ANDY'S BIG NIGHT IS JUST CHAMPION

From the Echo, first published Wednesday 27th Jul 2005.

AN EMOTIONAL Andy Harris said the visit of last night's Premiership champions Chelsea for his testimonial was "a night I'll be talking about for the rest of my life.

"My game will get better and better the older I get and by the time I'm 60 I'll be telling people about the night I took on mighty Chelsea single-handedly," joked Harris after his hand-picked, past and present Magpie line-up went down 4-0 at a soggy Avenue Stadium in front of a bumper crowd of 2,877.

"It's been a fantastic night which has gone off without a single hitch and I'd just like to thank everyone for turning out in such poor weather.

"People were leaving with smiles on their faces and hopefully they will have seen some of the Premiership stars of the future tonight."

Harris, who was granted the benefit as a reward nearly 10 years of loyal service to the Nationwide South club, said he thought his side had done well to keep the score down to four.

"I'm just glad it wasn't nine or 10," he said. "They had quality all through their side and there's a world of difference between their standard and ours - but we did alright for the first half hour and showed a good battling spirit in what was quite a competitive game - especially when Taffy (Richardson) came on !

"I'm sure everyone enjoyed it out there tonight and it was great to play alongside some of my old footballing mates again - although I don't really want to run into their number seven Filipe Morais again for a few years.

"He was a bit special and I'll be watching his progress with a lot of interest. I wouldn't exactly say I was marking him - but I was on the same pitch and I chased his heels a few times !"

There were special thanks from the former Bridport and Yeovil defender for Magpies fan Pauline Thorne and her family who shouldered much of the responsibilty for organising the testimonial.

"They have been great. Without their help I wouldn't have known just where to begin," he said. There are lots of other people to thank including Melvin Cross, who did the programme, and my old mate Andy Rolls who used to be Chelsea's physio but unfortunately couldn't be here tonight. I'm sure I'll get to give them all my thanks at a later date.

Harris, who late in the game handed his captain's armband over to his 36-year-old brother Steve, a former Dorchester, Sherborne, Bridport and Chard defender who retired 10 years ago, added: "Thanks also to Chelsea for coming down. Hopefully we made them feel welcome at what is a professionally run little club and I hope they enjoyed their visit."

Chelsea reserve team boss Mick McGiven said he was surprised at the number of fans who turned out on an atrocious night to pay tribute to the Magpies defender.

"It was an absolutely fantastic turn-out and pays testimony to how well the player is received by the Dorchester public," he said.

"He's a good friend of our ex-physio Andy Rolls and it gave us great pleasure to come down and pay our tribute to a chap who has been here for over ten years."

Magpies boss Mark Morris said: "It's been a fantastic night and a great one for Andy which is what it is all about. It was nice to see so many people turn up to show their appreciation and we have to thank Chelsea for doing us the honour of coming down and putting on an excellent show."

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