A SPORTING event to remember a friend and team- mate will finally come to an end in Okehampton this weekend. A unique memorial match has taken place for the past ten years between Okehampton Argyle Football Club and Okehampton Rugby Football Club, raising a huge sum of money for charity in the process. Now the last cheque presentation of its kind will take place in Okehampton this Sunday. The cheques will be presented to the Exeter Leukaemia Fund, Okehampton Argyle Football Club and Okehampton Rugby Football Club following the last Neal Cousins memorial match held in 2007. The presentation of the three cheques will take place at the Pretoria Vaults in North Street this Sunday, May 4 at 5pm. The memorial match has been held for the last ten years and last year's was the final such event. Neal, who died of leukaemia in September 1997, aged 24, had played both football and rugby for Okehampton. From 1998 to 2007 a memorial match has been played between the two clubs, the first being a rugby match, the following year being a football match. Last year's football match was the tenth fixture played and completed the sequence of five games being played for each sport. Across the ten events, more than £46,000 has been raised. For the first seven years all proceeds went to ELF with proceeds from the last three years being split equally between ELF and the two Okehampton clubs. After the presentations there will be music from 'Choppy' in the Pretoria Vaults and the committee would be delighted to see any players or supporters from the ten years' worth of events.
