Under 9s:Thornton Cleveleys 0-0 Kirkham Juniors “A”Kirkham played into the wind in the first half, and a strong defensive line of Lewis M and Will H ensured the Kirkham goal was rarely threatened. Neither side looked convincing in front of goal, but the one clear break of the game fell to Adam Dinsley who saw his shot saved brilliantly by the Thornton goal keeper. Second half and with the wind behind them, the Kirkham team began to attack the Thornton defence, but with several moves involving the Kirkham wingers, no goals came, and as Thornton pushed forward, the Kirkham goal keeper, Brody C dealt well with any balls sent towards his box. All in all, a draw was a fair result and both teams can go away happy. Thornton Cleveleys 0-2 Kirkham Juniors “B”In the second game, the Kirkham defensive duo of Sam M and Liam O'F dealt with everything the Thornton team could throw their way and the goal never looked threatened, and no goals were conceded in he first half. After the break and wind assisted, the Kirkham team played some fantastic football, with substitute Liam R causing many problems for the Thornton defence. Mid way through the second half, the break through came, as a loose ball bobbled its way across goal and found Mathew N at the back post who slotted the ball comfortably into the open net. Liam R then got his reward for some fine running, as he saw his first shot saved, but was first to react to the ball and managed to poke the ball into the goal from only a few feet away. The remainder of the game saw Kirkham firmly in control and camped in the Thornton half, but with several missed chances, the game finished 2-0 to Kirkham. A very good opening day performance from the Kirkham squad saw them play some good football and keep two clean sheets. Notable performances came from Will H, Lewis M and an M-O-M performance from Mathew N saw Kirkham pick up four points from their first fixture. Under 10s:Kirkham Juniors 3-1 Thornton Cleveleys “A”Kirkham applied the early pressure, but Thornton responded with an early goal but the KJFC team kept their nerve and earned an equaliser two minutes later when Russ T calmly shot under their keeper after a great pass from Callum F. Both teams maintained a high standard of football with Callum F and Russ T combining well on the left to cause Thornton constant problems. Jack S and Matt Mc in midfield kept Thornton under pressure, and a goal mouth scramble gave Russ T the opportunity to bang in number two. KJFC now dominated play and a passing move involving all of the midfield players giving Callum F the chance to coolly slot in number three to give KJFC a substantial half time lead.
The second half was the reverse of the first - Thornton attacked strongly and required James L to pull of some fine saves. Kirkham fought their way back into the game, and finished the game in attacking mood and were unlucky not to score a fourth in the last minute. Man of the Match:Callum F for a strong performance, plenty of tackling, passing and a well taken goal. Kirkham Juniors 4-1 Thornton Cleveleys “B”After a few minutes testing the opposition, the pressure resulted in an own goal as a Thornton defender turned in a hard goal-bound shot from Dec C. Daniel R and Dec C combined well to set up Josh P who closed quickly on the Thornton goal and scored with a low shot. Thornton tried to narrow the score but Elliot Smith collected the ball on the right, ran forward unopposed and banged in a great shot, high and hard in to the roof of the net. Scott W and James P came on as subs and added some extra energy as Kirkham threatened to run away with the game. Thornton pulled one back and Nathan J pulled off a string of fine saves as Thornton threw everyone forward. The whole Kirkham team had to dig in and James P, Elliot S and Kyle F put in some great tackles to prevent Thornton scoring. Dec slid the ball past the keeper for his second and Kirkham’s fourth. Man of the Match:Nathan Jones a string of great saves that kept the team in front during a tense second half. Under 15s:Roach Dynamos 1-6 Kirkham JuniorsKirkham travelled to Heywood for this First Round tie in the Lancashire FA Under 15s Youth Cup. They came away with a hard-fought win with goals from Carl S, Adam C, Sam Y (2), Glen M and Craig B. | 
