Frank Rourke's Report from Formby Junior Sports Club

The first weekend of wet and windy weather conditions made for some exciting matches for Formby Junior Sports Club’s Representative teams and the older Inter Club age groups. Combatting against the elements was an additional requirement as well as playing against some very strong, well organised and determined teams. The only disappointment was that the younger Inter Club age group sessions were cancelled due to the inclement early Saturday morning weather.

REPRESENTATIVE TEAM MATCHES

FJSC Under 11 Blacks played host to Southport Hesketh at a blustery Deansgate Lane. With the wind behind them, Southport made a good start and scored early on, before doubling their lead following an unfortunate own goal. The Blacks regrouped and Thomas Donnelly scored with a very well taken finish from the right wing to start the fightback. Abe Rice then scored two quick goals before half time to give the Blacks a one goal advantage.

The Blacks controlled the majority of the second half with strong performances all round and they tested the Hesketh goalkeeper on several further occasions before Abe Rice went on to score again, completing his hat trick in the process. Robert Gorman also came close to scoring following a clever bit of skill on the left wing but saw his shot go narrowly wide. Man of the match this week was awarded to Thomas Donnelly for his goal, hard work and team ethics. It was a very pleasing result for the boys who have worked so hard in midweek training, coaching and games on Saturdays and have played so well each Sunday.

FJSC Under 12 Saturday team took the lead against joint leaders TMS when Dominic Maxwell was played in to score following a beautifully weighted through ball from Luca Massey. TMS equalised just before half time. FJSC were pegged back in the second half and TMS scored three more goals to win 4-1.

FJSC Under 11 Whites had an away fixture at Southport Trinity White. The team started the game very well and carved out a number of good chances before Trinity took the lead against the run of play when a wild shot caught the wind and flew in. Two quick Trinity goals followed. In the second half FJSC came back strongly and scored with a good follow up goal from James Lockhart following a free kick from Niall Brennan.

FJSC Under 9 Whites battled hard in blustery conditions at Haig Avenue . An early goal and a penalty gave Southport a 2nil advantage. FJSC had chances to come back into the game but were thwarted by some good defending and bad luck. The second half continued in a similar fashion. Southport added three further goals. FJSC had their share of the ball, had some good chances themselves and were very unlucky not to have scored. There was a brilliant man of the match performance from Albie Salters who never stopped working hard.

FJSC Under 8 Blacks played very well against Southport Athletic Whites. Jack Williams scored with a fine right foot finish from outside the box after some good work from Oliver Hall-Gleeson to win back possession. Goalkeeper Harrison Hughes made a couple of important saves to keep FJSC in the lead and with some long kicks set up attacks. One of which led to Joseph Kenyon scoring to make it 2-0 after a long ball over the top. More goals followed with both Jack Williams and Joseph Kenyon on target. Will Roberts worked tirelessly in midfield. Oliver Hall-Gleeson also scored with a strong right footed shot. It was a very good team performance especially as the team had no substitutes to call upon on this occasion.

FJSC Under 8 Reds played Redgate Yellow and started the match very well with Tom Murphy giving the Reds the lead. Redgate grew stronger and edged the score in both halves. Also scoring for the Reds were Zac McHugh with two goals and Joel Wright. Mason Todd and James Hannan defended strongly and Isaac Pepper continues to improve week on week. The goalkeeping duties were shared by Joel Craven and Joel Wright with both keepers making a number of fine saves. FJSC Reds continue to improve each week. The defence is getting stronger and the team has now scored thirteen goals. See photograph above of the squad in their new team shirts.

FJSC Under 7 Whites travelled to Burscough Dynamo Green and played in the FJSC club colours of black and white stripes for the first time. Once again the team played very well and bearing in mind that until the start of the season the boys in the newly formed squad had never played together before, the improvement in each weekly performance has been amazing. Harry O’Donnell continued his fine form with another hat-trick. Jack Hansen and Seb Hodgson scored again and Henry Williamson grabbed his first two goals of the season. There was another excellent defensive display from Isaac Higgins. Special mention also goes to Max Byford and Nathan Hyslop for their hard work for the team.

INTER CLUB FOOTBALL

Only the Years 4/5 and Years 6/7 age groups were in action on Saturday due to the weather early morning and the predicted forecast for the rest of the morning.

The two groups were well attended and the boys enjoyed their coaching sessions. The two matches played were excellent with the Yellows narrowly winning against the Sky Blues in an eight goal thriller. The match between the Royal Blues and the Orange team was close with only four goals being scored.

SATURDAY’S SCORERS

The following boys scored – Alfred Shenton, Zac Hooson-Jones, Max Brown, Isaac Jones, George Rowan, Lucas Lewis, Tom Donnelly, Abe Rice, Ben Ryder and Robert Gorman.

INTER CLUB ARRANGEMENTS FOR SATURDAY OCTOBER 9TH AT DEANSGATE LANE PLAYING FIELDS.

START TIMES

RECEPTION / YEAR 0NE 10.45am -11.45am

YEARS TWO/THREE 11.15am -12.15pm

YEARS FOUR/FIVE. 9.30am - 10.45am

YEARS SIX/SEVEN. 9.45am – 11.00am

SPACES AVAILABLE

New members in all age groups are most welcome to come along and to join in the coaching and fun football sessions.