Rubbish

I suppose you all saw that pantomime on Wednesday night, what did you think?
Here is a bit of fun for you, come up with a funny quote that Mac could be saying. Here's mine to start with.

And here is a blank one for you guys.

Woodbank Warriors vs Westbury (Friendly 4th Nov 07)

Games against Westbury are always taken seriously and even though this game was a friendly, our Warriors were in no mood for charity. The pride of being the best team in Bury was at stake.
Although we allowed Westbury to score first, the result of this game was never in doubt. Liv crossed to Amy who sent a pin-point cross over to Ele who then slammed an unstoppable shot into the left corner to level at 1- 1.
Superb play in midfield from Liv, Hannah and Jenny created chance after chance but could we score? Ten corners later and the score was still 1 – 1.
In the second half our Warriors had a determined look to them. With Westbury pinned in their own half, it was only a matter of time before our domination resulted in further goals.
Megan F started an avalance of goals with a brilliant run finishing with a great strike. Ele quickly made it 3 with a rocket of a shot into the right corner.
Crusher Wrigley and Beth KW stopped any Westbury attacks in their tracks while Bronya and Frankie joined the onslaught.
Amy was next to score. This was a team goal with Amy finishing after great passing between Hannah, Beth S and Jenny.
With Westbury facing defeat our Warriors were rampant. Next to score was Beth S. Again on the end of a great passing movement Beth finished in style. Two goals in two games!
Liv created the next goal. Her determination in winning the ball was followed by a brilliant pass for Ele to run onto to make it 6. A hatrick for Ele.
Megan W and Mya joined the attacks and caused Westbury no end of trouble.
Amy soon made it 7 with another great strike after great play from Hannah on the wing.
This was now exhibition football and with Westbury totally beaten our girls passed the ball around with Brazilian style. Beth KW joined the attack and created the last goal. Ele ran down the left wing shooting only to see her shot saved. Hannah in typical goal poaching style slammed the ball home to make an emphatic score line of 8 – 1 to our Warriors.
Ele was awarded our Managers award for her total unwavering determination, great ability and a brilliant hatrick.
Today however was a team performance for you all to be proud of.
Who is the best team in Bury now eh????
Bring on Fleetwood……..

Woodbank Warriors vs Thorton Cleveleys (4th Nov 07)

This was an early start for our girls. We arrived at Thornton Cleveleys to a warm welcome. A club house with hot drinks and food, clear blue sky and a perfectly manicured pitch to play on. What could be better? Then to our surprise we were directed to another pitch to play our match! Dodgy area, slopping pitch, large lumps of grass and not very picturesque.
We started slowly. I think our girls were still suffering from the early start. Thornton hit us early with a quick goal. Spurred into action our girls attacked at pace with Megan scoring into the right low corner.
Again our defence fell asleep allowing Thornton to score again to take the lead. This time it was Jenny who leveled the score. Collecting the ball on the left she turned and ran across the edge of the box until releasing her trademark rocket to make it 2 – 2.
Beth S dominated the midfield creating attacking chances and stopping Thorntons counter attacks. Bronya, yet to score this season, was next to score. Running forward onto a cross from Hannah she let loose with a thunderbolt of a shot. Megan quickly made it
4 – 2.
The next goal was a peach of a shot from Emily. From the edge of the box she stroked the ball into the right hand top corner to make a healthy scoreline of 5 – 2.
The half time speech went something like “ score another goal and the game is over”.
Beth S did exactly than capping a surperb performance with a lovely taken goal to make it 6 – 2. Game over????? So we all thought.
The next twenty minutes of football are best forgotten. Our defence when to sleep and allowed Thornton to score making it 6 – 3. This gave Thornton confidence. Another defensive error. Another Thornton goal. 6 – 4. Another defence error and yet another goal. 6 – 5.
For the last five minutes we hung on to our slim lead only by the incentive of a trip to Mega Bowl if we won. We did win but only by the skin of our teeth.
Beth Smith was on top form and earned a well deserved Managers Player of the Match. The Opposition Player of the Match went to Hannah for a great display.
Mega Bowl here we come!!!!! But only just.

Woodbank Warriors v Bromley Cross

I think that Paul and myself knew this was going to be a tough game, Bromley and Lytham both sitting on equal points above us at top of the table. We had heard that Bromley liked to shoot on sight and would attack us straight from the off. We had noticed that our Warriors took at least 15 minutes to warm up and get into 1st gear, so this concerned us a little.

Thankfully our girls made a good start and the 1st 20 minutes were good and we seemed to be holding them off well. They were a very physical team, strong and competitive, which in the end started to get the better of us. They scored a couple of goals before half time giving them the edge for the second half.

We have been down 2-0 twice before at half time and come back well, and we hoped this might have been the case again. But again this team showed much more determination than we did and managed to control most of the 2nd half.

We did feel that their referee wasn't up to standard, giving many decisions in favour of Bromley, and also I think his stopwatch was slow, playing well over the 30 minutes in both of the halves. This was noted and sent to the league for their records.

In the end the final score was 5-0. I think that our girls can produce a better result next time we play this team, as long as they fight for the ball, and never give up. We have to match them in competitiveness, we have the quality that's for sure.

Woodbank Warriors vs Westbury (7th Oct 07)

This was our local derby against rivals Westbury (formerly Radcliffe Girls). The rivalry goes back over three or four seasons during which we have twice knocked them out of the Seaside Tournament finals to win plates. Also a lot of our girls go to school with each other. You could feel the tension as soon as the match began.
During the first half we have the majority of play only to be denied scoring by some extraordinary goalkeeping by their goalie. Jen had at least three rocket shots saved and Hannah went close with further attempts.
On there only two attacks they managed to score two goals which amazingly left us 2 – 0 down at half time.

The second half was all Woodbank. Attack after attack ended in brilliant saves from the goalie. Meg F worked tirelessly linking superbly with Liv. Any attempts from Westbury were quickly stopped by our strong defence.

Finally a free kick on the left side. Meg F stepped up to hit a ‘Beckham Like’ shot which brought gasps from the supporters. It was going to take something amazing to beat their goalie and this was special.

With new found believe our one sided attacking continued until another shot of brilliance from Ele. Left footed and from distance this as also a goal to savour.

During a frantic last five minutes it was quite unbelievable that we didn’t clinch a winner. Amy (who improves with every game) and Meg F both came so close but it wasn’t to be.
Westbury cried out for the final whistle while we cried for extra time.
Final score 2 – 2. Great game and excellent to watch. Our team gets better and better.
Another amazing come back from 2 – 0 down showed great character. What we want know is to try not to give away a 2 – 0 start to the opposing team eh!!!!
Well done again girls.

Woodbank Warriors v Lytham YMCA

After some hard work from Paul and Dave and our parents in getting the ground and nets ready for this match we were finally ready for our first home match. Thanks Vikki and Sarah for cleaning the toilet block!!

Our visitors were Lytham YMCA who won this league last season.

For the first twenty minutes we looked the more experienced team and at times had them
Pinned into their own half. Shots from Amy and Jenny were well saved. We were also still getting used to the off side rule which prevented us from taking an early lead.

Towards the end of the first half a well organised Lytham managed to break through our defence to strike with two quick goals.

During the second half our Warriors fought hard to pull a goal back with good efforts from Megan F and Emily. The team seemed to be getting used to 11 a side and retained good shape and positioning.

Towards the end of the match Lytham broke again to make it 3 – 0 but this didn’t reflect the true story. Our Warriors are more than capable of beating this team and when we play them again after Christmas and will more experience at 11 a side, I am sure we will see a different game.

Well done girls. Wilpshire nx week at home. Big win eh!!!!

Woodbank Warriors v Wilpshire Wanderers (30th Sept 07)

Our 2nd home game of the season and our 3rd game overall. Another team that we knew little about, looking at their previous results, they hadn't played anyone that we had, so we couldn't tell how good they were.

Shame they turned up with only 10 players, they had 4 or 5 missing due to other commitments. But a result was what we were after so we fielded a full team.

A good positive start from our girls and it wasn't long before we got on the score sheet with a great lob over the goalie from Hannah. It became quite obvious after that, that the game was going to be fairly easy. We had a penalty awarded to us for hand ball and 2 more goals, one which was a stormer from Liv, a volley from a corner kick. half time score 4-0.

2nd half and we swopped Berty out of goal to give her some match play, and she performed well. Overall a good team performance from all the team in the 2nd half with another 4 goals. A hat-trick from Hannah and goals from Em, Megan, Jenny, Liv and Amy. I think that we had a good 85% possession over the 60mins with very little work needed to be done by our defense.

Some fantastic work from Jenny on the right wing earned her the opposition vote and Hannah got the managers vote for a great hatrick.

Westbury at home next Sunday, another must win game.
Well done everyone

Brand New Season AGSA v Woodbank Warriors

OK, welcome back to a brand new season, 2007-08. We are hoping it is going to be a good one. It will definitely be an interesting one.
Our first game was against AGSA (Accrington Stanley) at their ground. A bit strange playing somewhere different, but quite exciting.

This game started off in an unexpected fashion with us going a goal down within a couple of minutes. All the girls seemed a little lost on that full sized pitch, and with full sized goals to defend also it was a shock to the system.

Accrington Stanley continued to pressure us and within another 15 minutes had increased their score to 2-0. Not great, and the girls were still looking very unsure.

The last 10 minutes of the 1st half saw our girls start to find their feet, and with a couple of good moves, we could see an improvement in their confidence. Half time and time for a team talk.

2nd half and what a difference. It was a completely different team out there. They were passing and creating chances and it wasn't long before we hit the back of the net. There was 2 great goals from Emily, another 2 from Megan F and a one from Liv Smith. The 2nd half was fantastic and the Warriors showed some great team work to make everyone proud. A great start to the season girls.

Opposition vote went to Jenny Todd and our managers choice went to Megan Fielding. But we have to say there was some great perfomances from everyone in that 2nd half which made all the difference. Well done again.

Wallpaper for yer pooter

Hello everyone
Been a while since anything has been posted on here. The weather is the worst and we have had to cancel our last 2 training sessions, in July, unbelievable. This Friday is the last training session of the summer, so please come along. We will be telling you a little more about how the new season is going to look and when we will be back at training. So any questions please ask and Paul, Joe and myself, we will try to answer them. If we don't see you again until we start training again, have a great holiday whatever you are doing. Send us a postcard.

I have attached a pic of the girls from our Seaside Tournament, works well as a wallpaper for your computer, just download from the blog.

While we are away from training, I will be posting any news here for you, so please keep checking back for any new info.

Bye for now

Great goal

Found this gem on youtube earlier. Take a close look at how he strikes the ball. Great goal.

Seaside Tournament (Warriors)

What a great day for Woodbank Girls. Both our Wanderers and Warriors were on form today and certainly put Woodbank Girls on the map.

My team for the day (Warriors). All of our nine established Warriors together with Shellie (ex Warrior) and Gemma (Sale Utd Superstar). Our girls are used to 7 a side so the size of the pitch together with full size nets took us by surprise. Fi looked very worried!! She was almost lost with the size of the nets. However the fitness of our players and their skill gave us a big advantage and our players relished the extra space.

The first match was against Preston North End. They finished high in the Lancashire league this season and have been playing 9 a side all season. The first half saw them go 2 nil up quite quickly before our Warriors found their rhythm. The second half was dominated by the Warriors. A sweeping move from one end of the pitch via Sophie, through to Gemma and finally to Emily, who calmly wrong footed the goalie before scoring from a tight angle, saw us score one of the best goals of this season. Another move saw Hannah go close after a one-on-one with the goalie. This match finally finished 2 – 1 but in the second half we were the best team.
Our second match again saw us dominate the match but without getting the ball into the back of the net.
Two games to go and two wins needed.
Our third match was against Radcliffe Girls. A certain amount of pride at stake and our Warriors finally found their feet. All of the action was in the Radcliffe half of the pitch. Our pressure told with a superbly taken goal by Emily which gave us victory. The Warriors left the field to jubilant cheers from the crowd. Great team performance. Victory over Radcliffe was worth the trip to Cleveleys!!!
A win in our last league game would ensure entry into the last four (out of twelve teams) and into the semi final for the main Cup.
Bring on Paris Girls. To say we annihilated this team would be an underestimation. This was one of the best displays of football I have seen all season. Preston North End and Thornton Cleveleys were watching from the sides and they all passed comment about the quality of play. We won 3 – 0 with two more superb goals from Emily and a cracker from Hannah. It could have been more. The team left the field as if they had won the World Cup. I brimmed with pride. Two wins, one draw and a close defeat by Preston.

Our Semi Final was against St Annes YMCA. They proved to be a well organised team and quickly took advantage by sneaking a goal in the first few minutes. Our girls fought hard but could find the form which they displayed in the previous two matches. I think we peeked too early today and on another day we could easily have beaten this team. Preston North End won the final.

There were some great individual performances today but was more evident was the amazing team spirit within both our Wanderers and Warriors.
Fi, Anna, Beth, Meg, Bronya, Shellie, Emily, Hannah, Gemma, Sophie and Megan F, I was proud of you all today. The wins over Radcliffe Girls and Paris Girls were amazing.
Thanks again to Shellie and Gemma for playing today. I hope you enjoyed. I certainly did and I am sure all of the parents present did.

Well done Wanderers on winning the plate. Great Weekend for Woodbank Girls.
See you at training on Friday.

The Wanderers

The Wanderers, and their silver ware. Well done girls.

The Woodbank under 12's

Just click the picture for a larger view.

Seaside Tournament (Wanderers)

Well, what can you say. It was a fantastic day over at Thornton Cleveleys. Our 3rd Seaside Tournament. 3 teams, our under 11's Woodbank Town, and our 2 under 12's teams Warriors and Wanderers.

My team for the day (Wanderers). A mixture of the established team and new girls. The competition 9-a-side, so new to the Wanderers who have just finished their last season at 7-a-side. Next season we will be playing 9-a-side, on a bigger pitch, so something to get used to.

We were in the opposite group to the Warriors, (no difference in ability) on different pitches. With 4 new girls in the mix, and only really seeing them play during training, this was an opportunity to see how they coped for real. And I wasn't dissapointed. We played against some good opposition, and the first 3 games saw 0-0 draws. The last game being our only defeat. This put us in 3rd place, out of reach of the main cup, but in a good position for the "Plate"

All the girls had played well, and were playing well as a team, a little strange in the begining, getting used to the bigger pitch and space that created. But by the semi-final stages something happened...

The team had played well up to this point, if we had gone home at this stage I wouldn't have been dissapointed, but they had held something back just to surprise us all.

Semi final, we went a goal down from a free kick, good goal. But 5 minutes later we replied with an equaliser, and then with a wonder goal from Ell, that was us through to the final, against Radcliffe Girls. Already beaten by our Warriors, could we do the same and send Radcliffe home empty handed for a 3rd year running.

Final. A good close game to start with, but again the Wanderers found their feet, and didn't seem to get tired. They started to pass the ball around really well, and really started to look like they were going to win, half time and 0-0. Second Half saw one of the best goals of the tournament from our very own Jenny Todd. The sideline went crazy, we could see the silver, it was ours. Just a few minutes to go, they seemed like forever, but eventually the whistle went. We did it. The plate was ours.

I have to say, I am very proud of all the girls who played, Beth, Jenny, Ell, Megan, Amy Jennings, Amy, Beth, Liv, Becks, Mya and Leah. You played fantastic and deserved to win. I hope you all had a daft smile on your face for the rest of the week, I know I did. See you all Friday at training.

Dave

Wanderers v Flixton

A sun drenched Nuttall Park was the venue. The last game of the season and the stage was set. Flixton were our opponents and a win would mean we jointly won the league.
In the absence of Beth (PGL), Izzy took the Captains armband in her last game of the season before her retirement!!

Flixton are a well organized and skilful team and previous encounters with them have always been close. Todays match was a cracker.

Frankie stood in as goalie and gave a stunning performance. Great goal kicks, brilliant saves and an inspired presence of mind when under pressure. She doesn’t like being in net but her 100% ‘for the team’ attitude didn’t show this.

Ele made run after run up the left wing and was unlucky not to score with a shot from a tight angle.

Izzy fought and battled for every ball with the kind of passion we have grown to love and expect from her.

You could feel the tension as the game stayed at stalemate. Eventually we got our reward. Megan fought to get the ball through to Izzy who ran and crossed for Super Jen to blast the ball home from close range. 1 – 0. The crowd went barmy.
Frankie’s mum started singing ‘Its all gone quiet over there’ to the Flixton fans. Well, I think she did…..

At half time our girls didn’t need any motivating. They were buzzing.
The second half began with great pressure from Flixton.
Amy and Beck’s was amazing, making tackle after tackle, defending like true professionals. This was one of Amy’s best games and she just gets better and better.
Beck’s displayed tenacious courage and battled for every ball.

Twice we counter attacked with Super Jen and Izzy both coming close. Jen gave every last ounce of energy probing the Flixton defence with skill and speed.
The game swung from one half to the other. Great game for the neutral. Nightmare for Dave and I and our parents. Izzys dad made sure everyone in Bury knew about our game!
Leah and Megan both rose to the occasion with superb performances. Leah showed fantastic skill to turn three opponents and send a pin point pass thought to Jen for yet another attack.

Megan battled, fought, ran and tackled.

Ten minutes to go. Just as we could almost taste victory…..The cruel blow Flixton floated a sublime corner into the box which was met by a brilliant header.
1 – 1. It was really a wonderful goal.

Our girls had ten minutes to find a winner and boy did they try. Izzy exploded. Super Jen ran herself to exhaustion. Ele skimmed the top of the Flixton goal. We tried to bribe the ref for extra time but Scott is far too professional. The whistle went.
A 1 – 1 draw was a fair result in what was one of the best games I have seen all season but for me today there was only one winner – our Wanderers..

They gave everything we could have asked for. Jen got the opposition player award for yet another top draw performance. I gave ours to Becks who epitomized the team spirit and attitude displayed by every player.

Dave and I have been proud to look after you this season. I hope you have all enjoyed it as much as we have. Be proud of yourselves. We are proud of you.
Izzy has been with us for three seasons now and will be very much missed. I hope you have good memories. Seaside Tournament 2005. Parents Player of the Season 2006. Most Improved Player of the Season 2005.

Well done girls. Seaside Tournament 12th May. Bring it on!!!

And here's some street soccer

Some freestyle for you guys to practice

Warriors vs Cadishead (League)

This was our last game of the season against a very much improved Cadishead side where two mums have taken over the managing of the team. Maybe some of our mums would like to look after a new U10’s team next season!!

In training we concentrated on ‘Pass and Move’ practice and this was evident in some wonderful play between Meg F, Em, Hannah and Soph. Em worked tirelessly in midfield. Soph ran the opposition ragged easily outpassing everyone on the pitch and causing the opposition no end of problems. Hannah showed us her new found skills learnt from hours of playing FIFA STREET on playstation!
Eventually the pressure told and Hannah scored a superb opening goal.
Meg F (in her last game before joining Man City!!!!) created a series of great scoring opportunities with a mixture of great skill and determination.
1 – 0 at half time (Should have been 7 – 0).

In the second half, Cadishead came at us with renewed confidence. Bronya and Meg W played some excellent football keeping them at bay. Meg W tackled stongly and always made her passes count to start off attacks. Bronya fired one of her trademark rocket shots which just skimmed the crossbar.
Anna ‘Crusher’ Wrigley stuck to their number 10 like glue leaving Fi with hardly a save to make.
Beth showed a combination of speed and skill to make numerous penetrating runs into the oppositions half. Her improvement this season is for all to see.
Eventually pressure from our ‘Pass and Move’ tactics told. Emily, Hannah and Soph all combined to get the ball to Meg F who scored a scorcher of a goal. She was rewarded with an immediate substitution (That’ll teach her to go to Man City!!)

Cadishead did score a consolation goal near to the end of the match but the game was already won.
Great Passing, Skill and Teamwork Warriors.

I hope you have all enjoyed this season. I have and am very proud of you all.
You have competed in the ‘A’ League of probably the best league in Lancashire, against some of the best teams in Lancashire and can hold you head up high with your performances. Remember also that half of your team are still only U11’s. It would be easy to enter an easier league and beat everyone. I believe the competition this season has made you all much better players individually and a much better team.
Beating Broadheath and Urmston Meds proves that we can beat anyone on our day.
Well Done Girls. Bring on the Tournaments.

Woodbank Athletic U11's vs Wythenshawe

April 21st
Our final game of the season saw us take on Wythenshawe who we have not beaten this season but have been close. They only had 6 girls so we played a 6 a side game.
Lauren’s running up from was a constant problem for their defenders although she was unable to make the breakthrough. In fact it was the opposition who took the lead, and they soon made it 0-3. However, Carly in goal, produced a great brave save when she came off her line and won the ball. Well done Carly.
Lauren scored a good goal to make it 1-3 at half time. The second half saw us use Anna, Isa and Rebecca in goal. Although Wythenshawe managed 2 more goals we had plenty of chances and were unlucky not to score more. A late penalty gave us a good chance but pull a goal back but we were unable to score the goal we deserved.
Lauren was given the player of the match award by the opposition, and I gave our award to Shauna who was a rock in the heart of the defence yet again.
Well done to everyone throughout the season. Every player has improved and we have had a successful season. Finishing 4th in the league is a great result for all the girls hard work.

Woodbank Athletic U11's vs Urmston Meds

April 14th
This is always a difficult game and with only 5 players it was made tougher. Urmston kindly lent us a player although our 6 started against 7. We were soon behind and it is easy to see why the Urmston girls finished top of the league.
Our girls tried really hard and all performed well, especially Rebecca in goal. At half-time Urmston lent us their goalkeeper. We started the second half really well and soon Lauren scored our first goal. Good work from Lauren and Isa set up the Urmston girl to score our second goal.
Isa and Zoe were kept busy running all through the game and this hard work helped us earn a corner. From this corner the ball fell to Anna on the edge of the area who hit a half volley that hit the underside of the cross bar and bounced into the goal.
In the end we lost 3-16, but well done to all the girls who never gave up on this hot Saturday.

Addition to the Blog

As you may have noticed, I have added a new feature to the blog. And if any of you lot have any requests for your fave choon to go on the ipod, then let me know, and I will see what I can do.

Wanderers v Sale

This was meant to be a cup game, but as most of you now know, has been cancelled. But because of the short notice, we decided to play this game anyway.

Sale are in the A group of the under12's and are a good team. The Wanderers have a fairly good record against these teams, with a very close game against Unicorn a couple of months ago.

Both teams started well, and there was some good football played. Sale started to apply some pressure and scored 2 goals. But the Wanderers didn't let it bother them and soon responded with a goal. Second half and Sale scored again to make it 3-1, but again our girls battled hard and showed Sale that they weren't a push over. Beth Jenny and Izzie attacked with some fantastic pass and move play to create a great goal to take it to 3-2. About 5 minutes left to play and they really did try to make it even, but the whistle beat us to it.

Great game from both teams, pleasure to watch.

Warriors v Wanderers

We didn't think that out two teams would meet this season, but for the Supplementary cup they did. With a couple of girls missing, Bronya from the Warriors and Beth from the Wanderers, both teams fancied their chances, and with the Wanderers holding the bragging rights, they were confident.

The game started well and both teams seemed good from the start, but the Warriors soon found their feet and started to pass and move the ball around very well, with Hannah, Emily and Megan all linking up well to cause problems.

It wasn't long before the goals started to go in, with Hannah, Sophie, Megan and Emily all getting on the score sheet. Only one goal from the Wanderers, a Jenny special not really leaving Fi much of a chance. Final score 5-1 to the Warriors. The bragging rights back with the Warriors for now.

On another note, this competition has now been cancelled, due to certain teams not wanting to participate, yet they still turn up to play friendlies. This has spoiled it all for the teams who still wanted to play this competition, and a letter is going to be sent to the league letting them know how disappointed Paul and myself are about this.

Wanderers v Poynton

This was at the beginning a game that didn't really matter what the result was, as we thought we were out of reach of the league cup. But just before kick off we found out that things had changed and the Wanderers were still in with a shout.

After telling the girls this, they set about a good first half, with Suzie making her debut in goal. Poynton, a very capable team soon started to knock the ball about well, and run 2 past Suzie. With some good work from our girls, who didn't drop their heads there was a great response with a cross from Jenny which met the foot of Izzie, it nearly went through the back of the net. Great goal. One more goal from Poynton saw the half time score at 3-1.

Second half and I thought that we still stood a chance, the girls had battled hard in the first half, so I thought we were in for more of the same. But I was wrong, a different bunch of girls started the 2nd half, and Poynton didn't waist the opportunity, turning our goal into target practice.

The girls heads just seemed to have dropped and with another 3 goals from Poynton the final score was 6-1.

My girl of the game went to Amy for a good solid performance, and the opposition vote went to Beth.

Warriors vs Radcliffe Girls (Friendly)

We have played Radcliffe Girls a number of times over the last three seasons, notably beating them in the final of the Seaside Tournament two seasons ago. This season they have been playing 9 – a – side and have comfortably won the Bury & Bolton League.
As we are moving up to 9 – a – side next season the opportunity to play Radcliffe Girls at 9 – a – side would give our girls some good practice. The down side was we had all nine girls on the pitch with no subs.

The first half was entirely our half. Emily and Megan F dominated the midfield creating numerous shooting opportunities. Bronya skimmed the cross bar with a long distance rocket. Sophie had another good effort saved. Eventually our pressure told. A long through ball by Megan F over the Radcliffe defence was superbly controlled by Hannah. She turned and elegantly lobbed a shot over the goalie to make it 1 – 0.

Anna and Beth both combined well with Bronya to make our Woodbank defence impenetrable. Anna was up against Katie D from Radcliffe who is an Academy player but whether she was an Academy player, World Cup Brazilian Player or a Radcliffe Girls Player, Anna was not going to let her near our net.

At half time we shared Easter eggs feeling good about ourselves. The sun was shining and we were beating Radcliffe Girls.
I think the Radcliffe Girls half time team talk was somewhat more serious!

The second half continued very much like the first half. Excellent play by Sophie almost led to another goal. Megan F made many searching runs into the opposing area. Hannah’s skilful attacking play caused many problems and it seemed only a matter of time before we increased our lead. Megan W thrived in her midfield position tackling hard and making run after run into the opposing half.

As time ticked on, our girls started to tire (with having no subs and a much bigger pitch) and Radcliffe started to gain confidence. Fi made an incredible save to stop one thunderbolt and another fingertip save to stop another.
Then from a goalmouth scrabble, Radcliffe incredibly scored. Against the run of play and to every ones surprise.
The last ten minutes saw us pile pressure onto Radcliffe Girls with some excellent passing movements. Emily made run after run creating scoring opportunities but the final score ended 1 – 1.

To be honest I would have been pleased with this before the game but after seeing our girls play 9 – a – side on a much bigger pitch, I felt almost disappointed. It really suited our girls style of play. Quick passing movements and lots of skill.
Radcliffe chose Emily as there player of the match for an all round superb performance. I chose all my girls as today was a real team performance.
After exchanging Easter Eggs we left to enjoy a well earned two weeks rest and to look forward to next seasons 9 – a – side. I was very proud of you all.
Happy Easter.

Woodbank Athletic U11's vs Unicorn

Finishing 4th in the league has been a great result for the girls. However a downside of this is that our final 3 games are against all the teams who finished above us, and the facts show that we have struggled in our games with Unicorn losing 1-9 and 1-8. So on paper this appeared to be a very one sided game with 1 team winning convincingly. And so it proved to be, but not in the way you might think!
With all 9 girls present, Isa did the goalkeeping duties in the first half. An early corner for us broke to Shauna on the edge of the area and she calmly scored her first goal of the season. They equalised but Emily, always willing to shoot, fired in a long range shot and we were back in the lead.
The game continued with tough tackling and Lauren, Carly and Rebecca all got knocks, but they got up and carried on.
The second half saw Rebecca in goal, and we got off to a great start. Emily and Lauren work really well together and their passing and running was superb. Lauren made it 3-1 and we continued to press for more. In defence Shauna and Chloe were as strong as ever, and the midfield combinations of Isa, Anna, Carly and Zoe all worked really well.
It was reward for their hard work when more goals came our way. In the end Emily scored 5 and Lauren 2 and the final score was 8-1.
This was our best performance of the season and all the girls played really well. It was great for us all to see them play so well against a top team and all 9 of them deserve praise. Unicorn gave player of the match to Emily and I gave mine to Shauna, but really both these awards should be shared by the whole team. Well done girls, same again in 2 weeks!

Warriors v Sale

Well, where do I begin. This wasn't the best game the Warriors have played, the first half quite painful, with 4 goals put past us, very easily. In the words of Sophie at half time, "it's like we are playing in slow motion". I couldn't have put it better myself.

The second half was a better performance, passing and moving improved. Some good play from Hannah in the 2nd half generated some chances, and eventually Megan F getting us onto the score sheet. Sale didn't put anymore past us and the score stayed at 4-1.

I hope this was just a blip in our play, I know you are all capable of much better. We have Sale one more time in this add on cup competition. So let's pull together and finish the season in style.

Sale chose Sophie as their best player, and I gave mine to Hannah for an improved performance in the 2nd half.

Wanderers vs Walshaw Girls (Friendly)

Today the Wanderers made easy work of Walshaw Girls even without Captain Beth. Even with four different players in goal. Even rotating our players into different positions.
Our girls showed us how versatile they are today. They played with style, determination and as a team who want to win.
One of Megan Brenchley’s goals was a real quality finish after some lovely play by Leah. Izzy capped a gritty display of attacking with another stylish goal. Jenny scored two goals from distance with her instinctive ‘shoot on sight’ attitude. One was utterly amazing. From almost the halfway line, with no back lift, she unleashed a rocket of a shot into the top right hand corner of the net. It stunned everyone.
Ele caused the opposition no end of problems with skillful play on the left. Great crosses, lovely dribbling and two cracking goals.
Frankie, Amy and Leah dominated the midfield and really make this team tick. Becks stopped everything that the opposition could throw at her. Over and over again she made important tackles, held the ball up and calmly played the ball forward.
We won 8 – 4 and made it look easy. Keep it up girls. We have some important matches in the coming weeks and this attitude and play is exactly what we need.
Great goal again Jenny!!!!!!
The opposition player of the match went to Ele and my player of the match went to Amy. Both very much deserved.

Warriors vs Sale United (League)

In our first match of the season we lost against Sale United 3 – 2 in a hard fought match so today was our chance to put the record straight.
It wasn’t to be. Although there were many good individual performances, the team just didn’t work together today.
The half time score was 0 – 0. Just after the break Sale United hit us with two quick goals on the break. It was then that our Warriors decided that they were going to make a game of it. Megan F gave a great determined display and scored an extremely coolly taken goal. This was followed with her trademark acrobatic celebration which gave our fans / parents something to cheer.
Other performances of note came from Anna, Megan W and Sophie. Anna produced some stunning tackles and stopped the Sale attack on numerous occasions. Megan W played some excellent football with runs from defence to cause Sale problems time and time again. Sophie covered the pitch from top to bottom sending in many crosses which we just could not convert. It wasn’t to be our day though. We were definitely the better team playing the better football but just couldn’t put the ball into the back of the net.
The opposition player award went to Anna and my award went to Megan W.
We play Sale again in two weeks time.
After beating both Broadheath and Urmston Meds in previous weeks we should be beating Sale easily. The challenge is there girls. Go and prove yourselves.

Wanderers v Flixton

This was the first of three important games for the Wanderers, with them still in with a chance to win something this season. Flixton have been a tough opponent this season and our last meeting saw us win well.

With a full team the girls were confident, and started off well, but so did Flixton and they very quickly started to take control of the game, getting the first goal. We very quickly equalised from a corner, well finished by Izzie. But Wanderers not concentrating at the back saw another goal go in from Flixton. Jenny soon responded with a fantastically well struck goal from distance, (this becoming a trade mark goal from Jen). So 2-2 at half time, and a bit of sorting to do with the defence.

2nd half and we started positive again, passing well and getting the ball in front of goal, with some very near misses. But again we left the defence open, with not much help getting back to recover. This again was our downfall, and a 3rd goal went in. We battled hard for the rest of the game, with a couple of knocks along the way, Frankie getting some studs and Jenny clashing heads, luckily no real damage.

Some great work in goal 2nd half from Amy easily saved us from a bigger defeat, and Beth as usual covering almost every inch of the pitch.

My girl of the game went to Izzie and the opposition vote went to Jenny.
Hard luck this time, we have another meeting with Flixton coming up, so lets work hard next time and get a result.

Warriors v City (Semi final)

First of all Paul and myself would like to say thankyou to everyone who came and supported the Warriors on Saturday, we had a good turn out and we easily made more noise than City, so well done.

Back to the game, and after 2 good wins in the league against tough teams, and City only getting draws in their last 2 outings, we quite fancied our chances. Our girls have really started to play well, and were confident also about this game.

The game started well with Sophie and Beth in defence, Bronya in midfield and Hannah, Emily and Megan up front. City also started well and it wasn't long before they made the first mark, and from a corner it deflected in, a good second goal from them was well struck and anyone would have struggled to stop it and just before half time another scrappy goal made it three.

A quick re-group at half time and some words of encouragement saw the girls have a much better 2nd half, quite easily matching them, with the ball in both halves saw some good end to end football. But it wasn't enough to topple City, full time saw the score stay at 3-0. There was a few tears from some of the girls, just from pure frustration, but overall a good performance from everyone. Hard luck this time.

Woodbank Athletic U11's vs Sale United

A game we needed to win to guarantee finishing fourth in the league, and we were without top scorer Emily. The game began very evenly with both teams attacking and we were the first to strike when Anna’s throw was met by Lauren who was able to force the ball through to Isa in the area and she neatly struck the ball into the goal.
At the other end Shauna and Chloe were defending well, until the Sale striker broke clear and was running straight at our goal and looked certain to score. However, Carly had other ideas and raced off her line and dived bravely at the girls feet. Carly saved the ball with her leg and was struck in the face by the girls knee. She was ok and it was a super save.
Rebecca replaced Carly for the remainder of the first half in goal, and was unfortunate when she was unsighted by the bright sun and Sale equalised making it 1-1 at half time.
In the second half Lauren had chances to restore the lead but shot over and had another effort saved. With Zoe also playing well, Lauren’s cross was nearly finished by Anna. Carly returned into the goal for the final 15 mins and needed to be at her best when a high shot came in and she tipped it over the bar.
The 1-1 result was fair. Lauren was given the opponents player of the match award as she caused problems for Sale throughout the game. I gave my award to Carly. She is our best goalkeeper and today showed how brave she can be combined with the skills needed in goal. Whether we finish fourth or fifth in the league all the girls have done really well and have got better every game. Well done everyone.

Woodbank Wanderers v Didsbury Jnrs

Another meeting with Didsbury, not really a tough game, so with Eleanor, Jenny and Leah missing, leaving me with a team of 6 (one short), I still wasn't really worried.

Within 5 minutes of kick off, Beth started the ball rolling with a quick goal. Most of the first half then went a little quiet with the Wanderers, although not under any threat, didn't really take advantage of any chances. There was one more goal before half time to take it to 2-0.

Second half and the Wanderers pulled up their socks and started to pass the ball around more, creating many more chances on goal. Goals scored by Beth 2, Izzie 2, Frankie 1, Megan 1, and Becks a great goal from outside the area 1. Only Amy not getting onto the score sheet, not that she didn't try, a great performance from Amy in the second half got her the opposition girl of the game award, Izzie got mine for another determined effort. Final score 7-0. Well done girls.

Woodbank Athletic U11's vs Cheadle & Gatley

An important game against another mid table side who we recently drew 0-0 with in an end to end entertaining game.
Anna started in goal, and we began brightly and put them under pressure from the start. And it did not take long before Emily finished neatly giving us the lead. This was soon followed up by an excellent goal. We were defending a corner and the ball was missed by everyone and Lauren picked it up in her own area. She ran down the right wing leaving defenders standing and watching her beat them for pace before she crossed perfectly for Emily who scored the goal.
In the defence Shauna and Chloe were strong and kept Cheadle’s goal attempts to a minimum, although before half time they did manage to score with a high shot that went in.
The second half was similar with us having the majority of the possession, and Emily was able to complete her hatrick. Other chances were created and Anna’s looping volley nearly sneaked in at the back post. Carly also worked hard all game with non-stop running and tackling. Rebecca was in goal in the second half and although she did not have much to do, in fact she looked bored at times, when required she was able to leave the goal line and clear the ball.
The opposition gave the player of the match award to Lauren, and I gave ours to Emily for her hatrick. Well done everyone.

Warriors vs Urmston Meds (League)

After beating Cadishead 3 – 0 and Broadheath 6 – 2, the thought of making it three wins in a row by beating Urmston Meds was perhaps just asking too much. Was it?
Urmston Meds are a well organized team with a very strong defence who had previously beat us 4 – 0 and more recently 1 – 0 (last minute goal).

A lively start saw our Warriors go close with long distance efforts from both Megan F and Bronya. Any attempts from Urmston were quickly stopped with Beth, Anna and Bronya all playing outstandingly.
Fi’s long distance goal kicks caused the Urmston defence lots of problems and a couple of brilliant saves kept the half time score to 0 – 0.

Although Urmston played the better passing movements, our Warriors never looked likely to concede. Bronya was again superb. Beth made numerous shot stopping tackles and clearances. It was Anna that really impressed though. She was up against an Urmston player with both speed and skill. Anna was not to be intimidated and bravely stopped her again and again.

Five minutes to go and still 0 – 0. Although Emily, Hannah, Megan F and Soph had played well, we hadn’t really threatened to score. A scoreless draw would have been a great result. Wouldn’t it!! Soph had other ideas. Great play by Meg W to get the ball to Emily. A though pass to Meg F. Lovely interplay to get the ball to Soph and she was sprinting towards goal with two Urmston players closely behind. The goalie ran towards her and she unleashed an unstoppable shot into the top of the goal.
Game, Set and Match to Woodbank. A smile from ear to ear on Sophs face!

Fi got the opposition player award with a polished display. Anna got my player award for her great battling qualities.
Three wins in a row. Broadheath and Urmston Meds beaten. This is no more than our girls deserve for their great attitude and belief in themselves. Dave and I love managing our two teams and results like this make it so worthwhile. I know winning isn’t everything but it doesn’t half feel good when we do!!!!
Dare I say ---- ‘Bring on Man City’…..Gulp

Woodbank Athletic U11's vs Wythenshawe

A 6 a side game on a lovely sunny day, and with Chloe in goal we started brightly. Emily was up front on her own with Lauren getting alongside her as often as she could both had chances to score. However, we conceded first but the girls responded really well with a move involving Anna, Lauren and a great lobbed finish by Emily brought us level. Although we were playing well, we let in 2 more goals and were 1-3 down at half time.
With Isa going in goal for the second half, a goal from Lauren brought us back to 2-3. In an end to end game both teams had the chance to score and we conceded to leave us 2-4 behind. A great chance to cut the lead was missed when Emily was fouled and she took her own penalty only to see it well saved. Near the end Wythenshawe made if 2-5 with a good finish.
In defence Carly and Chloe were superb with brave tackling against bigger girls. Nothing seems to scare them and they deserved a joint player of the match award. Lauren was given the award by the opposition. Well done to everyone.

Woodbank Athletic U11's vs Unicorn

Another tough game against a good team (are we ever going to play against the teams below us in the league). They have one particular player who is able to make the difference, and she was on top form to help Unicorn to a 4 goal lead at half time. We also saw the opposition ignoring the back pass rule, stating they had permission to do this! This was sorted at half time with the League Secretary getting involved, and we were correct.
The girls produced their best football of the game to start the second half, and were rewarded with Isa scoring for us. Emily and Lauren again had chances but just could not find the back of the net. Unicorn added another 4 goals, including a Beckham like free-kick into the top corner above Carly, and we finished losing 1-8.
The girls did play well, and it is not easy to seem to play against the top three teams every week. The games against the others will come along soon.
We also need to address the goalkeeper troubles, and I think it has to be shared equally amongst all nine girls, half a game each time. We can start this on Saturday.

Woodbank Wanderers vs Deans Sports (League)

After a Friday night of training in blizzard conditions, our Wanderers could have been forgiven for not being up for Saturdays game against Deans. Also without the mighty Beth and Izzy, they were down to seven girls and no subs.
Frankie, Ele, Meg, Amy, Jen, Leah and Becks. The Magnificent Seven. Deans didn’t stand a chance.

The first half was dominated by our Wanderers with some excellent passing movements and attacks. Jen peppered the goal with shots from every angle. She finally broke the deadlock with a right foot rocket of a shot. At half time the score was amazingly only one nil to our Wanderers.
Deans must have thought they had a chance when the second half started.
Tracy and Jill had gone to get a coffee at half time and came back three minutes after the second half had re-started. By that time it was already 4 – 0!!
Jen hit a scorching shot into the top of the net. Ele made a skilful run around three defenders before sending the goalie the wrong way. Leah met a corner from Ele with a brilliant header. I stood and admired a team in total command.
Ele ran the Deans defence ragged with skilful runs and crosses. Leah dominated the midfield and can’t stop scoring this season. Becks the Brave tackled relentlessly and stopped every attack in its tracks. Amy was in a class of her own and improves with every game.
Meg covered every blade of grass not allowing Deans a second on the ball.
Today belonged however to Frankie and Jen who between them captained our Wanderers like true champions. Jen blasted two further goals to grab yet another hattrick. Her speed and shooting skills are outstanding. Frankie is a natural team player who holds the team together with a combination of determination and intelligent teamwork.
Final score 6 – 1. Opposition player award went to Jen. My award went to Meg for a brilliant performance.
This was the Wanderers at their true best. Today they could have beaten any team.
I just stood back and enjoyed. Especially the second half. Well done.

Challenge Cup Semi Final

The draw has just been made for the semi finals. And I'm afraid its going to be a tough one. Any one of them would have been, but I think we were all hoping that we didn't get this one. So Man City it is.

The semi final is the 3rd March, so to make this as exciting as possible, we want some help from the parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles and friends. We want you there, on the touchline shouting for the Warriors. Please come down and show your support, this is going to be a very tough game, and we believe that if we can spur them on, it could just help them to the final. It's a well known fact that teams perform better when they are well supported, so please come and cheer them on.

Happy Birthday

Happy 12th birthday to our Megan Brenchley. We hope you had a great day.

Woodbank Warriors v Broadheath

Well, where do I begin. At the beginning I suppose.
Saturday 10th February 2007. Remember this date.
Everyone knows where they were when JFK was shot, if you’re old enough, where they were when Elvis popped his clogs and when Take That did one. All of those a sad event I know, but worldwide news. This will be another one of those occasions, a sad event to some, (Broadheath management and players) but a momentos one to us. If you were there, then you saw it, if you weren’t then you heard about it. What am I going on about, well Woodbank Warriors finally did it. It was coming, we all new it and had seen the gap getting smaller between The Warriors and the likes of Unicorn and Broadheath. These teams have been a benchmark for us, a level of football that we wanted to be at and overtake. For the last 3 seasons we have come away from these fixtures with a defeat, a ‘well played’ from the opposition management, and a bit of a silent journey home, wondering when we were going to get the better of these teams. Well that didn’t happen this time.

Woodbank Warriors v Broadheath.
During the course of this season, we have played this team twice and come away defeated. Inbetween those defeats we have played Unicorn and Urmston and seen a considerable improvement in our play, coming away defeated but only a goal in it. Urmston getting theirs in the last 5 minutes of play to win 1-0 and the last Unicorn game losing 3-2, coming back from 3-0 and very nearly forcing a draw. We wanted to better this against Broadheath and push them to another level, Broadheath being one of the teams we have never beaten.

The game started in Broadheaths favour, our girls looking a little unsure, and Broadheath took advantage of this by going one up. I did shout to the team 'come on, your playing like a bunch of girls' and it did get a laugh, them being girls and all, but I meant it, they had to up their game and play better, not like girlie girls. I did think for a moment that this was going to be more of the same. The girls were holding onto the ball a little to long, and losing it in our attempt to get forward, but soon realising that to pass and move worked better we started to get the ball forward and cause some problems. I had Beth and Sophie in defence with Bronya just in front as usual. I think something must have clicked with the girls because all of a sudden they moved up a gear, Beth was like a terrier in defence, she didn’t stand off anything, and more than half of the Broadheath team are a good foot taller. Bronya was very strong and although Sophie didn’t want to play in defence, she played well. Our front three were now starting to work well together, with Hannah looking like her old self again, this eventually led to an equaliser from Megan F, all things even again. I thought now, if we could just get in front and hold on in the second half, we could just win this. Just before half time and Emily took a throw in, it landed just in front of Hannah who took it across goal and scored. Half time and we were 2-1 up.

Second half and a couple of changes, Megan on for Hannah and Anna on for Sophie. To be honest the second half is a bit of a blur, the team went into overdrive. There was 2 more goals from Emily to take us to 4-1. Everyone was playing out of their skins.

There was a running commentary going on from John on the phone to Vikki, me to Paul and then Vikki to Sarah. I don’t think anyone could quite believe what was going on.

Back on the pitch and there was one or two occasions when the girls didn’t get back to help defence, as well as Beth and Anna were doing they couldn’t stop everything, and unfortunately meant that Broadheath got themselves a second goal. Fi was playing great and coming off her line was making a difference. I made another double substitution with 15 minutes to go, putting Sophie on for Bronya and Hannah back on for Megan F. This brought us some new energy up front and resulted in 2 more goals one from Hannah and another well taken goal from Emily, bagging herself a hat trick. All we wanted now was the final whistle, and when it came you would have thought we had won the FA Cup.

I don’t know about everyone else who was there, but it was Monday afternoon when I wrote this report, and I still had a silly grin on my face. I am so proud of the whole team, they come to training every Friday, and turn up for games every Saturday, no fail. They have worked hard and thoroughly deserved it. Well done everyone.

The opposition vote for girl of the game went to Emily for a fantastic all round performance and mine went to Beth, who gets better and better in her defensive role. Also it was really great to see Hannah finding her feet again and playing as we all know she can.

Woodbank Warriors vs Cadishead. County Cup Quarter Finals

A win against Cadishead would mean that our Warriors would claim a place in the last four of the Challenge Cup and that’s what they did with ease.
The first half saw some fantastic football from all players but we lacked the final killer punch to turn this into goals.
That was until Bronya came onto the pitch. Almost instantly she took the ball and half the length of the pitch before unleashing an unstoppable shot into the right bottom corner.
Our Warriors dominated the second half with Anna, Beth and Bronya outstanding in defence. The best move of the game started with Megan W taking the ball from defence and passing to Emily. From Emily the ball went to Sophie and then on the Hannah. A superb cross was then brilliantly met by Megan W to shoot beyond the Cadishead goalie.
The final goal was a cracking shot from Hannah who blasted the ball into the right corner.
A three nil win. Into the last four of the Cup. Barhill, Unicorn and Man City are the other teams. Bring them on….
The opposition player of the match was Megan Fielding for another outstanding performance. She just gets better and better. My player of the match went to Megan Williams who is proving she can play in any position, defence, midfield or attack. She also shows amazing coolness to make sure her passes always reach the right player.
Broadheath next week. Its got to be our turn to beat them.

Woodbank Wanderers v Unicorn. County Cup Quarter Finals

Well, after leaving the sun behind in Bury and arriving at Flixton covered in a thick layer of fog, some of us thought this game wasn't going to happen. But luckily the fog lifted just enough for us to see from one end of the pitch to other.

I had Eleanor missing for this game and a rather jaded Megan Brenchley, recovering from a bad cold, so not the best of starts to a quarter final. But after talking to the girls they were still up for it, and I believed them.

The game started with a quick goal from Unicorn who started out strong, and caught us a little off guard. We battled on throughout the first half, a very physical, but fair game, with a couple of our girls ending up on the floor a couple of times, but they got straight back up and carried on. Another goal from Unicorn made it 2-0 at half time.

We got together at half time, swopped Frankie out of goal for Amy, but lost Megan, due to her not feeling to bright, so a straight seven for the second half, and what a half we were in for.

2nd half and not to far into it Unicorn got a 3rd, Izzie got the ball in her face and I had to bring her off, Frankie got a knock and Beth was starting to get a bit fed up. I think that was the turning point. Izzie came back on and played as if possessed, she was on a mission and proved it with a goal. About 3-4 minutes later and Beth bagged one also. Unicorn were suddenly looking worried. The last 10 minutes of this game belonged to us, they kept the ball in their half and had Unicorn fighting for their lives. A couple a great runs by Beth had us all shouting from the touchline, but I'm afraid time was against us. The final whistle went and a look of total relief from the Unicorn sideline said it all. Final score 3-2.

This was definitely the best performance I have seen from the Wanderers. They were up against one of the best teams in the under 12's section, and made them look totally beatable.

Izzie got the opposition vote for her sheer determination and my vote for the first time ever went to the whole team. Not sure if I was meant to do that, but in my eyes there wasn't a single player that didn't perform. Brilliant.

County Cup Knock Out Draw

The draw for the final eight teams in the County Knock Out Cup has now been made. Our Wanderers, who so far have beat both Urmston Town and Flixton to make the last eight, have been drawn against Unicorn. Tough match! The Warriors, who have beat Partington Village, have been drawn aganist Cadishead.
The full draw is as below:

Manchester City vs Sale United

Barhill vs Urmston Meds

Unicorn vs Woodbank Wanderers

Cadishead vs Woodbank Warriors


Matches to be played 3rd February

Woodbank Athletic U11's vs Cheadle & Gatley

Surprisingly, this was our first against this team considering we are at the end of January. We started the brighter and Emily and Lauren were creating chances from early in the game. However both were not having any luck in finding the goal. Isa had volunteered to go in goal for the first half, and although she did not have much to do when called upon she produced a brave save.
With Carly in goal in the second half, the match again went the way of the first half with our forwards making all the chances. Both Emily and Lauren struggled to hit the target, and when they did their goalie was on form and managed to make good saves. Carly saved well when called upon and Shauna was also on top form against a good and fast forward.
So after an hours play the game ended with no goals, 0-0. An unusual score for this league but a great game to watch and I’m sure a great game for the girls to play in too.
They gave the player of the match award to Emily, and although a difficult choice I gave the award to Shauna.

Woodbank Athletic U11's vs Unicorn

This was the first time we had played Unicorn this season after many games against them last season. They are riding high in the league so we expected a tough game. Already without Isa, both Shauna and Zoe were unable to play so we were down to 6 players. However, Unicorn are a friendly team and offered to play a 6 a side game.
A difficult start for us saw Unicorn take an early lead and although we did have some good possession in midfield, we were 0-4 down at halftime. A bright start to the second half was rewarded when Lauren broke through down the right to score for us. In fact for 20 mins we looked the better team, and although Unicorn made it 1-5, we did have some good moves.
In the final 5 mins the girls tired and conceded 4 late goal for the final score to finish 1-9. I gave the player of the match award to Chloe as her brave tackling gets better every game. The opposition player of the match was given to Emily. Well done girls, better luck next week.

Wanderers vs Deans (League)

With both Becks (Ankle) and Amy (Party) missing, our Wanderers were up for a full hours football without any subs. By the end of the game however, it was Deans who were glad to hear the final whistle.
Our well organised Wanderers took Deans apart. Goals from Jenny and Beth in the first half set up a second half exhibition match.
Frankie and Megan were superb, passing the ball around in style. Beth slammed a shot into the top corner to make it 3. Pressure from our Wanderers resulted in a shot from Jenny being deflected to make it 4. Frankie claimed it (Even though she was 100 yards away!!!).
Beth quickly fired another two goals to make her hattrick. Leah was on top form and hit a long distance shot to make it 7.
Then came a goal that was applauded from both sets of parents and managers. Jenny outpaced two players down the left side, brought the ball backwards with the outside of her right foot and unleashed an unstoppable shot into the top of the goal from distance.
I would like to say I taught her how to shoot like that but it was just natural talent.
To finish off another own goal to make it 9. Frankie also claimed this also!!!
Opposition player of the match went to Beth who drove her team on relentlessly like a true captain. I gave my Managers award to Frankie for her sheer cheek of claiming two own goals. Only kidding. She played brilliantly in goal, defence and in attack.
Well done girls.

Warriors v Urmston Meds

This was the 2nd meeting against this team, which are a quality team. The last result was 4-0 to them, so we knew that it was going to be another tough one, but with the close result from the previous week against Unicorn, the girls knew they were easily good enough.

With a full squad, as usual the girls set out strong and defended well, but also created themselves some goal opportunities, with a fantastic left footed effort from Bronya that got pushed over the crossbar by the goalie. Hard work from Emily, Megan Hannah, and some great use of speed from Sophie all made for a much better game than the previous one.

2nd half underway and an offer of cash for goals from Vikky set the Warriors off. But I'm afraid not even that managed to bag us a goal, not that we didn't deserve any. Some fantastic defending again from Anna and Megan W, and top class performance from Beth caused the Urmston attack no end of problems. But 5 Minutes from the end, Urmston gained a corner and headed in a goal. No fault of our goalie Fi who had played faultless throughout. The last 5 minutes saw the Warriors give one last attempt to draw equal, but I'm afraid luck was against us. This game deserved to be a draw.

Some encouraging words from their manager only cemented what we already knew, that our team were definitely an improving side.

My girl of the game went to Fi for a great goalkeeping job and the opposition vote went to Beth for another top class defending role.

Ultimately we would have preferred a draw after that performance but hopefully everyone can see that these games are becoming much, much closer and it is only a matter of time as long as we keep our heads up and keep training and playing the way we are. Well done everyone.

Wanderers v Walshaw Sports

A local derby for the Wanderers this week, with a game against another Bury team. The last time we played Walshaw was in November in a league cup game, we won 5-0.

This game was played in very windy conditions, and after finding a pitch that wasn't waterlogged, we eventually kicked off. The first half was fairly slow, with the wind in front of us, we managed to get 2 goals in with the help of Izzie and a fantastic goal from Jenny, I think everyones mouths fell open at that one.

Second half and a few tweaks to the team, a quick explanation of the game plan, the Wanderers pulled up their socks and got stuck in. 2 more goals from Jenny, which could have easily have been more, plus I think the neighbours were starting to worry about their windows across the road, Jenny was really hammering them home, plus a few near misses. Another from Ell and that made 5.

A good all round team performance from everyone today. My girl of the game went to Ell who worked hard all game, and the opposition vote went to Jenny who was on fire today.

Warriors vs Unicorn (League)

Over the last three seasons Unicorn have only been beaten once in some seventy matches and have been our benchmark. At the end of last season we got beat 9 – 1. This season we have reduced this to a 4 – 1 and a 3 – 1 defeat so already we have seen massive improvement.
At the start of the match I thought I would try a new tactic -- bribery!! ‘If you win, we will take you all to Mega Bowl’. It worked a treat….
Bronya had a mission. ‘Everytime Milly gets the ball, stop her in her tracks’.
That’s exactly what she did and more. Bronya was superb today. I even began to feel a bit sorry for Unicorns Milly…but not for long.
With Milly out of the game, Unicorn struggled to make any impact even with the wind behind them. Beth and Anna both defended superbly. Fi made some brilliant saves. Megan W not only defended but linked impressively with the midfield. At half time Unicorn had managed to scrabble two goals.

The second half was probably one of the best thirty minutes of football I have seen the Warriors play. In the first few minutes Megan W timed a perfect pass to Emily.
She crossed perfectly to Sophie who bravely slid the ball through the goalie into the net.
2 – 1.
Most of the play was now in the Unicorn half. Megan F, Emily and Sophie all linked superbly. Just as we looked like leveling the score, Unicorn hit a long high shot into the back of the net to make it 3 -1. The Warriors responded immediately. Bronya and Hannah both linked to get the ball through to Emily. A pin point cross was met with a magnificent volley from Super Sophie to make it 3 – 2.
The final ten minutes saw an onslaught from our Warriors. The fact Fi hardly touched the ball in the second half said it all. How we didn’t score again I don’t know. I felt slightly disappointed we didn’t at least draw today as the Warriors really deserved more.
Emily was voted opposition player of the match for her all round ability. Sophie got my player of the match for her best performance of the season and for scoring two excellent goals.
The Warriors need fear no team playing like this. Fantastic effort girls.
I reckon a trip to Mega Bowl was well deserved.

Woodbank Warriors v Cadishead

Another meeting for these two, I think this must be game number 3 this season. All meetings have been a comfortable win for us and I think the girls new this. They started off very quickly going ahead with a goal from Emily, then one from Megan Fielding and a really well taken one from Megan Williams who got onto the end of a great free kick from Bronya. But then the Warriors sat back, Cadishead didn't waste the opportunity and put in 2 goals before half time.

After a half time team talk, the girls got their heads together and delivered another 4 goals. 2 corkers from Sophie, 1 great goal from Hannah and another well taken one from Megan Williams. Realising that Cadishead could punish if given the chance, the Warriors pulled their socks up and gave a much better performance in the second half.

Final score 7-2. My players vote went to Megan Williams and Cadishead choosing Emily as theirs.

Wanderers vs Didsbury Juniors (League)

Although Didsbury Juniors were much improved, they never threatened our determined Wanderers. Izzy, Ele and Frankie all shared goal keeping duty but hardly touched the ball due to the superior defending and attacking of the Wanderers. Becks was solid in her preferred defensive role. Megan, Amy and Izzy all fought in midfield while Beth, Ele and Jenny peppered the Didsbury goal with shots.
Todays top performance though belonged to Leah who showed new found confidence scoring twice and unlucky not to complete her hattrick. Maybe more of our girls need to go Christmas shopping with their boyfields!! Only kidding Leah..
Goals from Beth and Jenny made the final score 4 – 0.
The opposition player award went to Jenny who improves with every match. My player award went to Leah. Well done girls. Much better performance than last week. Same again next week.

Warriors vs Man City Ladies (League)

This was our first game of 2007 and who best to play in our first match – Man City Ladies!!
I am sure we all have strong opinions on the behaviour of the parents and managers of this team but I’m going to concentrate on our girls who displayed unrelenting effort, bravery and great team spirit.

Although our girls were on the defensive for most of the first half, we matched the physically stronger and older Man City team in all areas.
Anna, Beth, Meg W and Bronya stopped all Man City could throw at them. Hannah made some determined runs. Fi was superb with some stunning fingertip saves.
City finally broke the deadlock with a goal just before half time.
In the second half the heavy ground and Man City’s physical strength started to show. City scored another five goals to make the final score 6 – 0.
However there were some top performances today.
Sophie was outstanding and looked the most likely to score with one effort just clipping the post. She covered every blade of grass and never stopped running.
Megan F gave yet another display of determination and she improves with every match. This was rewarded with the opposition player award.
Emily gave a proper Captains performance leading the team with a display of effort, skill and determination.
However my Managers Player award went to Beth who tackled without regard to the physical size of some of the City players. Great performance Beth! Keep it up.

Our Woodbank Girls should hold their heads up high. Maybe the Man City parents and manager can learn from the professional attitude of our girls. For me there was only one winning team today and they weren't wearing a blue kit!!!

Woodbank Wanderers v Poynton

Well, this was the first game back after Christmas, and 2007 kicked off with a tough opponent. This was our 2nd meeting and the result from the first game being a very close 1-0 win to them, I kinda hoped it would be another close game.

I think our girls were still full of Christmas pudding and Cadbury's Heroes though, the game started off OK, we were holding our own and defended well enough. But eventually Poynton started to pass the ball around very well, and this caused some real problems and they managed to put in 2 very quick goals. We managed to get one back with a very well struck ball from Jen, great goal. Half time and the score was 3-1. Not an impossible goal difference to pull back from and the girls were starting to play better in the last 10 minutes of the first half, so I had a fairly positive attitude for the 2nd half.

I'm afraid that Poynton didn't share my thoughts, as they basically came out and caused some real damage, final score a disappointing 9-1. I think that on another day when the Wanderers are playing as I know they can, this score could have been very different, so I think we draw a line under this one and concentrate on the rest of the season.

Oh, and this Friday, we will be practicing throw-ins.

My girl of the game went to Beth and the opposition chose Ell as theirs.

Woodbank Christmas Do

Hello
Here's a pic from the 'christmas do' we thought you all would like to see.

See everyone at training tonight, plus please could we start calling in the January subs. There a few things that we need to pay this month and I'm afraid we need yer cash.

Many thanks

Happy Birthday

Another birthday to shout about, this time Bronya thought we wouldn't know, but we did. We know everything.

Happy birthday Bronya from everyone at Woodbank Girls F.C.

Happy New Year

Hello everyone
Happy new year to you, hope everyone is fit and well and ready for 2007.

Christmas went too fast, but very enjoyable, especially the Christmas do. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves.

Training this Friday 5th Jan. We expect to see everybody there, there are some tough games coming up and this Saturday the Warriors play Man City and The Wanderers play Poynton.

See you all on Friday