THE best friend of a father battling back against cancer has given a touching tribute after thousands of pounds were raised at a Pangbourne football match. 

On Saturday April 20, hoards of villagers came together for a fundraiser game of footie at Pangbourne Recreation Ground.

The football fundraiser had been staged to support Duncan Geraldes who formerly played for Pangbourne both on Saturdays and Sundays. Mr Geraldes also played for Reading Town back in the late 2000s.

18 months ago Mr Geraldes was diagnosed with a large inoperable brain tumour, and friends and family have been rallying to raise £40,000 towards funding Denditric Cell Therapy, an immunotherapy treatment that will be specifically designed to target Mr Geraldes' brain tumour.

Paul McAllister, who had Mr Geraldes as his best man at his wedding, said that the day was brilliant. 

He said: "We had probably about 30 people playing and loads of people showed up to support. There were people that had known Duncan through football and people from school.

"Pangbourne is very much that kind of village, it's a really close-knit place. Even though Duncan's lived in Spain for the last 20 years, everyone still came out to support."

Mr McAllister organised the event along with Andrew Millard, Malcolm Sandham, and Irving Fielleateau. 

He said that in total the group managed to raise over £2,500 in the end, meaning that the GoFundMe page set up by Mr Geraldes partner Anna Tombs was able to gather a whopping £40,000 in just a month. 

"It's totally bonkers," Mr McAllister said. "Duncan is an amazing guy, he's so strong-willed. If there's anyone who I can imagine beating this, it would be him.

"When he sets his mind to something, he's not going to give in. I 100 per cent believe that he's going to beat this."

Because the group was able to raise the money in such a short space of time, Mr Geraldes was able to start Denditric Cell Therapy a week ago in Marbella. 

Mr McAllister said that Mr Geraldes has gone through the first step of treatment and will be returning next week to begin the next stage. 

As she and Mr Geraldes could not attend, Ms Tombs sent some words to be read at the football match.

She said "Thank you so very much to everyone who has been involved and to all who have come out to support us.

"We are truly thankful and humbled."