Few were there to witness our loyal, Bog snorkeling hero and trusted groundsman join forces with the rest of the Junior committee to see the first Sunrise of the 2019/20 season at Hardy Farm. The chanting, semi naked stomping and scattering of grass cuttings would have had the local ‘ville residents all of a quiver had they looked out of their lead windows at 0628 to witness the eccentric scenes on the first Saturday of the season.
After a frenetic week of back to school style admin and much removal of holiday heads from tanned back sides, it was great to finally get some competitive action under way.
The Black and White West ranks have swollen like our treasurer's bank account this summer. We’ve added some extra youth teams, filled a vacant age group and added our first junior girls team to the already healthy family of youth age groups! Expect a greater volume of waffle and lose truths from your correspondent over the coming season*. Stay tuned.
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U9 Harriers were away to Wilmslow Sports Pumas. We lost Lost 20-1 !!. Scorer: Lucas Rycroft. This was the first ever match for the Harriers against an academy team which is arguably the best in the league. Our squad was already depleted with two on international duty (watching England). It was a footballing lesson, but one which showed glimpses of the team we can become. James and George made a solid pairing at the back until James’ substitution from injury. Ruben, Theo, Max, Oliver and Lucas chased down the ball until the last minute of the game and Tyler looked like he had a goal in him with a couple of attempts flashing wide. Oliver put together a fine series of saves but in the end class won out. The highlight has to be the goal which came from good pressing play and which forced an uncharacteristic mistake from the Pumas and which was pounced on by Lucas. Not a good result but the boys were still smiling at the end.
WD&C U9 Hawks 2 v 9 Unicorn Athletic
Hawks kicked off their season with a tough fixture against a strong Unicorn side who eventually cantered to a 9-2 victory.
Hawks started brightly but Unicorn took control with some clinical finishing. Sam pulled one back, drilling in from the edge of the box. Hawks improved with Lucien, Bertie C, Noah and Joe working hard and passing the ball well. A long range effort from Luca B hit the side netting and Bertie E and Angus were making life hard for the Unicorn defenders.
Hawks pushed forward in search of goals and Ollie pounced on a loose ball to add a second for Hawks after a Unicorn defender nearly lost his head blocking a goal-bound rocket. Luca G defended brilliantly to keep the Unicorns out as Hawks kept attacking. The Unicorn keeper made several good saves before the Timperley outfit saw out the game.
U9 Owls had a memorable start to the season! Owls took a life lesson from Man Utd's U10 Girls. Do not underestimate girls! All hand selected for an 8 week intensive football course, trained twice a week. Clad in gold snake skin, Utd scored 4 goals in the first third. Oscar scored a belter from the right wing…what a debut! Ged instinctively caught the to stop a goal, which led to a penalty. Lorin was solid in defence with Harris. Some weak passes noted, which Utd took advantage of. Luca made good saves. Blake putting in tackles
In the 2nd third, Owls battled on. Harris blocking well, Frankie making great saves. An absent midfield. Good passing from Liam, Lorin tracking back. A great ball from Ged to Oliver, but a boot mistimed broke the turf. Suhaib made good passes, and Oliver ran fast a lot up and down the pitch. Ged took a long shot that pinged off the post.Harris clearing the ball. No goals for Owls 4 more for United..with Pixie and Sammy showing off their ball skills.
In the 2nd third, Owls battled on. Harris blocking well, Frankie making great saves. An absent midfield. Good passing from Liam, Lorin tracking back. A great ball from Ged to Oliver, but a boot mistimed broke the turf. Suhaib made good passes, and Oliver ran fast a lot up and down the pitch. Ged took a long shot that pinged off the post.Harris clearing the ball. No goals for Owls 4 more for United..with Pixie and Sammy showing off their ball skills.
We found out later that Utd won the championship, so are the best in England, which makes the sting of that win less sore.
U12 home v Sale United Lions.
Won 5-2
Scorers: Isaac Marshall (3), Ted Christon and George Roskell.
PoM: Isaac Marshall
A very solid start to the season from the boys as we switched from Saturday to Sunday games.
Some excellent slick passing and movement as we controlled most of the 1st half but we only managed to go in to the break at 1-0 up with us missing a few good chances.
We started the 2nd half slowly and conceded an equaliser but eventually got back in the grove and went 5-1 up before they got a late conciliation goal.
Brilliant defending from our pair of Jacobs and new boy Cameron. Our midfield engines Isaac, Kofi and Wilf kept us ticking over, great energy on the wings particularly from Ted and Louie and George battled away tirelessly up front. Everyone played their part in a good team performance and it feels great to be back.
U14 Wilmslow Town Panthers v WD&C Magpies
A back to school vibe was evident as the Magpies returned to meet familiar foes. New shirts hastily replaced old ones and a collective thought of “Right, how do you do this again?” could be seen written on all of our faces. Whacky Aki was the epitome of calm with his artisan hat and mirrored shades covering his holiday braids. His 6 week back to nature immersive experience in the Caribbean had treated him well.
Despite matching the Panthers paw for paw, some rusty, casual defending meant we went 2-0 down after 20 mins.
Our move of the match saw a neat passing move use the flank where Josh F squared for Jack “the hitman” Haworth to open his season's account.
We huffed and puffed in the late summer sun and long grass but ultimately were 2nd best in most areas. 4-1 down at half time flattered them, but old defensive scars were once again being exposed.
Jack helped himself in the tuck shop of life with a cutely struck free kick (see video above) to give us some hope and induce another fit of rage from the opposition manager that would make the FA coaching course for all the wrong reasons.
4-2 quickly became 5,6,7 and 8-2 as the combination of crosses and corners asked too many questions of our studious defence that had all the wrong answers.
There was still time for the token Haworth hat trick as Charlie picked out the little number 9 who cooly slotted past the keeper.
A stark reminder that we have to lose the rust quickly, and grow into the new uniform.
Final score 8-3. Ouch.
U14 Badgers
Division 5
Wythenshawe (a)
Lost 3-6
Scorers: Kayden, Teddy, Austin
PoM: Danny
Full size pitch and goals ?
A referee wasn’t allocated for the game, so an older brother of one of their players took charge! Doing well at 3-3 and then “home ref” took centre stage and allowed 2 offside goals. Battled well and playing like did we will win more than lose.
U 15's (Phoenix) Division 2 : home v Stockport Dynamoes (Won 11 - 1) We were dealing with registration issues up till pretty much kick off this morning & Byron's now disappeared with the match stats & goalscorers details!! Great performance from the lads in their very first league game together. Teamwork was excellent/ effort excellent/ result excellent…Happy days & long may it continue ! (Once I've caught my breath I'll try & work out how to put the result on the system)
Winning start for U16 Boys
Away win against a newly promoted Stockport Dynamoes- 6-2. Goals from Eaton (2), Clifton, a bullet header from Redman and Benjamin-McNair on debut plus a stunner from player of the match Greenaway also on debut. A bigger win for Bluestar means we are second but a nice start to the season.
West Didsbury & Chorlton U16 Girls v Unicorn Athletic ended a 6-3 win for West girls. Great start to the new girls team and new season. Playing in U16 Division 2 of South Manchester Girls Football League. We currently have 17 girls signed, which is great. Never had this number before or options. Good atmosphere and girls enjoying new era at West. We’re keen to get a girl who wants to be a goalkeeper if possible and Rob McKay possibly has a potential recruit. Meantime other girls share keeper duties.
Leanne from West Didsbury women’s team has met us and may be interested in assisting with coaching, which would be great. So, exciting times.
U18s
Away versus Alderly United .. lost 4-2. Really difficult pitch to play football on. No lines marked out. It was more of a trial game really with no points at stake so we used it to try out a few things with players playing in unfamiliar positions - it was a good run out in prep for the start of the league season.
*Most of the report content is taken straight from the coaches report. The Magpie waffle is all mine.
