American Dream
April 11th, 2009 by NoelWarhamFor the second time this year, Birkdale United were delighted to play host to teams from Eastern FC, who come from the border of New York State and Connecticut, USA. Once again we are indebted to Formby FC, who allowed us to use their ground to stage the games. Earlier in the year it was the Under 13 and Youth Girls who played their American counterparts, with the younger girls putting up a brave fight in their first ever 11-a-side game before losing 2-0, while the Youth were involved in a pulsating game which finished 4-3 to Birkdale, inflicting the visitors’ only defeat while on tour.
This time it was the boys who were touring and the Under 13′s and Under 16′s from Birkdale who were involved. The Under 13′s started brilliantly and no-one quite knows how they didnt score in the first half (albeit in terrible conditions). They were hit on the breakaway, and then twice early in the second half to come away on the end of an unfortunate 3-0 defeat. The Under 16′s put in an excellent performance to defeat the visitors 3-1 in a game of three penalties – one for Birkdale (scored) and two for Eastern (one missed, one well saved).
All the teams were fantastic ambassadors for their club and we look forward to welcoming Eastern FC back to the North West next year. Many thanks to Adam Stretch and his team of officials for ensuring a high standard of refereeing in the four games. I would also like to thank Ray Franklin and Danny Simpson from Eastern, and Ronnie Smith for his invaluable help in arranging these games.
