WINTON Rovers achieved the dream of most footballers as they played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff recently.

The trip was won by team member Stuart Freeman in a competition in the Sunday Mirror.

They came up against Park Lane from Sheffield and the Basingstoke and District league side ran out 9-2 winners.

The dream day started at 8am as the coach of players from Basingstoke made the trip to Wales, where they arrived at 11am.

Soon the team found themselves going through the surreal experience of walking through the players entrance and into the vast changing rooms.

Because this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience the teams agreed to use rolling-subs, so ensuring everybody got a chance to play on the immaculate pitch.

However, to Winton's surprise, the other team had 52 players to their 18!

Both teams were assigned celebrity managers for the day, with Park Lane having former Chelsea star David Speedie and Winton given Andy Thorn.

Former Wimbledon, Crystal Palace and Newcastle player Thorn worked alongside Winton's existing manager Norman Smith.

Mitre supplied all the kit for the day, which the teams were allowed to keep, and they were also supposed to supply boots, but Park Lane turned up before the Basingstoke team and took the lot. However, Mitre have promised to send Winton some to make up for it.

The game got off to a great start for Winton, with Craig Rosher scoring after just 18 seconds. The Basingstoke side then added a second, before the Sheffield side scored two quick goals, but Winton led 3-2 at half-time.

The second half saw many changes from Park Lane, and it was like facing a new and fresh team every 10 minutes.

But in the end, Winton proved too strong as Mark Hayles grabbed a hat-trick (and the match ball) in a 9-2 win.

Goalkeeper and captain Dean Smith picked up the cup after the final whistle.