Collated by Nick Syrett

Only a few games survived the deluge that saw rain fall on almost every day of this week. For most of the youth teams, this was the last fixture weekend of the year as we break for the holidays and return on Jan 5th.  For Bozz and his high flying, low snorkelling Duckz team it’s a chance to show off their new found skills in the inter-counties Xmas Bogfest in Cumbria. Reports of wild flippering are widely anticipated. 

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U10 sale panthers against WD&C Eagles

Scorers: Nico,Bailey,Jake, Luca and Max.

A fantastic display of team football with some great passing!

Finished 2019 on a high with a thumping positive performance. Oof.

U10 Kestrels played their hearts out today. Plenty of action, lots of what we have done in training, makes us super proud. Not the result we wanted before Xmas but let's rest up & come back strong in Jan! Goals from 7-EP (2) 9-JP(2) 6-LH(2) 11-JM 14-JS 

U14 Sale Communities Lightning vs U14 WD&C Magpies

 An enquiry has been launched into the late night revelry that saw 2 players leave a xmas party after 1am with at least one manager in tow. The George Best like performances may have got them off the hook on game day, but the fines committee will be busy tonight.  

Players and management focus was sharpened by a cool wind and a 10am ko at a remarkably dry Sale high school. This Sale Communities Lightening team beat us 10-1 last season and 1-6 earlier this season, but with a shift in formation and the addition of a couple of players we were keen to see just how much we'd improved in 3 months. 

The answer was nicely summed up by one of our loyal fans, who said that the first 20 minutes was some of the best football we had ever played (he was not at the party the night before and thus had good 20:20 vision).

That first half saw us take the lead with a slick, back to front passing move and an early cross from one wing back Harvess to a late arriving left wing back to volley it home into the roof of the net.  At least 2 of the coaches had to check if their eyes were seeing things. 

Charlie sort of made it 2 five minutes later in a contender for stuffiest goal of the season.  A scuffed corner was met with groans from the sidelines and turned backs from his team mates. Many of them did not witness the goalkeepers impression of “pass the balloon between your legs game” as he did just that with the ball. 0-2. Unfamiliar scenes.

Our strong midfield and meagre defence limited the opposition to scraps as the first half neared its conclusion. It was a real blow then to give their Mustachioed striker a half chance that he took with glee right on the stroke of half time. The fingers to lips “shhh” was all the motivation we needed for our half time chat!

The momentum stayed with Sale, but the Community spirit was in short supply as the game descended into off the ball blows, late tackles and verbal back chat. The teenage ref struggled to keep control of proceedings as the temperature heated up on the pitch at least. 

With 15 minutes to go we received our first sin bin of the season for a time wasting offence (kicking the ball away). The corner that was delayed reaped immediate rewards as another tough delivery was met well at the far post by an unmarked centre back's forehead. 

2-2 and 10 men for 10 of the last 15 minutes. Eek. 

Verbals and tension went up to defcon 4 as they banged repeatedly on our depleted door. 

With about 3 minutes to go, a generous penalty was awarded to an on rushing striker who hit the deck like a late night kebab. 

Having had a quiet day (owing to a strong defensive performance), step forward the Flying Fin. Our super stopper read the shot and dived to his left to make a smart save. 

There was time for a winner, but heroic blocks from the Stretford Wall (Kit) and a dubious offside call that I suspect will have the hitman chuntering until May meant it finished at 2-2. 

A hangover blaster of a game that showed we could mix it with some good teams. We shared the points but won the moral high ground. 

Goals: Sonny and Charlie (mysterious brown envelope arrived this afternoon)

Potm: Kit - The Stretford Wall would have been visible from space today.