Craven Minor JFL

Under 16:- Crosshouse 4 Southport FC Juniors 5

THE first games of the season are traditionally tight matches with neither teams prepared to give much away, however this nine goal thriller had all the supporters purring with the excellent football, clinical finishing and committed tackling usually associated with a mid season derby match.

Crosshouse took the lead following a corner when Lewis Francis swivelled on a blade of grass to send his shot scorching into the top corner. Southport hit straight back when Ben Yarwood had a simple tap in following a slick move that left the Crosshouse defence appealing for offside.

On the stroke of half time a cross was nodded in at the back post by Simon Wozniak to give Crosshouse a half time lead.

There must have been a half time team talk that Churchill would have been proud of because Southport scored three times in the space of five second half minutes. Long throws into the Crosshouse penalty area caused blind panic and Southport capitalised scoring through Ben Yarwood (2) and Tim Warlow.

Most teams would have folded at this point but Crosshouse are made of sterner stuff and in the last 5 minutes they scored twice through Simon Wozniak. The last a bullet header at the back post that the great John Charles would have been proud of.

As the supporters readied themselves for home another ball into the Crosshouse box wasn’t cleared and Steve Minghella applied the final touch to send the Southport staff and supporters into ecstasy.

On a sunny Saturday morning we’d seen two hat tricks, plenty of passing football and a nine goal thriller. If these two teams can continue to serve up this kind of football then they’ll be packing out stadiums all season long. Well done to both teams.

Under 14:- Skem Rangers 4 Ainsdale 2

Skem Rangers started a little nervously before a couple a good shots tested the Ainsdale keeper. The first half played out pretty even although Rangers had the better shot count. Just before half time a throw in was met by Ainsdale and hit in for the first goal. A minute later Paul Bennett connected with a Josh Seddon cross to make the half time score 1 - 1.

Rangers started the better in the second half and 5 mins in James Edgar ran through and lifted a ball over the keeper 2 -1. With the Ainsdale keeper in fine form Rangers were frustrated until Jordan Addison hit a shot from the half way line to score 3 -1. James Edgar finished Rangers scoring when running through hit a shot which the keeper stopped only to see it loop up and James headed in to score 4 - 1. Ainsdale then went forward and a solo run produced their second goal and finish the match
4 - 2 to Rangers.

Man of the Match:- Matthew Blasbery.

Under 12:- Blackburn, Darwen & Hyndburn JFL 3 Craven Minor League 1

At what must have been the furthest point on the globe that some of the Representative Squad had ever visited, Barnoldswick hosted the quarter-final tie in the Lancashire FA Cup.

The Craven were the first to settle and created several chances early on with Darren McWilliams receiving the benefit of several pinpoint balls from midfield. The back four of Louis Burch, Alex Barker, Connell Capper and Chris Norris held firm and Blackburn’s chances were very limited.

The centre midfield of Luke Gilham and Jordan Regis fought for every ball and Daniel Horne’s link up play with Alex on the left wing led to further tests for the solid Blackburn keeper.

With five minutes to go until half time and with the scores level, Craven won a corner, taken expertly to the back post for Joe Connolly to volley home and Craven took this lead to the half-time break.

The second half began as a reversal in the form seen in the first. Blackburn took the game to Craven and equalized with a breakaway.

Changes in personnel on both sides saw tired legs replaced and tactical revisions tried. The play was end to end and Andy Bennett and Anthony Fewtrell were called upon to push Craven forward. In defence Any Dixon also entered the fray and Harry Atherton took up an unfamiliar midfield role.

After a further attempt from Blackburn the ball struck a defender and was turned into Craven’s own goal but not disillusioned Craven continued to press, only to be thwarted by the strong Blackburn defence.

A third for Blackburn soon followed and with minutes left and following the introduction of sub goalkeeper Joseph Ryan for Jaques Verite, Craven went all out on the offensive but it wasn’t to their day and the result remained 3-1 at full time.

Credit to all the lads on a brilliant performance that, with a bit of luck, would have seen them feature in the Semi-Final of the competition.

Credit also to the parents, team managers, assistants and to the opposite numbers at Blackburn for an excellent atmosphere at an excellent venue.

Under 11:- Town Green 7 - Formby B 1

Last year's league champions at under 10, Town Green A, started their Under 11 campaign with an emphatic and important win against Formby B at Winifred Lane.

Goals from Connor Tierney, Connor Stockwell, Jack McGregor (2) and an impressive George Newell hatrick made for a more than satisfactory Town Green performance. A well taken goal from Formby gave Town Green keeper, Anthony Caunce, no chance and gave Formby a consolation goal.

This match was by no means one way traffic and Formby gave a good account of themselves but on the day, a great Town Green team performance gave them the start they needed and sealed the points on the day.

Particular credit goes to Danny Pugh in the heart of the Town Green defence, who got some good, strong tackles in, and Jack McGregor who made some lightning runs down the wing and tested the Formby defence with his pace and accuracy.

This match was a great opener and hopefully a sign of the standard of football we can expect to see for the rest of the season. Every player on the pitch battled hard, gave it their all and played with spirit and determination.

Well done to both teams who gave the supporters some great football to watch and some fantastic goals to reflect on.  Town Green had a good few contenders for man of the match, but on the day, a great performance by Danny Pugh earned him the accolade.

Southport FC Juniors 5 Southport Trinity 3

The First game of a new season is always nerve wracking and with it being against your nearest rivals and this derby match had everything.

SFCJ in their new club strip supplied by sponsors UK Hairdresser.com got off to a flier after 3 minutes when Ryan Pytel forced his way through the Trinity defense to blast his shot past the helpless Scott Walkerdine.

Trinity pushed forward from the kick off but Southport's defence of Robson Baldwin, Oliver Cunningham, Rob Handsford and Sam Johnson stood firm but following an attack by Southport, Trinity broke free and a run by Christy Devlin, who ran the best part of the whole pitch to lay on a pass, enabled Dillon Norbury to rifle home the equaliser.

Southport hit back immediately when James Smith latched on to a loose ball in the box to net his first goal of the season, this was met with another strike from Dillon Norbury to level the scores again. Southport settled down from then on and got their passing game going in particular Anthony Brown was at the centre of everything and Owen Drummond making numerous runs at the Trinity defence forcing a succession of corners, from one of these corners Oliver Cunningham had a header cleared off the line by the hand of a Trinity defender. Daniel Thompson stepped up to smash the penalty low into the corner of the net to give Southport a deservingly half time lead.

Southport manager Richard Bainbridge gave his team a half time team talk addressing lapses in concentration throughout the team, this did the trick and produced a more solid performance from Southport. Ryan Pytel extended the lead for Southport when his determination got him free of the Trinity defense to send a shot into the roof of the net, Southport from then on pushed forward and squandered chance after chance.

It was down to Pytel again to put the game out of reach Trinity’s reach by netting from close range to complete his first ever hat trick. Trinity never let their heads go down and their reward came when they hit Southport on the counter attack to make the score 5 v 3 in the closing stages.

A great game played in a very sporting manner with both teams playing some great football.

Results 8 September 2007

Under 11
Hesketh Colts Red	0-9	Redgate Rovers Yellow
Southport FC Juniors	5-3	Southport Trinity
Birkdale United		Birkdale United B
Redgate Rovers Green	2-6	Ainsdale Juniors A
Formby JSC A	5-0	Hesketh Colts Blue
Town Green	7-1	Formby JSC B
Under 13
Ainsdale Juniors B	2-3	Southport Trinity
Redgate Rovers	1-2	Southport FC Juniors
Burscough	0-7	Ormskirk West End Blue
Town Green Aughton	7-3	Ainsdale Juniors A
Kingsford	0-9	Jaguars
Ormskirk West End Maroon	1-6	Town Green Maghull
Under 15
Redgate Rovers	0-7	Ainsdale Juniors
Birkdale United	9-0	Crosby Keys
Porto	2-2	Southport Trinity
Town Green	2-2	Fortune
Under 16
Woodland	1-0	Great Crosby United
Cross House	4-5	Southport FC Juniors
Formby Dons	1-3	Ainsdale Juniors
Town Green	7-1	Burscough FC Juniors

Results 9 September 2007

Under 8
Birkdale United D	1-5	Birkdale United S
Formby JSCA	5-0	Formby JSCB
Ormskirk FC	5-0	Redgate Rovers Black
Redgate Rovers Green	3-1	Redgate Rovers Yellow
Southport Trinity A	2-3	Town Green Tigers
Under 9 Leopards
Birkdale United	2-1	Burscough FC Juniors
Deepdale Juniors	0-5	Formby JSCA
Formby JSCB	2-1	Ormskirk FC
Redgate Rovers Yellow	1-0	Town Green
Southport FC Juniors A	1-2	Southport Trinity A
Under 9 Panthers
Ainsdale Juniors	1-4	Jaguars A
Jaguars B	2-3	Ormskirk West End
Redgate Rovers Green	3-0	Redgate Rovers Black
Southport FC Juniors B	0-1	Southport Trinity B
Under 10 Eagles
Birkdale United	2-0	Formby JSCA
Redgate Green	1-2	Town Green Inter
Southport FCJB	0-1	Southport Trinity A
Under 10 Hawks
Ainsdale Juniors	1-2	Formby JSCB
Hesketh Colts Red	2-2	Hesketh Colts Blue
Rainford Rangers	1-1	Redgate Rovers Yellow
Town Green Spartak	5-3	Southport Trinity B
Under 12
Formby JSC A	1-3	Ainsdale Juniors
Diesel Boys	3-2	Ormskirk West End
Hesketh Colts	3-1	Formby JSC B
Southport FC Juniors A	0-6	Town Green
Under 14
Town Green	6-1	Southport Trinity
Skem Rangers	4-2	Ainsdale Juniors
Southport FC Juniors	4-4	Hesketh Colts
Ormskirk West End	1-8	Billinge Juniors
Birkdale United	1-4	Formby JSC
Redgate Rovers	1-1	Redgate Rovers Green