Birkdale United AFC

Advance notice for you all, the annual Club Presentation will take place on Saturday 3rd July at the Prince of Wales Hotel, Lord Street, Southport. It will take a similar format to last year’s presentation, with the younger teams being presented with their trophies and medals in the early afternoon, and the older teams being received late afternoon to early evening. Precise times will be advised when we have them. Please keep this date clear!

Today the girls were away to Crosby Stuart who are currently second in the table and with two important team members missing Core and Grocott and Harrison in goal with a bad knee we were hoping we got no more injuries in the game. Birkdale went for it from the start and dominated the first 10 minutes of the game when we got a corner. Crosby couldn’t deal with the perfect ball from Elliott and it ended up with the ball in there goal making it 1-0 to Birkdale.From this Birkdale should have kicked on but the girls failed to put their chances away and Crosby started to grow in confidence.

A home draw in the Challenge Cup semi final was today’s game. Perfect weather for football with a slight wind blowing. Kick off was 10 am and both teams were eager to make it to the final, where Crosby Stuart Ladies awaited the winners of this tie. Birkdale were at full strength with all girls free of injuries. The first half began with Birkdale straight out of the blocks, and it became clear that it was going to be a hard fought contest. Birkdale were the more dominant in the first 15 minutes with Edmondson and Elliott having half chances. Euxton then came back into the game after that, but with neither side really creating a gilt edged chance the first half ended goalless.

A home friendly game awaited Birkdale Diamonds today .The weather was crisp and the pitch playable after a hard frost in the night. A few injuries to two key players meant that a few changes had to be made, Grey-Smith had a foot injury and Harrison the goalkeeper had a bad back, so a goalkeeper had to be chosen from the remaining girls. Grocott was chosen to begin with. The game started at a slow pace and ended in the same way with both teams having no shots on goal it was a half that was very scrappy with little chances and neither keeper having to make a save.

The second game in two days saw Crosby Stuart Ladies visited Bedford Park. With Grey-Smith injured Birkdale had to change people into new positions. From the kick-off Crosby pushed Birkdale back and after 5 minutes Crosby got their first goal from a shot near the edge of the box that really shouldn’t have made the goal as no Birkdale player challenged them. Birkdale did wake up after that and had a few chances of their own before Crosby got a corner. Birkdale stood watching as the Crosby player slotted the ball home from close range making it 2-0 to Crosby. The last 10 minutes of the half saw both teams sharing the ball well, and the half ended 2-0 to Crosby.

A friendly game was arranged against Bleak Hill from Saint Helens.With a game on Sunday, the team was mixed around to try out new potitions the girls started very brightly with Welford on the right and Core in centre midfield having some good positions between them.The girls attacked Bleak Hill on many occasions with Molyneux up front causing them big problems. And it was Molyneux who got the first when she got on the end of a great ball that was worked from defence making it 1-0 to Birkdale. From the restart Birkdale again passed the ball around with Hubbard, Grey-Smith ,Welford  and Core having shots go close before Hubbard put one in from distance to make it 2-0 at half time.

Birkdale United Ladies made the short journey to Haskayne for their final league game of the season against their local rivals, Town Green. A few players had been delayed due to going to the wrong ground, so the starting line up was not as originally envisaged, but was a strong one nonetheless. From the previous week, McKenna, Parker, Griner and White were all unavailable. In their places Granby and Gillingham returned, although the latter was only available until half-time due to a volleyball commitment. It was also the opportunity for new signing Williams to make her debut. This game also marked McEvoy’s 100th appearance for the team, and as such she was awarded the Captain’s armband for this game.

It was a disjointed start to the game with few chances and both keepers unemployed. However, both sides lost players to injury early on, with Davidson turning her ankle over in a challenge and being replaced by Griffiths who did excellently in an unfamiliar position. As the half wore on, it became evident that Town Green were more fired up for this game than some of the visiting side and eventually it led to them taking the lead as the visitors failed to clear their lines and the ball was presented to a home forward who finished well.

The visitors responded positively and enjoyed their best spell of the game with a period of concerted pressure. Rimmer in the home goal did well to tip a Cooper effort onto the bar, and it bounced narrowly away from Tuakli with the goal gaping. However, Cooper was not to be denied and she scored a great goal after good work from Williams and Gillingham. She managed to hold off two defenders before drawing the keeper and finishing accurately with a right-footed shot. The visitors dominated the rest of the first half without testing the keeper, the Town Green defence remaining solid.

The visitors started the second half strongly but were quickly pegged back with another goal which was of their own making. The home side were awarded a soft free-kick around 30 yards out and with the wind swirling, fired the ball into the box. It evaded the grasp of Hesketh and the visiting players were slow to react. Not so a Town Green forward who prodded the ball into the unguarded net.

This goal heralded the most disappointing part of the game, as some of the Birkdale players seemed to adopt a negative attitude and not put in the necessary workrate. Indeed, some players were bickering amongst themselves and this did not help the cause in any way shape or form. This behaviour is not to be repeated. The goal also gave the home side confidence and they seemed to be first to every ball and winning virtually every 50-50 challenge. Birkdale got in some good positions but failed to test the keeper on a single occasion in the second half. To add insult to injury, Town Green sealed the game with yet another goal which was gifted to them. A lack of communication between defence and goalkeeper allowed a Town Green forward to nip in and steal the ball before passing it simply into the unguarded net, when surely the ball should have just been cleared into the canal!

This was one of these days where nothing seemed to go right for the visitors, as they pretty much gifted all three goals to the home side. However, all credit to them as their attitude and effort ensured that they deserved the win. While the sort of negativity which emerged in the second half has no place in a Birkdale team, and it is always disappointing to lose to your local rivals in this fashion, this one poor performance and result should not overshadow what has been an excellent league season.

Indeed, even in defeat there were some positives. Williams made an excellent debut and fitted right into the team very well. Griffiths did superbly in an unfamiliar position, and both Coulter and Cooper set the right example as usual. The team had certainly been disrupted by injuries throughout the game to Davidson, McEvoy and Tuakli, as well as the enforced withdrawal of Gillingham at half-time, but certain other players need to look at themselves and ensure they put in 100% all of the time not just for themselves but for their teammates too. I am sure this will be the case in the future.

The Player of the Match, selected by Town Green, went to A. Ferguson.
The Managers’ Player of the Match award went to E. Griffiths.

The team was: Hesketh, Davidson, Coulter, Lloyd, McEvoy (c), Ferguson, Williams, Reppion, Granby, Cooper, Tuakli, Gillingham, Griffiths, Jackson and Waring.

Birkdale United made their final trip to Jericho Lane in the League this season as they faced an improving Corinthians side. A few changes from the previous game saw Gillingham unavailable but the return of Lloyd, McEvoy, Griner after a four-month lay-opff due to injury and the welcome return of Parker to the club after a three year absence.

The visitors could not have wished for a better start as good passing between Jackson and Reppion and a swift one-two between Cooper and Tuakli released the latter to score with a low shot after only 14 seconds – a team record. However, in terms of the general play this was the worst possible start, as Birkdale became sloppy in possession and stopped playing football. Too many players seemed to want to do their own thing and not work for the team, and coupled with the home side’s resolute defensive attitude, this was a source of much frustration. Indeed, it was not until a minute before the break that the visitors doubled their lead, with a great through ball from White being fed into the path of Griner, who drew the keeper and finished neatly before celebrating with a triple somersault!

Such a goal did not change the nature of Noel and Dave’s half-time talk, which focussed on the girls going back to basics and playing good football. This paid immediate dividends as good work down the left from Davidson and Jackson saw Griner clean through to double her tally with another accurate finish, cueing more somersaults! The visitors scored their fourth soon after as a Cooper corner caused all sorts of trouble in the box and Reppion pounced to fire home powerfully at the near post for her second goal in as many games, before displaying her own, more sedate version of Griner’s celebration.

The visitors were playing much better football and only a mixture of poor finishing and great goalkeeping was thwarting them, and indeed the woodwork came to the home side’s aid as a curling effort from Cooper hit the top of the bar. She was not to be denied as good work from Parker and Griffiths down the right and a nice through ball from White saw her finish accurately into the corner. Waring was determined not to be left out, and seconds later scored an excellent goal which saw her win the ball straight from the kick-off before beating seven players for strength and skill and finishing powerfully past the keeper.

There were further chances, most notably a penalty which White hit powerfully but was well saved by the keeper, but in the end Cooper added just the one goal with a low, powerful shot before the referee blew the final whistle in what had been a well-contested and fair match.

Noel and Dave felt that the second half had been a huge improvement on what went before but maintained that Corinthians had represented a much sterner test than previously. Birkdale needed to play as a team at all times and treat each opponent with respect in order to ensure that they performed as well as they can.

The Player of the Match, awarded by Corinthians, went to A. Cooper.
The Managers’ Player of the Match went to T. F. Griner.

The team was: Hesketh, Davidson, Coulter (c), Lloyd, McKenna, Ferguson, Griffiths, Reppion, Jackson, Cooper, Tuakli, White, Waring, McEvoy, Parker and Griner.

After almost another month off, Birkdale made the trip to Liverpool to play Liverpool Feds with something of a defensive problem. Both McEvoy and Lloyd were unavailable, as well as one of the usual deputies, Tuakli. Noel and Dave opted to shift Davidson to the centre and ask Reppion to fill-in at right-back.

The visitors started well and put Feds under a lot of pressure, with Ferguson and Griffiths being very effective down the wings. However, too often the final ball was lacking a little bit and despite having all the early pressure they paid the ultimate price when Feds hit them on the break and the forward beat Hesketh with an excellent finish.

This caused a little disruption in the visitors’ ranks and Feds started to get a little bit of a foothold in the game. However, McKenna and White settled things down in defence and before long Birkdale started to get the upper hand, although they found the reolute defence of Feds very difficult to break down. Just when it seemed as though they were going to go in at half-time a little harshly behind, Waring took a quick throw-in to Cooper who turned and swept in an excellent cross which the onrushing Jackson finished sweetly to make the scores level just before the break.

The start of the second half saw the visitors on top, but they were unable to get their usual passing game going and in all honesty some players weren’t working as hard to get the ball back as they should. Feds looked very dangerous on the break and it took a good save from Hesketh to keep the scores level. As it was, Birkdale took a deserved lead when Cooper’s corner was only half-cleared to Reppion who hit a low, powerful shot through a crowd of players to notch not only her first goal for the club, but against her former team.

The visitors went looking for the killer third goal but through a mixture of good defending and poor finishing it never arrived, and instead Feds achieved what they had been threatening to do for a while and hit the visitors on the break. With players out of position and some others not working back hard enough, they outnumbered the defence with a quick break and the Feds forward chipped Hesketh beuatifully, leaving the Birkdale keeper with no chance.

There were a few half-chances for both sides but nothing clear-cut, and the game petered out into a 2-2 draw. Noel and Dave were a little disappointed with the team, feeling that their opponents had worked harder at times, and also that some players had not put enough thought into their play with too much long ball and hit and hope at times. They also need to use the wings more, as when they had, the play had been very effective. At times, they had played very well, but the result did not reflect their superiority of possession, and in future they need to make sure it does.

The Player of the Match, awarded by Liverpool Feds, went to A. Cooper.
The Managers’ Player of the Match went to G. Reppion.

The team was: Hesketh, Davidson, Coulter (c), McKenna, Reppion, Granby, Gillingham, Ferguson, Cooper. Jackson, Griffiths, White and Waring.