Southport Ladies v Birkdale Diamonds
October 27th, 2009 by NoelWarham| Date:        | Sunday 18th October 2009           |
| Location:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Meols Park, Southport |
| Result: | Southport Ladies (0) Birkdale Diamonds (1) |
A Sunday afternoon kick-off saw Birkdale Diamonds face Southport Ladies. A freshly mown pitch with lots of loose damp grass made playing a ball across the surface very difficult. At times the ball clogged in the grass. This was something of a derby game, as lots of the girls go to school together.
The game started with a high tempo and it quickly became evident that every ball would be strongly contested. Birkdale were trying a new formation which appeared to be working to great effect. They were containing Southport and applying pressure.The first half closed 0-0, and the Birkdale keeper had only touched the ball once.
The second half started with a slight change in formation from Southport ,which resulted in a couple of chances. However, Birkdale’s management quickly altered tactics to counteract this. As the game progressed it became obvious that one goal would win this game.Soon after Birkdale’s keeper made a fantastic close range reaction save. This seemed to spur Birkdale on and soon they began to pressure the Southport defence, and eventually it payed dividends when a fantastic effort by T. Elliott from the right side at an almost impossible angle flew over the keeper into the top left corner of the net.
Southport inevitably came back at Birkdale but they stood strong and close to the end Birkdale could have made it 2-0 or 3-0 with shots from L.Smith and A.Welford.This win was the perfect birthday present for the manager.
Parents’ Players of the Match: G. Cunliffe, V. Grocott and R. Hubbard.
