MICHAEL Silvanus admits that he was left feeling humbled following his testimonial at Shrivenham on Saturday.

The 33-year-old was honoured for his decade of service to the Barrington Park side with past and present teammates turning out for the match.

And while the midfielder was on the losing side – the current Shrivvy first team ran out 3-2 winners over the old boys select XI ran by his former manager Alan Dyton – Silvanus said he felt touched by the whole occasion.

“It was an amazing day,” he said.

“I was humbled by it all - it was fantastic to see many people there.

“To see all the old faces was one of the best parts of the day, but to honest the whole thing was superb.”

As well as the match, Silvanus was presented with a silver plaque and given a guard of honour before the game.

“It was a such nice surprise to get the plaque,” he said.

“I was speaking to Dyts (Dyton) after the game and he said that he had to leave so many people out because he had had such a great response.”

Former Shrivvy forward and current Highworth Town skipper TJ Bohane netted both goals for the select XI, while strikes from Steve Robertson, Dan Drewitt and Adam Leighfield scored for the first team.

And Dyton, who had put together the select XI side, was delighted with how the whole day went.

“We had a great day – and evening,” the former Shrivenham manager said.

“It was great to see everyone honour Michael – he is a great lad.”

Dyton had even managed to get Alex Green to come down for the game.

He said: “When I first called Alex I didn’t realise that he had left Swindon and was now living up in Aberdeen.”

Silvanus added: “It made a change that I hadn’t travelled the furthest!”

With the season now over, Silvanus is determined to continue to travel up from Southsea in Hampshire to play for the Barrington Park side.

“I’ll be back for pre-season,” he said.

“We all stuck together this season and we want to do the same again next year.

“We have a great bunch of lads which Big Dave (Turner) put together and we all want to continue that.

“As long as the club need me I’ll keep coming back.”