U11A v Birkdale Lost 3-2

On a fine dry afternoon we went to play Birkdale on the exposed slopes of Castle Dyke high above the western edge of Sheffield.Birkdale had a pair of particularly fine players and playing with a considerable slope mounted a series of menacing attacks. Two goals in the middle of the half gave them a solid lead but we weren’t without hope. A well-placed drive from Bertie pulled one back but frustratingly we suffered a not untypical “brain-freeze” moment to allow Birkdale to restore their two-goal advantage.Even so, with the advantage of the slope to come we turned around in good heart. Five minutes into the second period, Alex crashed home a dipping wonder-shot from well outside the area which visibly sapped Birkdale morale while boosting ours. The rest of the game saw the team hurling themselves forward while Birkdale played on the break. It was exciting stuff, but try as we might, the equaliser remained elusive and we lost by a solitary goal. Andy, playing against his old school was superb in the heart of our defence and earned himself the accolade of being our man-of-the-match.

MJS