Match Report April 20th Wirral Vets 2 Eastham Vets 2

Match Report April 20th Wirral Vets 2 Eastham Vets 2

A bare eleven today after some late cry offs meant for a tough game in the baking sun with Eastham having something of an advantage being able to rotate three substitutes. Wirral however took the lead only for a freakish cross to float into the top corner to level matters ten minutes into the second half. Wirral had played okay in the first but the game began to turn in favour of the visitors after their equalizer, as Wirral relentlessly squandered possession and went long too often in an impatient attempt to find a response. Eastham began to win most of the one on ones, looked the more likely to score and sure enough earned a legitimate penalty after a shove by Mortimer in the box. It looked like Wirral would lose but a free kick from the edge of the box was only parried by the Eastham keeper under pressure from Clarke and Downing slotted after a miscued clearance by an Eastham defender. Barely deserved after a poor performance but just in the nick of time with a couple of minutes to go.

Match Report April 16th Wirral Over 45's 1 Northop Hall Old Boys Over 45's 0

A good game at Heswall this one. Some decent football played by both sides at times on a hard surface. A few half chances and lots of interplay around the Northop eighteen yard box couldn't bring a goal but with Clarke making way for Ellis the sub got on the scoresheet almost immediately with a neat clipped , left footed finish from ten yards out. Despite Wirral having the ball in the net again in the second half the scoreline remained the same for the remainder of the game though Northop nearly scored twice from a clever flicked header which went just past the post and another that hit the post. It would have been harsh on Wirral if Northop had scored as they had dominated large parts of the game.

Match Report April 6th Liobians 1 Wirral Vets 4

A scoreline which perhaps flattered the visitors but another convincing win by the same scoreline as earlier in the season. Wirral played some good stuff though Liobians looked occasionally dangerous on the counter. After Wirral had taken the lead, Liobians were perhaps unfortunate not to level on a couple of occasions as defensive mix ups meant they hit the bar and post. However, Wirral made their chances count with debutant Cooper scoring and the defence being well marshalled by Mort and Fowley. Three nil should have been game over but when Clarke missed a one on one with the keeper Liobians clawed one back a couple of minutes later. A fourth from Cato sealed the game though. Despite there being some controversy over whether or not the whole ball had crossed the line, Liobians can have few complaints about the result as they were pretty much outplayed in key areas throughout the match.

Match Report March 30th Wirral Vets 1 Port Sunlight 2

A tight affair in which the Blues definitely should have had at least a draw.
Port Sunlight started much better and it was a very nervy opening twenty minutes with the away side forcing a host of corners and putting a lot of balls into the six yard box.
Having subsequently gone behind to something of a grass cutter, bobbling in past three defenders, the Blues then settled into the game and began to get a bit of a foothold in the game.
Just after the start of the second half the hosts equalized but almost immediately fell behind again after a defensive mix up.
Port Sunlight played the more composed football between the two eighteen yard boxes, which isn't surprising given the difference in age range between the two sides, but they didn't really create that many clear chances. Wirral will be kicking themselves that, having given the visitors a big advantage in terms of average age of players, their pace on the counter attack, a really spirited fightback, with a host of chances, didn't yield at least a draw.
At least five clear cut opportunities went begging...on another day Wirral would have won but it wasn't to be, though plenty of encouragement for forthcoming fixtures if we can play with the same attacking intent.

Match Report March 23rd Wirral Vets 1 Liverpool Ramblers 3

A disappointing result this one. A poor first twenty five minutes meant the Blues had to come from a goal down to level. Armitage's performance promised much but was cut short by injury and Downings departure also meant that the Blues were short in certain areas. The pitch was very bobbly, strong sunshine and a team with no one over thirty meant it was difficult for the Blues at times to cope with the Ramblers youngsters running on the counter attack. By the end, the Ramblers were good value for the win but a great chance at 1-2 didn't go in and we were made to pay as the youngsters snatched a third. In sum, Wirral didn't pass the ball anywhere near well enough and didn't move the ball quickly in order to get behind the Ramblers defence often enough. There was far too much pedestrian movement and side to side passing, probing for openings that didn't materialize. Like I said , disappointing.

Match Report March 19th Wirral Vets Over 50's 9  St Mary's Over 50's 2

The Over 50's played a great game this evening ..playing with pace, purpose and endeavour. A hatrick from Canham and four from Clarke (had to get that in !) meant that this turned into a bit of a pasting..

Match Report March 16th 2019 Essemay Old Boys 2 Wirral Vets 6

After a poor first half on the 4G pitch Wirral made an immediate response tell with some good goals after some admittedly dodgy keeping from the Essemay keeper, though fair play to him for having a go at 62 years of age..A late penalty for Essemay made the game edgy for about two minutes at 2-3 but three quick goals in reply killed the game off in favour of the Blues.

Match Report  March 9th 2019 Wirral Vets 4 Chester Nomads 5ths 4 

A game switched to Boughton in Chester due to pitch cancellation on the Wirral; saw Nomads race into a 3-0 half time lead in what was a poor performance from the Blues. However, the fightback started soon after and Wirral clawed their back into the game with goals to make it 1-3, 2-3 but then lost another to make it 4-2 to the "hosts." The change in formation however at half time ensured that Wirral continued to press forward and were duly rewarded for their pressure with two late golas to secure a draw. A late chance for Lightwing however, could have ensured a narrow win for Wirral but perhaps a draw was a fair result overall.

Match Report March 4th 2019 West Kirby Over 45's 0 Wirral Over 45's 4 

A great win for the Blues. Never a 0-4 game, Wirral made West Kirby pay for their poor marking and work rate at the back as Wirral's forward line played with purpose, pace and guile. Though the hosts dominated possession for large parts of the game, with some good forward runs and balls across the Wirral box, the Wirral defence rode it's luck. It was a combination of better finishing and more resolute defending that in the end, earned the win.Goals from Downing, Cartledge Azzi, and Canham took the spoils.

Match Report March 1st 2019 Rhosset Vets 2 Wirral Vets 3 

A strange game this one. A relatively even first half saw both sides create numerous chances with the "youngsters" for both teams causing problems for each team respectively. Some good passing and movement from Rhosset created a couple of shooting opportunities but these mostly tended to be from the edge of the 18 yard box rather than clear cut. Wirral raced into a three goal lead and another early in the second half would almost certainly have killed the contest off but it was the home side who came storming back with two goals to make the last ten minutes a nail biting affair. Though Wirral did have numerous chances to be put daylight between themselves and their hosts, these were spurned. A tighter game than it should have been at the end from a Wirral point of view. 

 Match Report February 23rd 2019 Wirral Vets 1 Eastham Vets 2

A real ding dong battle this one. A scrappy affair at times which saw Wirral go behind about half an hour in. Prior to this, the game had been relatively even with Eastham having the better of the first fifteen minutes with a couple of half chances and a clear header from a corner they should have scored. However, Wirral came back into it and had a couple of very presentable chances too.
The formation wasn't really working however and even despite a switch in tactics, in the second half Wirral didn't really open up the away side often enough despite a couple of half chances from Lightwing and Jones. It was just one of those days.
To make matters worse, a ball into the Wirral box from the right eluded three defenders and Eastham had a somewhat fortuitous second. A poor goal to concede given how tight the game was. This gave Wirral a mountain to climb but Canham reduced the arrears to make the last fifteen minutes a tense affair, despite the goal being a mile offside. Wirral threw the kitchen sink at Eastham but they held firm for the win. Unlucky really but we just didn't create that much on the day.

 

Match Report February 16th 2019 Wirral Vets 2 Chester Nomads Vets 2

A strange one this one. Definitely one that got away as it were, as it should most definitely have been a home win for the Blues. One nil down at half time, despite being on top for much of the first half, a change in formation from 4-5-1 to 4-3-3 brought immediate results as the Wirral side went 2-1 up with about fifteen minutes remaining. A mistake at the back however allowed Chester Nomads the chance of an equalizer which they duly accepted and the game was back all square.Unfortunately, despite laying siege to the Nomads goal for the last part of the game and spurning some glorious chances the game ended all square.

Match Report February 9th 2019

Connah's Quay Vets 0 Wirral Vets 2

A bit difficult to write this report as I wasn't actually there due to illness. Suffice to say that Connah's Quay Vets hadn't lost this season in friendlies so the 2-0 victory was a very well earned one. Reports indicate that the Blues played some really good stuff. Two goals enabled a well deserved away win.

Match Report January 26th 2019

Eastham Vets 0 Wirral Vets 4

A game played in very difficult conditions saw Wirral come out on top in the Plymyards "derby." An even first twenty minutes saw both sides carve out some good opportunities. A well worked goal gave Wirral the lead but shortly afterwards Birkhill had a great chance to equalize for the hosts. Subsequently Wirral were awarded a penalty after a blatant hand ball. The hand ball coming about after an appeal for a foul by Eastham which went unheeded by the referee. At 2-0, Wirral didn't look back and as conditions deteriorated with howling wind and torrential rain, the mud bath of a pitch made the game increasingly difficult. Wirral went on to completely dominate the second half however, scoring two further goals.

Match Report January 20th 2019

Caerwys 2 Wirral Vets 1

An occasionally bad tempered affair this one as Wirral came out on the wrong side of the result against an on average, much younger vets side in Caerwys.
The physically larger Welsh side dominated proceedings early on though as the game wore on Wirral began to come into the game and dominate, gave a very good account of themselves and were extremely unlucky not to come away with at least a draw in a fiercly contested encounter.
A very disorganized start from Wirral saw them struggle to get to grips with the couple of players just sitting behind the two strikers and the Blues could have been at least a couple of goals down before they did eventually concede.
A phenomenal 30 yard screamer of a free kick from Joplin however soon levelled matters before poor marking at a free kick gave the hosts the lead.
Following this, Wirral had a great chance to equalize just before half time through Armitage and from the start of the second half, laid siege to the Caerwys goal, hitting the bar and missing at least four or five chances that seemed easier to miss. It was just one of those days unfortunately.
The performance was a real credit to the Wirral side who showed lots of grit and detremination and showed, once again that they are always prepared to have a go and will give anyone a real tough game on their day. The only missing ingredient today was putting the ball in the back of the net and though Carewys had one or two chances on the break, no one would have argued that Wirral were worth at least a draw.

Report January 13th 2019

Northop Hall Nomad Supervets 1 Wirral Supervets 4

An evening kick off for the third fixture in Over 45's/Over50's fixtures against Northop and another victory for the Blues. A relatively even first twenty minutes gave way to a period of dominance from the visitors as Canham gave Wirral the lead only for the home side to equalize shortly afterwards. However, three second half goals for the Wirral side, two from Canham and one from the rercently returned Ellis gave Wirral the win. A good game with some good football played on the astro turf at Connah's Quay.

Match Report January 12th 2019

St Mary's Vets (Crosby) 1 Wirral Vets 1

A very disappointing result for the Blues today. A very even first half hour was played in horrendous wind. It made for a scrappy game in which neither side managed to really carve out clear chances save for a snap shot from St Mary's from the edge of the eighteen yard box which flew over. However, good work from Mortimer wide on the left and good link up from Joplin engineered a chance for Lightwing which he duly accepted to give the Blues the lead ten minutes before the break. There were a couple of other half chances for the Blues as the Wirral outfit finished the stronger against the much younger first half team of St Mary's.
The second half was total one way traffic as Wirral created a host of golden opportunities but couldn't find the back of the net. This proved their undoing as with five minutes to go and with their only "on target" shot of the second half, St Mary's equalized. This was totally against the run of play. However, even given for a couple of Wirral errors in the build up, it was still a good finish. Some credit must go to St Mary's for staying in the game with a real, senior vets side and coming out of it with a result.

Match Report January 5th 2019

Wirral Vets 4 Liobians 1

A scoreline which perhaps flattered the Blues but a rather bad tempered affair at times was settled with two goals early in the second half. The game had started well for Liobians. They exerted a considerable amount of pressure on the Wirral goal for the first half an hour or so.. although clear cut chances were limited to a clean through, one on one situation which the Wirral keeper managed to save. Wirral's opening goal therefore came somewhat against the run of play, though Armitage had looked dangerous on the counter attack..a nice move from Jones on the left and cut back across the area let to Wirral getting on the score sheet. Two further goals were added after the break and though Liobians got one back a fourth shortly afterwards from Joplin meant Wirral took the spoils.

Match Report November 10th 2018

Chester Nomads FC 2-Wirral Vets FC 3

A good result today against a strong Vets side in Chester Nomads. The first twenty minutes were poor from Wirral with possession being relentlessly being conceded to Nomads for throw ins and corners. Wirral however, were pretty solid from these set pieces and defended their eighteen yard box well. When Wirral did break they caused the Chester rearguard one or two issue and it was from one of these situations that Wirral scored their first from the penalty spot after Anthony was rather needlessly brought down by a Chester defender.
Morty sored from the resulting spot kick and Wirral added a second eight minutes later, again somewhat against the run of play as a move down the left resulted in the keeper falling backwards pawing a near post strike out only a couple of yards. Luckily for Wirral , Mark Ellis reacted quicker than the two nearby defenders and slotted home for 0-2.
A couple of changes at half time didn't unduly upset Wirral's play but Chester reduced the arrears with a decent strike into the bottom left hand corner from around twenty yards out.
Shortly after though Wirral effectively put the game to bed with a third, terrific goal involving seven or eight passes and Anthony slotting from the square ball across the area from Phil Lightwing after good work from Chris.
Chester pulled one back from a corner with a looping header but ran out of time and Wirral took the spoils in a well contested and somewhat physical encounter that will have done neither sides fitness levels any harm.