Fylde coast junior football round-up: Blackpool and District Youth League and YMCA

This weekend's football programme in the Blackpool and District Youth Football League took a bit of a battering from the weather but the teams still managed to produce some great football.
Lytham Juniors Under-7s v YMCALytham Juniors Under-7s v YMCA
Lytham Juniors Under-7s v YMCA

This weekend’s football programme in the Blackpool and District Youth Football League took a bit of a battering from the weather but the teams still managed to produce some great football.

On Saturday the Under-7s bravely played all their matches despite the wind and rain and produced some excellent football showing how the players are developing.

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Kirkham played a local derby game between the Blues and Reds, Lytham Blues and Windmills played YMCA Orange and Blacks respectively, while FC Rangers had their first fixture against Lytham Maroons.

The Under-13s saw a very close match between Blackpool Rangers Tangerines and Poulton Town.

Goals from Zico Allen and Ethan Hayes gave Blackpool Rangers a 2-1 win and taking them to joint second with Kobe Moore scoring for Poulton; see pages 24 and 25 for further information.

Kirkham Junior Reds continued with their winning ways, this time beating St Anne’s Diamonds 13-0.

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Scorers for Kirkham were Liam Geraghty (5), Tom Watmough (2), Theo Cunliffe (4), Daniel Rawcliffe and a penalty neatly tucked away by man of the match, goalkeeper Tommy Boustead.

Another close encounter was at Over Wyre where Wyre Juniors took on FC Rangers, the match ending 4-6.

Wyre’s players, producing one of their best games this season, saw two great goals from Adam Stafford and a goal each from Charlie Benn and Will Whiteside.

FC Rangers proved just too strong for Wyre, however with an impressive four goals from Jake Stokes and two from Byron Whittle.

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Sunday saw the wind increase and, despite losing matches, organisers still managed to get some fixtures played.

In the U14s Foxhall took on FC Rangers and came out winners 11-3, moving them up to third place in the division by way of overtaking their opponents.

Poulton FC proved too strong for Squires Gate Titans who never gave up and competed to the last whistle.

Poulton won 8-0 and their scorers were Conna Smith (4), Sol Mattatia and Will Hooper.

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FC Rangers Blues ran out 7-1 winners over Thornton Cleveleys Whites.

Their goalscorers were Daniel Lydon (4), Taylor Fort (2) and Nathaniel Gili-Ross.

The Under-18s managed to survive and produced the shock of the day with Foxhall Hoops beating Clifton Rangers 3-0.

The strong, gusty wind proved a leveller and the game was end-to-end with both teams producing attempts on goal.

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The decisive moment came when, following a goalmouth scramble and Clifton players failing to clear the ball, Danny Fletcher popped up at the back post and sidefooted itinto the goal.

This spurred Foxhall on and, after a run down the wing, Robert Flanagan cut in and stroked the ball past the keeper.

Clifton never gave up and spurned several chances before the ball went down the other end.

That was where Daniel Gallagher-Parker was tripped in the box and a penalty awarded.

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Robert Flanagan stepped up and calmly sent the keeper the wrong way.

YMCA’s Under-13s were 6-2 winners against Squires Gate as the two sides contributed well to an entertaining contest at Seafield Road last Sunday.

Despite the strong wind making conditions difficult, YMCA took the lead after just three minutes, when after the ball was twice cleared off Gate’s line, Noah Mawene finally forced the ball into the net.

YMCA doubled their lead just four minutes later when Mawene cut in from the right, was brought down inside the area and then netted the resulting spot-kick.

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However, a retake was ordered because of an infringement but Mawene had no trouble in finding the corner of the net again.

Gate came more into the game as the half wore on and gave the YMCA defence some anxious moments, particularly from some dangerous corner kicks.

Just before the break they pulled it back to 2-1 by scoring from a 30-yard free-kick.

YMCA started the second half well and soon restored their two-goal advantage but Gate were still showing plenty of spirit.

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They brought the score back to 3-2 with another spectacular long-range free-kick but they were reduced to 10 players in the latter stages of the game.

YMCA duly cashed in with three further goals to seal victory.

The outstanding Mawene completed his hat-trick in the second half, Owen McConnell claimed a pair with Kaiden Pirrie also on target.

Yash Passi impressed throughout for YMCA with Elliott Collings also notable.

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YMCA’s Under-16s also won as they prevailed 6-3 against Euxton Villa in the third round of the Lancashire FA Cup.

While many games throughout the county were washed out as a result of Storm Brian, Sunday’s tie at Chorley managed to survive the weather.

YMCA settled down well, eastablishing the upper hand in the first half and deservedly taking a 3-1 lead into the half-time interval.

They remained in control after the restart and added a further three goals with the home side claiming another consolation.

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The outstanding Ruben Shaw scored twice for YMCA with Toby Grant, Callum Muir, Louis Plum and the impressive Jeorge Coulthard their other marksmen.

Spencer Baxendale also shone following his recent return back to the club.

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