29th November League, Home v Birchwood, Lost 1-2

A good performance against an in form Birchwood today. The start was something to forget about however - as some slack clearing let Birchwood take the lead on 35 seconds. We then composed ourselves to create some good chances. James was lively in defense/midfield - his mazy run creating the best chance of the half for Winwick - a difficult one that Robbie hit on the volley over the bar. Charlie burst into life midway through the half, he tackled like a trojan and put some good shots in to test an in form Birchwood keeper. At the back Adam did a sterling job today - he was given the task of man marking Luke (ex Winwick player) - a task he stuck to fantastically - to the point that Luke was petty well contained. Indeed nothing typified Adams commitment than his crunching (but fair) tackle on Luke at the tail end of the half. Half-time 0-1.

In the second half Dominic came on for Robbie and John for Kieran. Up front John was a handful for the Birchwood defense - his great run and cross lead to first Charlie and finally Dominic getting the final touch to get our equaliser. To their credit Birchwood dug deep and hit back almost immediately - a set of great passes split our defense to let their midfielder stride through one on one v Harrison to score and make it 1-2. It was prety much the only way they would get past Harrison today - on any other day his display would have earned him man of the match - he made 4 great saves - one a great tip round the corner from a Birchwood rocket.

We kept on at Birchwood, creating some shots through Ryan and Charlie keeping their keeper busy - but to no avail. Our best other effort was Dominics towering back post header which crashed against the bar. Ryan (or is that Rory) kept the Birchwood defense on their toes, but they coped well against his long throws.

Well done Birchwood - a cracking game, played hard but fair with good skills as well. A big thumbs up and thank you today to Charlie Royle the referee - a definite 10 out of 10 - can we have him every week please :-)

Man of the match: James Goal: Dominic

22nd November League, Home v Crosfields, Draw 3-3

An exciting match against Crosfields saw us take our turn to suffer from a late fightback. With 4 mins to go we looked comfortable at 3-1. Credit to Crosfields who scored two late goals - the final one with almost the last kick of the game.

In the first half we looked out of sorts compared to previous weeks - but still went in 2-1 up thanks to goals from Charlie and Kieran. Kieran once again following up a shot to get a tap in - they all count Kieran, you keep chasing in those shots for the rebound lad. Crosfields scored late in the half - taking advantage of some static defending. Half-time 2-1.

In the second half we changed things around - with Cameron and James off the bench and showing a great attitude and skill to create some good chances. Cameron was rewarded midway through the half - following in to scramble a goal to make it 3-1. Joint men of the match today were Charlie and Harrison. Harrison made some great saves and charge downs - Charlie as ever winning ball in midfield and creating chances plus getting on the score sheet again.

Joint man of the match: Charlie & Harrison. Goals: Charlie, Kieran &, Cameron

15th November League, Away v Fife, Won 4-1

A comfortable win today against Fife. The boys played some lovely football - taking training onto the pitch once again. Particular pleasing was the contribution of our two sub keepers. With Harrison away - Ryan took on the keeping duties in the first half, with Robbie taking over in the second.

The first goal was scored direct by Robbie from a corner. The second was the result of good midfield passing, which saw Charlie's ball forward being chased by Dominic who just beat the keeper to it, to tap in from close range. Half-time 2-0

In the second half we created a number of great chances, James and Cameron distributed well from the back and a combination of John, Charlie and Kieran created some shots - a number well saved by the Fife keeper. In midfield we were up against former Winwick player Harry. He was clearly up for the game today against his old team mates. Harry was unlucky with a couple of good powerful long range efforts - including one in the second half which was well saved by Robbie.

Our third was the result of good passing and resulted in a Johnny rocket shot being headed in by Charlie after it had hit the bar. The fourth was another great effort - this time a shot by Charlie was followed up by Kieran for the tap in.

8th November League, Home v Matthiola, Draw 1-1
Man of the match: Whole team. Goal: Charlie

1st November League, Away v East Leigh, Won 2-1
ADAM's LATE RUN SETS UP DRAMATIC LATE WINWICK WINNER

A fine game given the boggy conditions was finished in dramatic style by Winwick. Despite having a number of good chances throughout the game, we found ourselves 1-0 down with 3 minutes left in the game. A great passing move involving Kieran and Charlie was finished in fine style by James to make it 1-1. Then with seconds remaining, up stepped Adam - dribbling the ball out of defence past player after player before crossing for Kieran to tap in unmarked at the far post for the winner. Well done boys a lot a spirit was shown today along with plenty of skills.
Man of the match: Adam. Goals: James and Kieran

25th October League, Home v Beechfield, Won 6-2

A great performance today by the boys against last seasons division 1 champs. Charlie was in great form - scoring not one, but two goals from inside his own half! In fact the first one was scored with less than 10 seconds of play in the game. At the back we had Robbie in goals first half, followed by Kieran in the second. Both volunteering to take on the keeping duties with Harrison away. Thanks boys, you both did fantastic today for us in nets.

At the back and midfield we gave players chance to play in both at times, with Dominic, Cameron, Robbie and James all rotating to have a chance to shine. Up front with John running some great lines we had plenty of chances - although we couldn't quite re-create our first half form in the second period, we ended up comfortable winners. Well done boys.
Man of the match: Charlie. Goals: Charlie(3), Kieran, Dominic, John

18th October Cup, Home v Woolston B, Won 5-0
Man of the match: Robbie. Goals: Robbie(2), Kieran, John, Ryan

11th October League, Away v Parkdale Sidac, Won 6-2

The lads put in a great performance today - with training skills and effort transfered into a great attacking display. In midfield Charlie was back to his best, scoring 3 well taken goals - including a powerful header and a long range low bullet shot. He was well supported from midfield by Kieran, whose workrate and two goals earned him todays man of the match as voted by our parents and coaches.

At the back in the first half we looked solid again - Dominic, Adam and Ryan making some good blocks and once again turning defense into attack on numerous occasions. In the second we changed things around to give players a chance to try new positions - with James trying centre defense, Dominic having a chance up front and John dropping into left midfield. They all played well as did Harrison - come out on a number of occasions to make great blocks and saves.

Hats off to Parkdale - they never gave up in this their first outing in division one. Even at 6-0 down they knuckled down and scored a couple of great goals - the second a long range free kick blasted in from inside their own half!
Man of the match: Kieran. Goals: Kieran (2), Charlie (3), OG).

4th October League, Away v Appleton, Draw 2-2

After the deluge of rain this week - it was a joy to turn up to a dry (if cold) Appleton to play on a fantastic pitch. Credit to the Appleton groundsman for a corker of a surface - credit too to both sides for a cracker of a game. Some great skills on show - but for the first 3 goals it was defensive mistakes that created the scores.

Against the run of play Appleton took the lead - a break away resulted in a defensive mix up with two players knocking each other off the ball - the Appleton striker quick to pounce to put them 1-0 up. We responded with further attacking play - typified by John and Charlie who created good chances for each other. At one stage we had a number of successive corners and from one of these we ended up scoring through Charlie courtesy of a fumble by their keeper. It was his only mistake of the day - the Appleton keeper had a blinder in all other aspects - putting in some brave challenges and also springing cat like at times to thwart a number of goal bound attempts by Winwick.

Just before half time a cross come shot could only be parried by Harrson in goal and again Appleton we quicker to the loose ball to slot home. 2-1 to Appleton at half-time.

In the second half we were solid at the back - with Harry, Adam and especially man of the match Dominic forming a good partnership. It was not just the tackling but also their intelligence distribution to start our attacks that was notable. In midfield Ryan was growing in confidence - he put in some solid tackles, plus created some good chances for Charlie, John and latterly Kieran. Again all thwarted by the in form Appleton keeper. Just as we were thinking it was going to be one of those days - up popped Ryan out wide on the left. A quick look up and a powerful long range shot looped over the despondent keeper to level scores and earn Winwick a well deserved point.

So a great start to the weekend - further enhanced for coach Jason and son Dominic by watching the Rhinos of Leeds beat the Saints in the Grand Final at the Theatre of Dreams :-).
Goals: Charlie & Ryan. Man of the match: Dominic.

27th September League, Home v Haydock, Won 2-0

Today we saw some great training moves and effort transfered to match day. Defensively we play as a unit and looked solid - with the boys playing for each other, not all ball chasing and also playing out from the back with some nice passing moves.

Up front John was livewire - he chased a through ball to score the first and was sharp as a tack to shoot into an empty net for the second following a poor goal kick. In midfield James went on a couple of intelligent mazy dribbles (just liked we'd practised on Thursday) both times creating insightful passes to team mates to shoot - the second to Cameron nearly resulted in a fantastic goal, but his effort went just wide from a difficult angle.

Harry played all over for us today - starting in midfield, then covering for Dominic in defence when he had to come of to recover from a bang to the leg - finally Harry came close to scoring as our striker up front in the dying minutes.

Well played boys.
Man of the match: John. Goals: John (2).

20th September League, Away v Winstanley Warriors, Lost 1-3

A lot of effort today on a huge pitch. The boys tried tirelessly to beat Winstanley, but just lacked a little composure at times on the ball - unusual for us of late. However take nothing away from Winstanley - they played some lovely passing football today and utilised the space on the pitch to good effect.

In defence Adam, Dominic and Cameron worked tirelessly and were solid early on, despite plenty of Winstanley pressure. Against the run of play - we put together a lovely move - Kieran looked up to play a great through ball to John and Ryan - it was Ryan who got the final touch to put us 1-0 up.

Winstanley came straight back - slick passing creating a difficult chance on an acute angle - the Winstanley striker blasting an unstoppable shot high past Harrison to make it 1-1. Almost straight after they took the lead - a through ball created hesitation in our defence - their attacker nipped the ball past the tackle and despite this weeks "defending as a unit" training session - 3 of us followed the ball to leave another Winstanley man unmarked for a simple tap in. Half time 1-2.

In the second half we tried hard to break through - John had some half chances but couldn't find a way through. Ryan looked most likely to score with a couple of great long range efforts. Harry (on for Kieran in midfield) played well - one of his free kicks grazing the bar from some 35 yards out! In the push forward it was inevitable we would leave ourselves lacking in numbers at the back - however determined last ditch tackles by Adam, Harry and Dominic meant Winstanley had to wait till late in the half to wrap up the game - coming ironically from a corner where we failed to clear and the resulting shot deflected in past Harrison.

Well done boys - a great effort today.
Goal: Ryan, Man of the Match: Ryan

13th September League, Home v Wigan Junior Latics Won 1-0

A good start to the new league season with a win over division 1 new boys Wigan. Some great effort put in by the boys - to keep a clean sheet first game was a fantastic achievement. Up front we created a number of good chances - with Robbie and James both playing John in for what seemed like 3 or 4 clean breaks. As it was it was Robbie with a neat turn and shot (with his weaker right foot Mum!) that broke the deadlock.

In defence, Harrison, Adam, Dominic, Ryan and latterly Cameron were brilliant. Closing down and limiting first half chances to long range efforts. Dominic's efforts in centre defence earned him the parents man of the match vote - well done Dominic.
Goal: Robbie. Man of the Match: Dominic