Peter Brown Craven Minor League
Match Reports Week Ending February 25
Under 8 -
Birkdale 4 Southport Juniors 3
What awful weather
conditions for a match! but what great football was witnessed from
both teams.
Birkdale took an early lead with an unlucky deflection but SFCJ
never let their heads drop. Callum Harper went on the attack
with a great run and superb finish. Birkdale pushed on with
the wind and SFCJ had to battle against the elements. Birkdale took
the lead after some nice play and then got their third soon after,
ending 3-1 at half time.
After taking time to
regroup SFCJ then went on the offensive and Matt Howard scored a
well worked goal, his 1st for the team. Birkdale then replied
with their 4th. SFCJ keeper Luke Dempster made some fine saves
keeping the Juniors in the match, which spurred the Juniors on for
their final push and their inspirational captain Andy Thorpe took on
several players before smashing the ball into the back of the net
making the score 4-3 to Birkdale. Both teams played very well,
mom for the Juniors was Andy Thorpe.
Town Green 2 Redgate 0
Town Green finally overcame Redgate A in a titanic battle in driving
rain at Aughton. This was a physical encounter that was high on
commitment and effort but in which Town Green's superior football
ultimately won the day.
Few chances were created in a 1st half
which was as notable for its injuries as its goal opportunities. 10
minutes in Town Green captain Dan Brady made way for Thomas Bradley,
who impressed straight away with a neat shot which fizzed past the
post. Brady was reintroduced when Josh Dean had to withdraw after a
crunching tackle which exemplified the way the half was played.
Then, in an incident which was to prove significant, the Redgate
goalkeeper had to come off after what proved to be a thankfully
minor head injury. The teams got to half time level on points but
goalless.
The 2nd half started
brightly, with the home side looking the more likely to score. 5
minutes in, Thomas Bradley played a hopeful through ball into the
heart of the Redgate defence, but uncertainty between centre-half
and stand-in goalkeeper allowed a moment for Dan Brady to nip in
between them, collect the ball and roll it calmly into an empty net.
Redgate came back strongly and forced a free kick in a dangerous
position on the left flank, which Giacomo Poli's thigh took with
full force and deflected to safety.
Town Green fought back and won a
succession of corners. One was well cleared, but only into the path
of Tom Hartley, whose thundering shot crashed onto the cross-bar,
and Brady again reacted smartly to get to the rebound first and give
the home team an unassailable 2 goal lead. Despite a sterling
effort to get something from the match, Redgate finished without
managing a shot on goal at all; in fact Town Green's resolute
performance meant that goalkeeper Michael Power touched the ball
only once in the whole match.
Perhaps that fact more than any other
shows just how good a performance this was. |
SHELTER URGES RENTERS TO PROTECT DEPOSITS AGAINST ROGUE LANDLORDS
SHELTER is
urging private tenants living in the North West to protect their
deposits in a new scheme which comes into force on April 6, as
research reveals renters are risking more than £1 billion in
deposits held by landlords in England. In 2005, more than 75%
of all tenants who had money withheld claimed it was retained by
their landlords unfairly. With the average deposit now reaching £700
in England, losing a deposit causes financial hardship and in the
worst cases, homelessness.
But the new tenancy deposit protection scheme requires landlords to
protect tenants' deposits in 1 of 3 independent
government-approved custodial or insurance-based schemes. Deposits
are held within the scheme until the end of a tenancy, at which
point tenants can reclaim their cash. The schemes also provide a
quick, easy way to resolve disputes without resorting to the courts.
Shelter has produced a special red envelope to help tenants protect
their money when they hand it over. The envelope sets out landlords'
obligations under the new law and includes a handy receipt to prove
the deposit was paid.
Adam Sampson, chief executive of Shelter, said:- "With 259,000
households privately renting in the North West, it is vital people
are aware of this new scheme. Shelter helps hundreds of people each
year in the region with deposit problems and has campaigned for many
years to get tenancy deposit protection introduced. This money
represents a sizeable chunk of cash for many tenants and losing it
unfairly not only leaves thousands of people out of pocket, but can
lead to homelessness. The tenancy deposit protection
schemes provide a vital safety net for both tenants and responsible
landlords, making the private rental sector more professional and
fairer for everyone."
L0W
PAY COMMISSION MUST AIM HIGHER
"A missed
opportunity to close the growing gap between the rich and the poor"
is the verdict of UNISON, the UK¹s largest union with 1.4 million
members, on the 17p increase in the national minimum wage.
UNISON North West Head of Local Government Ray Short, said;-
"We are deeply disappointed at the proposal to raise the minimum
wage by just 17p This is a missed opportunity to close the growing
gap between the rich and poor and we hope that it doesn¹t signal a
retreat by the Low Pay Commission. When the national minimum
wage was introduced in 1999 the doom and gloom merchants predicted
jobs would go and people would be worse off. That has not happened.
9 years on we continue to need a bold approach from the Low Pay
Commission because too many lives are still blighted by low pay.
Having 3 separate minimum wage rates does not make sense. It is time
to have a single minimum wage rate and pay young workers the proper
rate for the job. These workers are doing increasingly more
responsible jobs and need to be rewarded on the their competence not
paid less because of their age. In UNISON there are 2 large
and growing areas, social care and child care, where wages need to
grow as part of a plan to improve the quality of the service."
UNISON gave written and oral evidence to the Commission in favour of
a minimum wage of £6.75 an hour, highlighting the difficulty of
trying to live on anything less and the need for higher wages to
underpin the governments desire to improve quality in social care
and child care. Sadly thought UNISON has not thought about
small businesses in their calls. |