Woodkirk Valley U12 3-4 Farsley Celtic U12 A brave Woodkirk Valley team lost to Farsley Celtic in the second round of the Challenge Cup thanks to a wicked deflection deep into extra time. Woodkirk Valley battled hard from the first whistle against the well-organised Division 1 side and were rewarded for their hard work mid-way through the first half when a strong run and shot from Stevie in midfield forced an own goal from Farsley. As expected Farsley continued to press hard but the Woodkirk defence held out well with Josh pulling off a fine save to deny them a certain equaliser. A substitution by Farsley towards the end of the first half changed the game in favour of Farsley and Woodkirk were put under increased pressure leading up to half time, and finally
conceded a goal from a poorly defended corner. The second half started at the same tempo as the first with both sides working very hard. Farsley took the lead after just a few minutes with a very fortunate lob from long distance which gave Josh no chance. Woodkirk did not drop their work rate and more determined work in midfield by Dan and Joe forced a corner for Woodkirk. A hard curling corner from Matthew proved too difficult for the Farsley to defend and Woodkirk were level. However, it was not too long before the Farsley No.9 scored his hat-trick and made it 3-2. Once again Woodkirk didn't give up and continued to press for an equaliser which finally came with just two minutes of the game remaining. A free kick driven from distance by Matthew was fumbled by the Farsley keeper and Lewis tapped in from three yards to take the game into extra time. Both teams kept up a high work rate throughout extra time and the tie looked destined to go to penalties when a speculative shot into the box from Farsley took a cruel deflection from a Woodkirk defender and sneaked into the Valley goal. A disappointing end to a very entertaining and well fought match but Woodkirk management and parents were very proud of the team's performance and now look forward to defending the Supplementary Cup later in the season. | 
