UNDER 9s:
YMCA A 7 FOXHALL A 0
YMCA B 6 FOXHALL B 0 These were two great team performances from YMCA at Seafield Rd last Saturday. In the A game they passed the ball excellently and reached the interval 1-0 ahead. Conah Bishop forced the Foxhall keeper to make two great saves and then hit another shot which come back off the bar. They took the lead though when Jordan Willder, who was outstanding throughout crossed for Carl Kennedy to fire home. The second half continued with YMCA well in control and Willder scored four excellently taken goals to top off a great performance. YMCA’s other scorers were Kennedy, who finished from the edge of the box following good work by Bishop, and James Rowley with a fantastic solo effort, running the length of the field and rounding several defenders before coolly slotting home. Matthew Swallow and Jack Crawford also shone. Another fine team display enabled YMCA to collect 3 points in the B game also. They led 2-0 at the break, Dylan Salmon notching both goals and in the 2nd half YMCA continued to play some fine flowing football. Callum Hendry, who worked tirelessly throughout, headed home then Shane Delaney beat his man before unleashing an unstoppable shot to make it 4-0. Bradley Garner then capped off an impressive performance with a strike from 20yds before Johnny Airey netted YMCA’s 6th goal, coolly slotting home past the advancing keeper. Oscar Twitchett and Cameron Stubbs were also notable
UNDER 11s:
YMCA 2 WYRE JUNIORS 1
This was a closely fought match at Seafield Road on Sunday between two very competitive sides. Wyre took the lead with a superb long range strike early in the first half. Efforts from Alex Evans, Tom Broderick and Jack Burton couldn’t force an equaliser and Harrison Kenworthy was unlucky to strike the Wyre post but an excellent save from Matthew McLaughlin kept YMCA in the game. A well taken solo goal by Kenworthy early in the second half brought the sides level and YMCA applied constant pressure in search of a winner with good efforts from Allan, Kenworthy and Oliver Drury coming close. It was left to Ryan Allan to finally seal the points with a close range goal in the closing seconds of the game. UNDER 12s:
SOUTH SHORE 2 YMCA 3 YMCA fought back well to produce an excellent victory in an entertaining game played at Common Edge Road on Sunday. YMCA started the game in an upbeat fashion and an excellent cross from the hardworking Joe Virco on the left was headed home superbly by Matthew Nelson to give them the lead. However Shore then came into the game more and began to find space in the YMCA half and two quick-fire goals gave the lead after YMCA twice failed to clear their lines. Although 1-2 behind at the break YMCA knew they had the wind in their favour in the second half and the outstanding Matthew Carlisle, who was a constant menace for the Shore defenders, found space on the right wing and he hit a superb shot into the net to make it 2-2. YMCA continued to press hard to try to find the winner and with two minutes remaining Carlisle again broke free on the right and he slotted the ball neatly past the advancing keeper and into the net to secure victory. Jack Hellon and Jamie Abbey were both notable. UNDER 13s:
YMCA 6 STAINING 1 YMCA were shocked to find themselves behind in the 1st minute of this game at Seafield Rd last Sunday with Staining’s first attack of the game. However, YMCA then began to dominate and they levelled through Ben Cudworth from close range then Josh Walker added another to give them a 2-1 lead at the interval. YMCA continued to be well in control after the restart and they increased their lead with an excellent 18yd strike from Alex Grindrod. Substitute Tom Molloy then made an impact by weighing-in with two well taken goals before Walker notched his 2nd and YMCA 6th goal of the game to complete a fine victory. YMCA’s defence was solid throughout and Rob Nunnen produced an impressive performance. UNDER 14s:
WYRE JUN 4 YMCA 1 This game at Moor Park last Sunday was not as one-side as the score suggests. Despite the very heavy pitch YMCA produced some excellent football and were unlucky to go behind in the 25th minute. ‘Keeper Tom Sharples pulled off a great save but the ball broke to another Wyre forward who made no mistake from close range. It remained 1-0 at the break but after the restart play continued to swing from end-to-end. YMCA just couldn’t convert several chances they created whilst at the other end the pace and strength of Wyre’s strikers contributed to them netting twice more to take a 3-0 lead. YMCA though continued to attack with great determination and James Gardiner neatly slotted home to reduce the score after excellent work by the busy Taz Moxon. Several more chances were created by the hard working YMCA but another long ball over the top led to the home side adding another goal before the end. Chris Barlow, Harry Foley, Jon Brown, and Sharples were all notable in a very spirited YMCA performance. UNDER 15s:
YMCA 0 BLACKPOOL RAN 1 (Hogan Cup semi-final) Although YMCA’s effort was excellent throughout their overall play was a little below par on the day at Stanley Park Arena last Sunday, and their cause was also not helped by two players just failing to turn up for the game. Rangers had the edge in the 1st half and went ahead on the half hour. YMCA ‘keeper Richard Horrocks saved brilliantly but the ball broke free for a Rangers’ forward to fire home and it remained 1-0 at the break. Rangers continued to display a little more commitment after the restart but the outstanding Horrocks thwarted them with more fines. YMCA applied considerable pressure in the final 15 minutes but just couldn’t find the elusive equaliser. UNDER 17s:
YMCA JUN 0 FOXHALL 0 YMCA were contented in the end by the point they earned from this encounter at Seafield Rd last Sunday. Although they displayed great commitment throughout the visitors always seem to have the edge in both halves of the game. Both defences were dominant from start to finish and neither team could break the stalemate. | 
