Warriors vs Cadishead (League Cup)

A cold sunny December Day. A wet soggy pitch. A game against Cadishead. Time for some fun…….
Cadishead made the first two attacks. Someone had suggested that they had greatly improved! But maybe we have improved as well.
A lovely through ball by Emily into the path of Sophie. One nil. Another through ball from Emily, and Megan F made it two. Excellent run by Bronya, and Sophie scored her second.
The goal of the game was scored by Hannah. Numerous passes in the midfield led to a peach of a through ball by Emily for Hannah to neatly run onto and clinically slam into the bottom left corner. Four nil. Anna snubbed out any attempt by thier best player Nr 10 to get a shot on target.
Another superb goal by Sophie for her hatrick was quickly followed by another by Megan F. (She was apparently ill!!!)

Six nil at half time, so changes had to be made. Fi was to be our new centre forward.
Beth and Bronya were pushed up front and Megan F, Sophie and Anna all had ten minutes in net.

Cadishead bravely mounted a come back and quickly scored two goals. Bronya ran the full length of the pitch before sending a thunderbolt of a shot into the top corner.
Our Warriors were on a mission to get Super Fi on the score sheet. She didn’t disappoint. A lovely cross by Emily and Fi slotted the ball home.
A message to our forwards…. That’s how its done!!!!!
The final score was 9 – 3. It could have been more but hey, its Christmas.
Emily got a well deserved opposition player of the match for and mine went to Sophie for her overall effort and skill.
Last match of 2006. Happy Christmas Everyone and All the Best for the New Year.

Wanderers v Flixton (County Cup)

This our 3rd meeting with this team, one draw and one defeat. So on paper this looked a tough game. And with this being a cup game, and loosing not an option, the girls new what they had to do.

With 2 girls missing, (Leah and Megan) we had a straight 7. No subs to rely on, so all the girls had a full hour of football ahead of them, which in the very wet conditions would be tough enough for anyone. Flixton had a good turn out, parents and players all expecting another win, but they didn't expect what was about to happen.

Within a couple of minutes we were 1-0 up with a great goal from Beth, Flixton did not see that one coming, great team work. Another 5 minutes later we were awarded a corner. Beth took it and it went straight in, fantastic goal. The Flixton manager was going mad. With another one from Ell we were 3-0 up and cruisin. I have never seen the Wanderers play so well. They all worked as a team, passing, defending shooting, everything was spot on. Frankie took the goal keeping duties for the first half and really didn't have much to worry about with Amy and Becks making sure she didn't. Izzie also doing what she does best in midfield, very strong and determined.

Second half, Amy in goal this half and Frankie in defence. Flixton came out fighting and gave us more of a game, a couple of fantastic saves from Amy, and with Becks on fire, there really wasn't much to worry about. Jenny nearly knocked the goal over from one shot that came off the post. We basically dug in and made sure the game was ours. No more goals in the second half, final score 3-0.

With a performance like that, they made the Flixton team look very average. A very well deserved victory for us. My girl of the game went to Becks who was very impressive. Flixton voted Beth their girl of the game, but to be honest you all got my vote on Saturday. Keep up this standard of play girls and the other teams really do have something to worry about.

Christmas party

Hello everyone
As you should all be aware, Friday 22nd December is party night.
This is our second christmas party, after last years went so well, we thought we would do it again. This time it is at Greenmount Golf Club, 7.30pm.

This year there is a another reason for doing the party, although we are not making a big issue out of it, we need some help to raise extra money for the teams. We know that everybody pays their subs, but really the subs just about keep us above water. So if we ever need extra money for new equipment, summer tournaments ect, we would be struggling a little. So all the money we make on the tickets, goes towards paying for the night, plus some extra things that we will be doing such as a tombola and a couple of football cards will help the Woodbank Girls F.C. bank account. So please make the effort to come along, We hope you will. If you need tickets please contact either Paul or Dave. Tickets are £4 each and £2.50 for players.

We will be doing a Tombola on the night, so if anyone would like to contribute to the prizes, please do as we really could do with some extra prizes.

Thanks again for all your support throughout 2006.

Woodbank Athletic Under11's

Hello there
Here is our under 11's team.
Top Line Left to Right: Rebecca, Lauren, Shauna, Anna
Bottom Line Left to Right: Zoe, Isatou (Isa), Carly, Emily, Chloe

This is there 2nd season, and are doing very well. Keep up the good work girls.

Run up to Christmas

Hi everyone
Just to let everyone know that there is no training now until the new year. Tomorrow is cancelled due to Christmas parties and next week 22nd December we will all be at our own christmas do.

There is also only one more game for 2006 to be played, as long as the weather allows it. We will let everyone know if this game is still on or not as soon as we know.

Another Birthday

This time it's Sophie Macs turn. She kept this one quiet. Happy birthday Soph, all the best from everyone.

Wanderers vs Walshaw Girls (League Cup)

Walshaw Girls are a new team in our league so to limit the damage on the score sheet
I asked Beth, Eleanor and Jen to each take 20 minutes in goal. The Wanderers were rampant though and they weren’t for giving Walshaw any charity.
Goals from Izzy, Beth, Eleanor, Jenny and Frankie made for a half time score of
5 – 0.
The mission at half time was for the other four team members to score.
Some excellent team football resulted in a quick goal from Amy. Leah soon followed with a brilliantly taken shot.
5 minutes to go and only Megan and Becks to score. This final 5 minutes displayed amazing team spirit and selflessness in trying from all players in trying to get them to score. Megan soon slammed in a shot. Only Becks to go. Twice she came close but time soon ran out.
Beth and Izzy got further goals making the final result 11- 0.
Becks amazing determination and excellent running and crossing from the right side was awarded with my Player of the Match Award. The Opposition Player of the Match Award went to Jen.
This was certainly one of the most enjoyable games I have watched this season. I think everyone enjoyed. Flixton next week girls. Lets show the same team spirit.
Well Done.

Woodbank Athletic U11's vs Wythenshawe Town

Wythenshaw always provide us with a tough fixture, although last time we played them we only had 6 girls. We were nearly at full strength today, only Isa missing due to a training ground injury (ask Ian!).

Our defence began strongly and this limited the opposition to long shots, and at the other end Emily had a couple of good chances for us to take the lead. However, a long shot from one of their big defenders sneaked in to leave us trailing 0-1 at half time.

The second half went in a similar way with Wythenshaw pressurising us, and we did struggle to get the ball to Emily. Another long shot went in the top corner, and we conceded a further 2 goals late on to leave the final score at 0-4. This was another good performance and a big improvement on the last time we played them.

It was also positive to see some of the girls attempt the things we do in training, so well done Lauren and Anna with your headers. Lauren was given the opposition player of the match, while I gave mine to Rebecca who went in goal and did very well.

Birthday Girls Update

Hello
Over the past few weeks there has been a number of birthdays, so on behalf of Paul and Myself, a very big happy birthday, sorry it's a bit late.

Warriors v Urmston Meds

This was the first meeting against this team, and having looked at their results against the other opposition throughout the season, I thought we stood a good chance of a good result. First half was a well played 30 minutes. And only an unlucky deflection from a free kick put them one up by the end of the first half. There was some very good moving and intelligent passing from our front three, Hannah, Em and Megan. Midfield again well looked after by Bronya and with Beth, Megan, Anna and Fi in goal things were kept tight at the back.

Second half saw Sophie take the place of Bronya, but even this didn't seem to enable us to break near goal and make some chances for ourselves. Some great defending from Beth throughout the whole game, and three fantastic saves from Fi also saved us from a bigger defeat. The final result was 4-0.

I know that some of our girls are feeling frustrated with our run of bad luck at the moment, but I'm sure that must change for us, as I know we have some fantastic players and team spirit. We are playing against some very good teams in this league, and although we might not be winning as many games as we would like to, the experience is good for everyone to be playing at such a high level, compared to some of the other leagues where the competition would be too easy. Please stick at it, Sale United next so get yourselves syked up.

Opposition vote went to Fi, and my vote went to Megan F. But a good performance from everyone. Well done.

Woodbank Athletic U11's vs Urmston Meds

For the third time in 3 months we were up against the league leaders. We got off to a poor start and in less than 2 minutes we were 0-2 down. However the girls responded positively to this and competed evenly for a large period of the first half. Urmston did score a third, but a move involving Chloe and Lauren down the right was finished expertly by Emily. This made Woodbank only the second team to score against Urmston.

Rebecca replaced Carly in goal for the second half, and all the girls all worked really hard with lots of good running and tough tackling. Urmston added 3 more goals to make the final score 1-6. This was a clear improvement on our previous games against this quality team.

This was an excellent team performance by all the girls. The opposition gave the player of the match to Lauren and I gave mine to Shauna, although any of the girls could have won this.

Warriors vs Broadheath (League Cup)

Last time we played Broadheath we went 3 – 0 down within the first few minutes before our Warriors started to play. This time it was 2 – 0 before we woke up!!
Without our fabulous Fi (poorly – get well soon please!!), the goalkeeping duty went to Emily and Sophie who did a stirling job.
Once our Warriors had woken up, they started to play some really superb football.
Megan F was outstanding and hit both the crossbar and the post with her efforts. Sophie made some excellent runs and was also unlucky not to score. Hannah made intelligent runs only to be stopped each time before scoring. Emily and Megan W both battled without any luck.
Bethany played brilliantly stopping everything Broadheath could throw at us.
Bronya’s performance was outstanding yet again.
Anna won my player of the match with a real solid defensive display. The opposition player of the match went to Megan W.
We matched Broadheath in every department and on another day (with the luck on our side) we could easy have come out on top. Broadheath finally came out 3 – 0 winners.
We are getting closer to these teams and one of them is going to pay for all our unluckly close fought matches!!

Woodbank Athletic U11's vs Gorse Hill

With a full squad of 9 to pick from the girls made the best start possible when Emily’s corner sneaked inside the front post to give us a lead. Possibly an own goal, but the referee (Emily's dad) awarded the goal to her. With Lauren making a super debut, linking up with Emily, we were soon 3-0 up with a goal each for Emily and Lauren. However, Gorse Hill managed to pull a goal back before half time.

The second half started well and Chloe scored her first goal of the season and at 4-1 we looked comfortable. Maybe the defence thought this too, as we allowed Gorse Hill to get back into the game and before we knew it we were trailing 4-5.

It was Emily, who had earlier hit the post, who scored the equaliser. In the final attack of the match we had a great chance to win the match, but Emily shot over the bar. Overall an enjoyable match, however a game we know that we should have won.

Opposition player of the match went to Lauren, and I’ll give my choice to Emily who is able to create chances from nothing.

Wanderers v Didsbury Jnrs (League Cup)

Another meeting with new team Didsbury Jnrs. This time in the League Cup.
Not as windy as last week, but alot colder, it didn't take long for us to warm things up though. It turned out to be a goal fest and most of our girls managed to get onto the score sheet. Jenny bagging most of them again with 4, Izzie getting a hat trick, Beth scoring 2 Ell getting 2 and Amy 1.

Good all round performances off all the girls, Leah getting very close a couple of times in the second half, Frankie and Megan also tackling hard with nothing getting past them all game.

Well done to Jenny who got my girl of the game and Beth who got the oppositions vote.

Warriors v Man City

Right, where do I start. I could go on and on about this game, but I won't. Because everybody already knows about this team. What I will go on and on about is the way our Warriors played. We went into this game knowing is was going to be a tough one. I put Sophie in defence knowing she would add extra strength, and she did just that. Teamed up with Beth for the first half, they did a fantastic job. Bronya just in front, again a fantastic game. Emily Hannah and Megan F up front.

It wasn't until the last 10 minutes of the game they put 2 in. One was from a long throw in and the other went in when everyone was waiting for the ref to blow his whistle on an injured player, but he never did.

Half time chat, the girls had played a blinder, second half and with the wind against us we knew it wasn't going to be easy. A very tough second half, City causing problems again, (nuff said). We battled hard and didn't make it easy at all for them. By the end it was 4-0 to them, but it was also a huge improvement on last time, plus we had to play in very strong winds. Very proud of the whole team, every single one gave 110% effort.

Fi played outstanding and got the opposition vote. Emily got mine, but to be honest I think the whole team deserved it this time. Well done everyone.

Warriors vs Poynton Girls (League Cup)

Poynton Girls came into this match with a good reputation as many of their players also go to Stockport Academy. Our Wanderers rose to the occasion and matched them in every area. We were very unlucky to be beaten 1 – 0 in this hard fought game.
The gale force wind made this more of a kick and run match lacking our usual skilful play.
An outstanding performance by Frankie in midfield in the first half and then in net for the second half was rewarded by our Player of the Match. The Opposition chose Beth for another all round captains performance.
Other points to remember was Izzy who dominated midfield with her non stop tackling. Leah also improves with every match and is now showing good skill and time on the ball.
We’ll beat Poynton next time girls.

Woodbank Athletic U11's vs Droylsden Jnrs

It was great to have a full squad of 8 back for this game, and they all played their part in the game against Droylsden. With gale force winds, we had this to our advantage in the first half. However, even though we had the vast majority of the possession we just couldn’t get the opening goal we needed. Anna hooked the ball over the bar from close range, and Emily powered a strong shot onto the cross bar. It was in the final minutes when Emily finally managed to squeeze the ball into the corner to goal to give us a 1-0 lead at half time.

We were concerned that playing into the wind would prove difficult and that the lead was not enough. The girls responded well to this, and Shauna, Rebecca and Chloe in defence comfortably dealt with Droylsden attacks.

We doubled our lead when Isa broke from midfield to score, and she repeated this to make the score 3-0. Isa came close to making this a hatrick, but their goalkeeper saved well.

The opposition player of the match was given to Isa, and ours went to Shauna for another good defensive display. Also, well played Chloe who marked their striker all game very close to our goal. Although she didn’t have much of the ball, or much to do, she remained alert and performed well.

Warriors vs Unicorn Emeralds (League Cup)

Over the last three seasons the Warriors have had some real battles against Unicorn Emeralds but this was one of the best. Unicorn unbeaten in the last three seasons and title winners for the last two were made to look pretty normal.
The match started with some superb tackling and defending from Anna, Megan W and Bronya. Some excellent play by Megan F and Hannah resulted in a shot just saved by the goalie. The ball went loose and Emily executed a superb sideways overhead shot into the bottom corner. One nil to the Warriors! Unicorn were stunned.
A free kick to Unicorn and their Milly scored a stunner. Two minutes later and she scored another long range stunner. Two one to Unicorn at half time.
The second half saw lots of pressure from the Warriors. Bronya fought for every ball and is improving with every match. Megan F played outstanding football with weaving runs and intelligent passing. Emily captained her team and led by example. Megan W and Anna rose to the challenge tackling and closing down every Unicorn player.
Another long distance strike from Milly (she was becoming a real pain in the neck by now – she’s very good really!) and an unlucky last minute goal made it 4 – 1 to Unicorn.
The score didn’t reflect what was the Warriors best team performance of the season.
An outstanding performance by Emily was rewarded with the opposition player of the match. Bronya got my player of the match. Well done girls. Another performance like this will no doubt give us a victory against the likes of Unicorn in future.

Wanderers v Deans (League Cup)

Our second meeting of the season so far, with one victory under our belt. The only thing on our minds this time was to improve on it.

The game went without an appointed ref, so my thanks to Andy, Becks's dad for a great job looking after the game.

The last time we played Deans it took a good 20 minutes to break their defence, this time it took about 2 minutes, and within 10 minutes we were 3-0 up. There was some fantastic link up play with all the girls, and this made it very difficult for Deans to make a stance. Half time and the score was 5-0.

Second half didn't see as many goals, but the quality of play was still excellent, with Deans putting in a better performance in this half. By the full time whistle the final score was 8-1. A very cool 4 goals coming from Ell, 2 from Jen and 1 each from Beth and Izzie.
My girl of the game had to go to Ell for an all round performance, the opposition award went to Beth. Well done everyone, a great result.

Woodbank Athletic U11's vs Sale United

After our last game when we were outnumbered by the opposition, we agreed to make this game a 6 a side match as Sale only had 6 girls. Sale took an early lead, but we battled back into the game and created as many chances as Sale managed. However at half time we were 1-3 down.

We started brightly in the second half and Emily looked as lively up front as ever. It was disappointing to concede another goal, although Emily scored her second of the game, 10 for the season now, to make the score 2-4. She also managed to hit the post twice and crossbar once in a game we could have won.

Although we lost 2-4, Sale are a nice team to play against and I’m sure we will be able to get the better of them later in the season. They gave the player of the match award to Chloe for her tough tackling, and we gave ours to Carly who played in goal. Thankfully, the day finished with success as Bury easily beat Rochdale to make it 5 wins in a row!

Wanderers vs Flixton (League Cup)

Without Captain Beth Bolton and Amy Jennings, our team was down to just seven players and no subs. This did not deter our Wanderers putting up a strong fight.
Eleanor put in a superb display of tackling, running and long distance shooting.
At half time we were 2 – 0 down but had hit the post twice and the cross bar once.
The second half and Izzy quickly scored and the match erupted. Our girls got very physical much to the annoyance of the opposing fans. Leah was outstanding again with
a combination of skilful runs and excellent tackling. Frankie was a rock in goal for the second half. Becks never stopped running and showed all the experience she has gained during her three seasons with Woodbank.
This was not our day. Eleanor and Izzy rained shots at the Flixton net. But to no avail. Flixton grabbed a late goal to secure the match 3 – 1 but that didn’t tell the full story.
They choose Jenny as their opposition player of the match. My player of the match was an easy choice of Eleanor who took her Captains role seriously and constantly posed a theat.
Better luck next time girls.

Warriors vs Partington Village (County Cup)

Partington Village are a newly formed team this season. Today was to give us an indication as to how far our Warriors have come over the last couple of seasons.
The answer was for all to see.
Even with no Fi in goal and my best efforts to keep the score down by playing our defence up front and our attack in defence, our girls were out to prove a point.
3 goals for Bronya, 3 goals for Beth and 4 goals for Megan W. That was just our defensive players!!
Further goals from Hannah 4, Emily 5, Megan F 4 and Sophie 1 gave us a grand total of 24 goals to nil.
We all rather embarrassingly shook hands with the Partington Village players and Manager.
The opposition player award went to Beth who scored three stunning goals and never stopped running. My player award went to Megan W who scored three goals in just the second half after standing in goal for the first half.
Well done girls. Very impressive.

Woodbank Athletic U11's vs Wythenshawe Town

Being one girl short, this was always going to be a tough match for the remaining six. Added to this was Anna who was limping throughout the game. We found ourselves out numbered in defence on many occasions, and along with good finishing from the opposition, we were 0-8 down at half time.

However, the girls started the second half positively and Emily managed to break away and score 2, and another from her right foot nearly knocked the goal posts over when it hit the bar.

In goal in the second half was Carly, and what a performance. The save in the top left corner would have made Peter Schmeichel or David James proud. Well done Carly. The final score was 2-13. Shauna and Chloe were excellent in defence, and Zoe didn’t stop running all through the match. The opposition gave the player of the match award to Emily, and ours went to Shauna.

Training this Friday

Hello everyone
If you are not aware, there is no training at Broadoak this Friday 27th. They are doing some work on the floodlights. So, this doesn't mean you get a night off, training is at Goshen, same time 7 till 8, Don't be late.
Paul and Dave

Woodbank Wanderers v Urmston Town (County Cup)

This game very nearly wasn't played. With only 5 players out of 9 available and a request to postpone the game refused by the league, we turned up.

As it turned out, the Urmston team also only had 5 players too.
Anyway, the girls didn't hang about, Jenny was on goal watch, banging in a very nice hat trick, but after injuring her ankle near the end of the first half, ended up in goal for the second, otherwise I think there would have been more. Izzie also netting a cool 3, one of them a very cheeky back heel, and Beth just had to go one better with 4 goals. Leah getting very close a couple of times and Frankie very solid at the back. An all round good job. So, round 1 out of the way, come on round 2.
My girl of the game went to Beth for her non stop effort and Jenny got Urmston's vote for causing no end of problems for their defence.
Oh and bye the way we won 10-3
Well done everyone

Woodbank Athletic U11's vs Broadheath

The girls won’t remember the comeback by Man Utd in 1999 Champions League Final, but they might remember Liverpool’s comeback from 0-3 down at half time in the 2005 final. However, this was better than both!

Although we had more possession and this led to more attempts on goal, we found ourselves losing 0-3 at half time. They were good finishes that didn’t leave Rebecca any chance of saving them. We tested their keeper, especially Emily, time after time and she kept making really good saves.

In the second half Carly volunteered to go in goal. We started well and it wasn’t long before Isa scored her first goal of the season when she followed in a shot by Emily. Emily managed to then score two goals herself and we were level. Carly made some great saves that kept us in the game and it really was end to end action. Emily had more chances, and Anna and Isa seemed to get in each other’s way when a goal looked a certainty.

The final score was 3-3. All the girls deserve praise for their efforts, and they were all exhausted at the final whistle. The opposition gave the player of the match to Shauna, with our own award going to Emily.

Woodbank Warriors v Broadheath

This has always been a fixture that we look forward to. Up until now the results with this team have not been in our favour, but this time we had high hopes with a new look Warriors. Paul and myself were certain that this time we could put a dent in Broadheath's luck.

With a goal in the first minute, this wasn't going to be our day. Broadheath put in a good performance as usual, and really did cause our defense problems. Our girls struggling to find their feet. I think the Warriors were there in body, but not in mind. A couple of the girls recovering from sleep-overs the night before. (Sleepovers are now officially banned the night before a game).

There was a few sparks though, Sophie Mac being one of them, giving her best. In the second half after a fantastic cross from Hannah on the left side, Soph very confidently putting it away. This was a fantastic goal and showed that the ability is there, but just wasn't happening today.

Final score 5-1 to Broadheath.
Managers girl of the game went to Sophie.
Opposition vote went to Megan Fielding.

Finally, Happy Birthday to our Super Fi who's birthday it was on Satuday

Woodbank Athletic U11's vs Urmston Meds

Another tough game for the under 11’s who again played Urmston Meds. For the first 10 minutes the girls worked very hard and although Urmston had chances, Isa playing in goal produced save after save to keep the scores level.

However, Urmston soon scored and the score at half time was 0-4. The second half started off as the first half ended with the girls under constant pressure. Urmston are a physically big team, but also possess good quality with girls running down both wings and consistently getting the ball into our area. All the girls battled hard and did make it difficult for the opposition, especially Shauna and Chloe who won some great tackles. We conceded a further 6 goals in the second half to lose 0-10.

Our player of the match was given to Chloe for some super tackles, including winning a 50-50 against a player nearly twice as big as her. The opposition gave the award to Isa for her first half goalkeeping.

Warriors vs Man City Ladies

This was to be the Warriors sternest test so far. Our super goalie Fi had dislocated her finger (get well soon – we need you!), Meg W took her Bacup and Ross exam and then rushed to make the second half and two girls had been on a tiring PGL holiday week..
Manchester City arrived equipped with arrogant Managers, partisan parents, fancy
warm-up routines and there own reporter! Not the most sporting of teams we have played.

The first half was an onslaught from Man City. Hannah (our stand in goalie) made some heroic saves to keep the score to only 5 – 0 at half time. With a scoreline like this at half time most teams would have given up, but not our Warriors. The second half erupted into action with some bone breaking tackles from Megan F, Emily and Bronya. The Warriors were not going to lose without a fight. Super Soph made some unbelievable saves.
Anna was a rock in defence. Meg W was inspired and stood strong on every tackle. Bronya covered every blade of grass, tackling like a demon and making runs forward where possible. Emily, Megan and Hannah started to gel and made some superb passing movements. A pass from Megan and a superb though ball by Emily to Hannah who clinically finished in style to silence the Man City crowd.

Another stunning run by Megan was stopped with a foul just before she was to score. Penalty. Emilys shot saved by there goalie.
The game was now more of a battle and our Warriors proved they could match the more physical City side.
Final score 8 – 1 to City. The second half saw the proper Warriors but today it was too late. Man City --- We’ll be back…..
Opposition Player of Match went to Megan F and our Player of the Match went to Hannah.

Woodbank Wanderers v Didsbury Jnrs

This was the first meeting of these two teams. Didsbury only in their first competitive season.
It was one of those games where you have to keep a goal tally, otherwise you loose track of who scored and how many. By half time it was, I think 9-0. The girls really didn't have a problem, El trying her best to get her hat-trick, unfortunately had to come off with 10 minutes to go with a blister on her heel, to great relief of her Dad, who had promised a whole £1 if she scored 3. More goals scored by Beth, Izzie, Megan and an outstanding 7 goals from Jenny. Both manager and opposition choosing Jen as Girl of the game.
Final Score 17-1
Well done everyone, that's another 3 points and keeps you top of this group.

Woodbank Athletic U11's vs Urmston Meds

The under 11’s came up against the early league leaders who also boasted 31 goals in their opening two games. This proved a very tough match from the beginning against a physically bigger team and their strength proved decisive.

They opened the scoring with a good finish from a free kick, and by half time they had a four goal lead. We started well in the second half and the defence battled hard, with excellent displays from Shauna, Chloe and Isa. Although we used three different goalkeepers in the game, Chloe, Emily and Rebecca, we conceded another four goals in the second half.

The player of the match was Shauna, who kept going all game long and her tackling in the centre of defence kept the score down. The opposition gave the award to Emily, who kept attempting to run at their defence but unfortunately had no luck. The Urmston manager said this had been their toughest game so far this season and all the girls deserve credit for this.

Warriors v Unicorn

Well, this was the game that was going to see how the new look Warriors would perform. Unicorn have always caused us big problems, and this game would hopefully show us how capable the Warriors are going to be this season.
Unicorn came out just as we expected, full on. They caused us some problems in defence, but we managed to hold them off, with some special efforts from Fi. Eventually they did manage to score, but it was a very unlucky deflection from Megan that put them one up. Not letting this spoil things, Warriors really did dig their heels in, and turned up the gas. They started to pass the ball around beautifuly with some great work from Emily, Hannah and Megan Fielding. A fantastic team effort threaded the ball through the Unicorn defence and finished off by Megan. 1-1 and another great goal celebration from Megan. Unicorn didn't see that one coming, and from there on, the game was very even. Some fantastic work from Bronya, who has really strengthened our defence and did a great job in midfield also. Half time and Unicorn a little surprised I think. Second half saw more of the same, some great work from all of the team, really working hard. Unfortunately Unicorn managed to score 2 more goals, but again this didn't seem to effect the moral of the team, who continued to work very hard and made sure that there wasn't any more that Unicorn could do. Final score was Warriors 1 Unicorn 3. This score was a hard fought one, and Paul and myself were very proud of the whole team on Saturday. Some fantastic and encouraging play on display from everyone.
Managers girl of the game went to Bronya.
Opposition girl of the game went to Megan F.

New look Warriors

Hi Everyone
After a few more tweeks to the Wanderers and Warriors, we now have the final line up for the Warriors 06/07 season.
They are from the back row: Anna, Bronya, Emily and Megan W.
The front row: Hannah, Megan F, Fi, Sophie, Beth.

Team line up pictures of Woodbank Wanderers and Woodbank Athletic coming soon.

New Training Venue

Just in case not everyone is aware, our time at Nuttall Park is over now until next year. So as from this Friday, we are back on the astro turf at Broadoak. Time is the same as always, 7pm-8pm.

Woodbank Athletic U11's vs Gorse Hill

After the disappointment of the opening day of the season when our opposition failed to turn up, the girls and parents were delighted to get the season started properly with a match against Gorse Hill.
With Carly as captain and goalkeeper, we kicked of expecting a tough match. With the experience of the many friendly games we played last season, it with good to see the team maintain their shape, particularly the defence being well marshalled by Shauna, with good assistance from Chloe, Rebecca and Anna.
The midfield pair had lots of running to do, and Isa and Zoe were both able to do this throughout the game. The first half saw Woodbank take an early lead through Emily’s reliable left foot. Emily repeated this a further three times in the first half, using her pace to gain the advantage and give Woodbank a four-goal lead.
However, it was not all one way traffic, Carly made a great save from a high shot that she pushed onto the crossbar. Anna replaced Carly in goal in the second half, and a fifth goal came when Woodbank pressure forced an own goal. Gorse Hill gained a consolation goal late on. There were no further goals, although Emily went close with a shot from the half way line that surprised everyone.
This was a really good performance from all the girls and any of them would have deserved the player of the match award, however this was given to Isa for her constant hard work, with the opposition giving the award to Emily for her four goals.

Warriors vs Cadishead 1

This was a new look Warriors team with Frankie and Izzy moving over to the Wanderers and Bronya joining our Warriors. Welcome to the Warriors Bronya.
With Bronya heading a new look defence triangle well practiced during training, our Warriors looked strong.
Within five minutes of the start Cadishead must have been wondering why they had turned up. Two quick goals by Emily including a stunning long range shot and one by Sophie and the Warriors were 3 nil up. A quickly taken free kick by Emily, her hatrick, and it was 4. New signing Megan made it 5 with her first goal for the Warriors. Half time and our Warriors didn’t need any encouragement.
With her new found scoring ability Megan quickly scored another two including one which hit the top right corner of the net. A hatrick for Megan. The goal celebrations were impressive.
Meg and Anna were solid in defence and stopped everything that was thrown at them.
Hannah scored a great individual effort to make it 8. Sophie scored two goals including one which almost broke the bottom corner of the net. Her hatrick. Ten nil and the Warriors where cruising.
A long awaited brilliant first goal by Beth got the biggest cheer of the day.
It was then left to our new signing Bronya to finish off the days scoring with a stunner of a shot to make it 12 nil. After last weeks heroics Fi didn’t have much to do today.
This was a complete team performance. Emily got the opposition player award and Megan got my player award. Well done girls. Same again next week please against Unicorn!!!!!!!

Wanderers vs Flixton Girls

This was our first match of the season for the Wanderers and with the last minute retirement of Flick, our new girl Zoe deciding to play for Bury FC (silly girl!) and our Bronya not being able to play, we were down to only seven players.
Flixton started the match by taking the lead with a quick goal taking our Wanderers by surprise. However, some excellent passing between Leah and Becks and a through ball from Beth led to a stunning strike from Jenny into the top left corner to level the scores.
Just before half time Flixton applied pressure and scored a further two goals leaving the half time score at 3 – 1 to Flixton.
The second half and a change of formation. Megan in goal and Amy, Jenny and Leah in defence with Eleanor, Beth and Becks up front. With no substitutes, hot weather and 3 – 1 down, a comeback was going to take something special. The Wanderers didn’t disappoint. Two hard fought goals from Beth and amazing determination from all players gave us a well deserved 3 – 3 draw. Beth, the teams new captain, led by example and all players should be very proud of this effort.
A last minute penalty to Flixton had our heart pounding but Megan pulled off a superb fingertip save to push the ball onto the crossbar and away to safety.
Megan Brenchley got the oppositions vote for player of the match and Eleanor got my player of the match vote. However all seven girls deserved to go home with a trophy.
New kits looked good as well. Well done girls.

Wanderers v Deans

After a week of transfer deals, the new look Wanderers, now back to a full strength squad played their 2nd game of the season against Deans. With new signings Izzy and Frankie adding extra experience, on paper they looked very capable. And on the pitch they didn't disapoint. 1st half took a little time to break down their defence, but constant attacking play did the job with goals from Jenny and Izzy taking us to a 2-0 lead at half time. The second half was even more explosive, the Wanderers not giving Deans an inch. 3 more goals in the second half, another from Jenny, one from El and one from captain Beth. A fantastic team performance from everyone. Frankie and Izzy played a great opening game. Well done everyone. Final score 5-0.

Wanderers make 2 player deal swoop

Reports indicate that there has been some last minute transfer deals going on between Wanderers and Warriors. A swoop for 2 well established Warriors players has been made by the Wanderers in a 2 for 1 deal. If this is the case then it would be good news for the Wanderers who's squad got an early season blow with 2 players not showing up for the new season. This should even out the squads, also giving the Wanderers some very well established experienced players.
All personal terms appear to have been agreed, and contracts signed, so who could they be...
...watch this space for further news at it appears.

New Kits for 2006/07 Season

Hi everyone
Not only did the girls play well on Saturday, but they looked fantastic too. With new look Woodbank kits. After a bit of a nightmare getting these sorted in time for the first game of the season, it was all worth it, I hope you all agree. Take a look for yourselves if you didn't manage to get to the game on Saturday.

Woodbank Warriors v Sale United

First match of the season, and it didn't disapoint. It was what we expected from our previous meetings with Sale, a very close and physical game. Sale went ahead fairly early on, but the Warriors dug their heels in and produced some lovely play with goals from Hannah and Sophie taking us to a 2-1 lead at half time. Second half we were hoping for more of the same, but Sale came out strong and made things difficult. We had an absolutely fantastic performance from our goalie Fi, who played out of her skin for the whole game. But sadly not even our super Fi could stop Sale from putting 2 more goals past us. Warriors seemed to lack the spark that they had in the first half, but overall it was a very positive performance from everyone. It was the first outing for two of our girls, Sophie and Megan who both gave 100%.

Fi took both the opposition girl of the game and the managers girl of the game. Fantastic performance.

Well done everyone for a great opening game, and watch out Sale, We'll be back.
Dave

New Season

Hi Everyone
New season starts in less than a week, Saturday 9th September hope you are all ready.
Warriors are playing Sale United
Wanderers are playing Flixton Girls
Athletic are playing Didsbury Jnrs

Training as usual this Friday at Nuttall Park for all teams from 7.00pm, so everyone there please. If there are any problems with getting to training or even more importantly, making the first game can you please contact Paul or Dave for under 12's and Joe for under 11's. If you don't have Joe's contact details then let either Paul or Dave know and we will pass it on.

Please can everyone have there £20 subs ready for us this Friday. It is very important as we have had to pay all the team registration fee's and we need this first payment to keep our heads above water. October's subs will go back to £15 as usual. Subs are due on the first Friday of month. Please see Sarah and Vikki.
That's all for now

New season sponsors

Hi everyone
During the break, Paul and myself have been keeping busy. And we are pleased to announce that we have secured a number of new sponsors who are helping in supplying new kits for all 3 teams. So everyone is going to look very smart for the new season.

SMGFL update

Hi Everyone
All the teams for the new season have now been announced for the new season. You can see who you will be up against here http://www.smgfl.co.uk/tables_league.htm

As you can see both the under 11's and the under 12's groups are very healthy. All three of our teams will get a very competitive season of football.

It is looking like the under 11's will be playing at Partington, which is only about 5-10mins up the road from Woodsend. Both the under 12's groups are to stay at Woodsend. Same as last season.

The Warriors and the Wanderers have been placed into separate groups, both with some very good competition.

We have secured Broadoak as our winter training venue again this year, hopefully starting there the 1st Friday in October, but we will confirm this later.

More news later
Dave

Woodbank Update

Hi everyone
Been a little while since the last post, so here goes.
Since last time we have played 2 more tournaments, the first being the Umbro soccer 6's and just recently the Broadheath tournament.
Took 2 teams to the Umbro one and 1 to Broadheath. All teams in both events played extremely well, but unfortunately we didn't come away with anything. Well done girls for a fantastic performance.

A big thankyou to all the girls, parents and everyone else who attended our presentation night at Bury F.C. Social Club. It was a complete success. The only downside was the heat, but we hope everyone enjoyed themselves.

We have now taken a break for the Summer holidays, but we will be keeping in touch with everyone, so keep your eyes on the blogsite for any news. We will also let everyone know when training kicks off again.

Everyone have a great holiday and we will see you all soon.

Beechy 6 a side tournament

Hello
Another tournament played, this time an under 10's event for Woodbank. We took with us a mixture of girls from 2 of our teams. Two who play for our under 10's team and 5 from our under 11's team, who have been playing up a year.
Great facilities at the Salford Sports Village, which is also the new HQ for the Manchester F.A. There were 8 teams in our group, and all matches were a speedy 6 minutes. So the girls really had to make their mark as fast as possible. Started off really well with 2 wins and 2 draws, then things started to get tougher with some good opposition, especially Man City Ladies.
In the end we didn't quite make the semi finals, but with good weather and support we had a very enjoyable day. Man City took home the cup with Barr Hill as runners up.
Well done to all our girls who played extremely well, goals coming from Hannah with 3, Emily with 1 and Isa with 1.

Dave

Subs

As you may be aware the monthly subs for your daughters football team have been due monthly on the first Friday of the month. This season subs have been collected and managed by Sam Parris. Initially this appeared to be a good idea as Sam would be at most training sessions and matches. This, unfortunately has not worked out as planned and we realise has caused a number of you difficulties in who to hand your subs to.

Due to this Sarah and Vikki have volunteered to take over the running of the subs, simply for your ease. In future all payments can be handed to Sarah, Dave, Vikki or Paul.

It is important that all these payments are made promptly, this being, that we are approaching the most costly time of the year when we will be enrolling Girls and Teams for next Season, organising the presentation evening along with trophies and ordering new kits and equipment.

We hope you agree that the Girls do benefit greatly from the subs paid, with training, matches, equipment, tournaments, kits, rain suits, trips out, presentation nights etc. With this in mind we will be keeping the payments for subs the same for next year, we are aware that in some cases we are half the cost of most other clubs, due to the amount of sponsorship we acquire.

Next season payments will begin the first Friday of September, this first payment will be for £5 more than usual to cover initial charges for the League. All payments MUST be then paid on the first Friday of each month.

Can we please ask all parents to ensure that next season all subs are paid on time, as this season late payments have resulted in either Paul or Dave making costly payments personally, due to lack of funds paid on time.

Next season we will be unable to accept payments by standing order. The reason for this is due to the type of account we have, making it impossible to manage correctly. We realise this may be inconvenient for those of you who pay in this way and please accept our apologies. Please contact your banks and make June the final payment for this season.

Presentation Night 9th June 2006

It's that time of year again, we have booked Bury FC Social Club for this years event. Its a 7.30pm start, so don't be late. Awards are going out to all our teams, who have all had an exceptional season. So please come along and show your support for the girls.
Tickets are £2.50 adults. £1.50 Kids. All players no charge. Tickets available from either Paul or Dave, or pay on the door.

See you all there.

TCFC Seaside Soccer Tournament 2006

Hi everyone
It's been a while since our last post. We have since played another tournament, the TCFC Seaside Soccer Tournament 2006.




It was a very well organised day with teams from all over the region. We had both the Warriors and the Wanderers entered. Unfortunately the Warriors didn't seem to play to their full potential, next to the bottom of their group. The Wanderers played a better tournament, finishing above the Warriors. Both teams ended up playing in the knock-out stage of the plate, both going out on penelties. Overall it was a very enjoyable day, the weather was great and the tournament very well organised. I think everyone enjoyed it, even though we didn't come away with anything. Definately one to do again next year.

Photos of the girls were taken by a professional photographer, and can be found here.
http://www.blackpoolpictures.com/woodbank11/

Urmston Meadowside Tournament

Hello
On Monday 1st May we took this horrible looking lot to the above tournament.
We played in the under 11's section, which was 6-a-side. Each game was a total of 6 minutes long, which really didn't give the girls time to settle, no sooner had they kicked off, the final whistle went. All the girls played fantastically well. We took 9 girls but were only able to play 6 per game, we had to wait up to 45 minutes between games, and had to rotate the girls round per game so that they all got an equal amount of play.
In the end we drew 4 games (0-0) and lost 2 games (2-0) and (1-0). All in all a good result for a team that doesn't normally play together.

Well done everyone.
Dave

Woodbank v Radcliffe Borough

Hello
This was a tough game, with the Woodbank side being made up of girls from both the Warriors and Wanderers teams. The first half was pretty much even, both teams not managing to cause much concern, with a good defence being looked after by Beth Williams and Titch, things were tight at the back. The second half saw a great start, with Beth Bolton finding her feet and scoring 2 goals. Great performances also from Emily Owens and Hannah Williams. Unfortunately Radcliffe also found their feet in the last part of the second half scoring 2 goals to bring it all level again. Final score 2-2. Well done everyone.

Dave

Warriors v Wanderers

Hello
Last night saw a (dare I say friendly) game, Warriors v Wanderers. Played at Nuttall Park, this turned out to be a very competitve game, the Wanderers taking the first half by storm, leading 2-0. The second half saw the Warriors digging their heals in and finally breaking the deadlock with 3 goals to take the final score to Warriors 3 Wanderers 2.
A great game to watch, some very good play from both teams. Well done.

Dave

Training Update

Hello everyone
Just to let everyone know, we have heard that Nuttall Park is available after all. So we will do one last session at Broadoak this Friday 28th April. After that we will be training at Nuttall Park on grass. I hope this is OK with everyone, please let either Paul or myself know if there are any problems with this.

Dave

We need you

Hello
This is a bit of a plea really. Paul and myself are looking for somebody to take on responsibilty for the under 10's. This would involve training on a Friday night, managing and organising the team on a Saturday and looking after all subs. You will need to have a CRB certificate and a reasonable knowledge of football. If you don't have a CRB certificate then Paul or myself would advise you on applying for one. If you fancy yourself as a football coach or if you know somebody who would like to do this, then please let either Paul or myself know ASAP. We would like to have somebody in place for the start of the new season.

Dave

Training after Easter

Hi everyone
Just so everyone knows, we have heard that Nuttall Park will not be available for us to use after Easter, so we have decided to remain at Broadoak. See you all after Easter, same time, same place.

Dave

Homework

Hi everyone
Found this link the other day, and I thought of you. Have a look at the skill these guys have, really cool. I expect you lot to be doing this by next week.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhm3McwCdAc&search=soccer%20skills

Dave

The Teams

We have 3 teams that we currently look after, and they are Woodbank Warriors, Woodbank Wanderers and Woodbank Town. And here they are!

First Post

This is the official blog site for the fantastic Woodbank Girls F.C.
We will be posting team photos, news and gossip plus match reports as frequently as possible, so keep checking back.
Dave