idea just for fun a while back, but thought I would never put people through that unless it was for a really good cause – and then the marathon came up,” he said. “But I think a lot of us underestimated how hard it would be. You do your normal training, sometimes play 90 minutes a week, but this was completely different.
“Hours five, six and seven were really bad. I played three hours in a row, took five minutes out and couldn’t get started again.
“I just couldn’t walk. I have a bit of a knee problem which I was worried about, but other problems took over. Everything was an issue.”
Mr Kutts was joined by friends and colleagues who all made a donation or got sponsorship to take part, inlcuding 22-year-old Alex Laidlaw.
“I don’t think I have ever been so exhausted in my entire life,” he said. “But it was all for a good cause.
“The hardest bit was actually waking up at 4am to come and play football but I didn’t want to let the team down.”
Mr Kutts said it was this team spirit which helped him through the 24-hour marathon, and he raised £1,230 of his £1,7000 target in the process. He said: “The best bits for me was when new people came and it added freshness to the game. When 10 people turned up to play at midnight it lifted us so much.”
JB