Birkdale United AFC

Birkdale United Under 12’s football team are holding a fund-raising car wash at ‘Southport Car Wash’, Kensington Road, Southport, on 4th & 5th April 2009.

All monies raised will go towards future football events for the Under 12’s.

Come along and have your car washed on 4th-5th April 2009
9:00am – 5:00pm on both days, and raise much needed funds for a local football team.

Birkdale United have also reached the following Cup Finals in the West Lancs Girls league in May.

Under 11′s North Girls – League Cup Final and Challenge Cup Final

Under 12′s Girls – League Cup Final and Challenge Cup Final

Under 13′s Girls – League Cup Final

The club’s girls section are looking for new players at all ages or the 09/10 season. And we also have a new Under 9 girls development squad starting very soon.

 Please contact Club Secretary Sharon Caul on 01704 573619 Mob 07984765083 for more details.

Today saw Birkdale Diamonds travel to Skelmersdale to face Dynamo Rangers for an early Saturday 10.00am kick off. The pitch was heavy and windswept which would sap energy and make the ball difficult to control. Birkdale started well and I believe had the upper hand in the opening exchanges. When the ball broke free in midfield it fell to T. Elliot she powered a shot at the Dynamo keeper who fumbled it and it appeared to cross the line. The goal was not given, but to Birkdales credit they didn’t let it affect them and they continued to play well. Shortly afterwards Birkdale forced a corner. C. Molyneux took a perfect swirling corner which bypassed everyone and was helped into the net by a Dynamo player to make it 1-0 to Birkdale. Shortly afterwards Birkdale introduced their first substitute A. Welford.

Dynamo continued to push for a goal when Sykes caught the ball in her face, which resulted in a split lip with considerable bleeding. Birkdale’s midfield of Molyneux,Elliot, Smith had worked tirelessly without any respite as Birkdale only had one substitute. Sykes bravely returned to the field when the bleeding had stopped. With two minutes to go, Dynamo managed to get a goal back leaving the final score as 2-1 to Birkdale.

Todays game was away for Birkdale at The Rookery against Trinity Blue.

A good run of form lately for Birkdale United under 9′s, qualifying through two rounds in the Jim Rourke Cup now in the semi finals and lads gaining confidence from this, were looking forward to a good game today.

After a slow start Birkdale began to string some good passes together,a run down the middle by Lunt then passing to Rimmer up front saw him shoot which was cleared by the Trinity keeper. The Keeper found himself chasing his poor clearance outside the box but Lunt beat him to the ball and blasted it home, with a little help from the goalkeeper as it deflected in off him.

Now Birkdale began to up the pace as Hanlon slid the ball down the right wing, sending Amaral on a run, cutting inside one Trinity player and scoring a stinger from outside the box to make it 2-0

Birkdale by now were dominating play, Lunt picking up all the loose balls in midfield. Farrelly now working the left wing, got on the end of a Hanlon throw in, turned cut inside the defender and took a shot, hitting the keeper to go out for a corner on the right. Lunt floated in the corner to find Amaral rise above everyone to head in the third goal.

A further two goals from Lunt gave Birkdale a well deserved 5-0 half time score.

The second half was much the same, giving Birkdale the chance to rest Hanlon and Farrelly who had worked hard and put up great first half performances.  

Burrill now up front could have scored a couple but for good saves from the Trinity keeper, though Lunt not content with a hat-trick picked up one clearance to make it 6-0.

Team changes gave Trinity a bit more play as the game drew to an end, they never gave up and battled on, testing Daniels in defence and making the Birkdale keeper Gailey (Superman) pull out some great diving saves.

A loose ball on the halfway line gave Trinity a last minute goal with a long range shot creeping under a fully stretched Birkdale keeper, making the final score 6-1.

Man of the Match for Birkdale United went to Lunt

Birkdale made a good start to this game and were ahead after only two minutes when Regan ran down the left wing, cut into the penalty area and fired a shot into the top left hand corner, 0 – 1.

The game ebbed and flowed with neither side able to create any real chances until after 16 minutes, a through ball was latched on to by one of the Trinity strikers only for N. Knight to make a brave save rushing out and diving at his feet to grab the ball safely away.

The score remained 0 – 1 until half time.

The second half started the same way as the first half finished with end to end football but neither side creating any real chances.

Then after seven minutes, another through ball split the Birkdale defence and Trinity grabbed an equaliser with a well taken goal placed delicately just inside the left hand post, 1 – 1.

This goal seemed to jolt Birkdale back into action after a lacklustre spell and after 12 minutes, they were awarded a penalty for a clumsy challenge just inside the box.   L. Jackson stepped up and calmly blasted the ball into the roof of the net to the keeper’s right, 1 – 2.

Birkdale quickly had the ball in the net again when L. Jackson slid the ball past the advancing keeper and G. Rawsthorne knocked it into the back of the net only for it to be ruled out for offside.

With just over 10 minutes to go, Trinity were awarded a dubious penalty which N. Knight brilliantly saved high to his left hand side pushing the ball over the bar.

From the resulting corner, Trinity were given a free header which luckily hit the bar and went over.

Six minutes from time, Birkdale finished the game off with a goal scored by L. Jackson after G. Rawsthorne had done all the work with a great run and beating the keeper and sliding the ball towards the goal, 1 – 3.

Despite a frantic last few minutes, Birkdale held out to come away worthy winners.

This was a good cup tie, not the best game of football you will ever see, but Birkdale gritted their teeth to grind out a result which was not helped by the very blustery condition.  

Joint Man of the Match this week were J. Young for a great man marking job on Trinity’s star player and B. Pike for a solid hard working performance in midfield.

Birkdale United under 11’s North today booked themselves into their second final in two weeks after a thrilling 2-1 win over rivals Crosby Stuart today.

 

The two teams, who mainly consist of players who represent their counties are currently sitting first and second in the West Lancashire Girls League, and are to meet in March in the League cup final. So this game was poised to be a tight and technical game.

 

The girl’s didn’t disappoint as the game started at a lightening tempo, with neither side really getting their foot of the ball. Chances were rare in the opening 10-15 minutes and what saves were made, were from long range shots being easy pickings for both keepers.

 

Crosby Stuart had the first real effort at goal with the captain smashing the ball inches past the post from 20 yards. This gave Birkdale a wakeup call and they started to dominate the play and kept Crosby Stuart boxed in their own half. Birkdale failed to put away their chances with some poor finishing and resilient defending.

 

Crosby Stuart opened the scoring after a Birkdale attack was stopped by the Crosby Stuart defence, Crosby Stuart quickly counter attacked and forced a great save out of the Birkdale keeper. The corner was driven in by the Crosby captain and found its way to the back post and a Crosby Stuart leg bundled the ball over the line.

 

Birkdale knew that they would have to be more clinical in goal, and they started straight from the restart putting the Crosby defence under pressure.

 

Birkdale went into the half time break 1-0 down but still full of belief that they could win the game.

 

Birkdale started the second half the same as they finished the first half, with the ball constantly in the Crosby half, and five minutes into the second half Birkdale equalised with a tap in from H. Aitchison after a well worked move involving K. Singleton and E. Ormerod.

 

The early goal made the second half a better game as Crosby had to try and score again to stop the game from going into extra time and even penalties. But Birkdale had other things on their mind, they wanted to score the winner in normal time and keep their treble hopes alive.

 

The last fifteen minutes were tense with both sides having opportunities to win the game. Most notably was E. Ormerod’s half volley which cracked the cross bar after a H. Aitchison cross.

 

The winning goal came two minutes from the endand was scored by A. Young, it came after a number of long range shots from Birkdale were blocked by Crosby Stuart defenders with one of the shots landing to A. Young who drilled the ball along to floor from 25 yards with the ball creeping inbetween the the post and the goalkeepers foot.

 

The last two minutes were tense and Crosby nearly equalised when the striker went through one on one with the keeper only for S. Kelly making a great last ditch tackle and kicked the ball out for a throw-in. With that the full time whistle blew and Birkdale United under11’s North reached their 2^nd final in 7 days

Birkdale United vs. Skem Athletic, a cup semi final involving the first and second placed league sides, which was always going to be a tough game.

Birkdale weathered the early Skem Athletic waves of attack with some excellent defending and clearances.

Half time both sides went in at 0-0

In the second half Birkdale began to grow in confidence which was probably the main differenve between the two teams in the past. Goals came from Pring who went on one of her familiar pitch length runs and finished with a goal to the keepers left, which lifted the Birkdale girls. Ormerod added the second with a superb flick over her shoulder that, Skem kept trying untill the final whistle and contributed to a great cup game.

This was a great win for Birkdale against their toughest opponents. Keep it up girls.

Pitch Finder has finally been added, initially to help teams who may need to visit us for the first time, we have started to add local shops as well should people require drinks. Soon we will start adding pitches around the local area to help you with directions if required. To get directions simply click on the footballer and the option appears in the window. Google then does the rest.

The guestbook has now been removed from the site, this is basically because of the lack of use over the last 12 months. Pitch Finder has replaced the page.

Birkdale S travelled to Ainsdale, the lads have been playing well in the last few weeks and the same was to be said about today’s game. Birkdale S were on the ball from the kick off with Flatts in fine form and Welford holding the ball up, and spreading some fine balls around the pitch. After five minutes Welford held the ball on the left and waited for O’Neil who was bombing down the right side, he fed the ball inch perfect to is feet and he cooly slotted home 1-0.

Birkdales second came when Flatts made a great run on goal, and hit a sweet ball bottom corner 2-0.

The second half was a slow start as Birkdale had there backs to the wall, but the defence held on well with great tackles from the defenders and some fine saves by Huyton. Ainsdale got a goal back to make it 2-1. Things were getting a bit nerve racking but with 10 minutes left Birkdale turned the screw on Ainsdale. Casterton took command in midfield, Welford had 4 or 5 shots saved by the Ainsdale keeper.

Birkdale started to find their passing range again, and it wasn’t long before O’Neil got his second an third goals, 

Birkdale were 4-1 winners in the end, but Manager Shaun felt the team also should have had a penalty when it seemed that an Ainsdale player hand balled a good yard inside the box, but the referee pulled play back and awarded a free kick just outside the area. Ainsdale keeper was fantastic today and definately kept the score line down, so well done to him.

WELL DONE ALL YET AGAIN

Both teams made a bright start to this important end of season fixture with Birkdale needing to win to make certain of second place and to give themselves a chance of winning the league if Formby B fail to win their three remaining games.

Both teams played some good football but were unable to create any clear cut chances.   J. Grant was in the thick of the action early on taking charge of the Birkdale midfield.

After 20 minutes, Crosby Stuart had the best chance of the first half when a through ball was picked up by one of their players who ran on and shot only for N. Knight to make an excellent one handed save pushing the ball over the crossbar.

The score remained 0 – 0 until half time.

Birkdale started the second half with renewed purpose and after 2 minutes, following a great run by L. Jackson, unselfishly sliding the ball across the goal for M. Regan to slot the ball into the net, 1 – 0.

Birkdale continued to enjoy slightly the better of possession and were rewarded with a second goal after 12 minutes, again made by a L. Jackson jinking run, with L. Williams blasting the ball into the back of the net, 2 – 0.

The game continued to ebb and flow for the next 10 minutes with both teams having chances but neither side being able to gain any advantage.

After 22 minutes, Crosby Stuart were again denied a goal by N. Knight with a brave save rushing out and diving at the feet of the advancing striker.

Crosby Stuart continued to launch the ball forward at every opportunity but the Birkdale defence held firm and the midfield and forwards continued to pose their own threat at the other end.

On the whole a good performance from Birkdale doing enough to deserve the win, but Crosby Stuart played their part to make this an exciting match to watch.

Man of the Match this week was N. Knight for some great match winning saves.