North Valleys Girls Cup:Pendle Forest Girls U11s 1-4 TCFC U11s Girls (A)A sunny winters day for a great quarter final and, a pitch that was in excellent condition. TCFC were on fire this morning and but for hitting the post on four occasions and the ball getting stuck in the mud on three it would have been double figures today. Pendle Forest have come a long way in the last couple of years and are always willing to work hard. Again with Megan missing, TCFC played with 1 at the back, four in midfield and 1 up front. Danielle reads the game very well and senses danger so Sammy had very little to do in goal. The midfield four of Sophie, Hannah, Lauren and Laura controlled the game and created some great goals, in the main scored by Saffy. Saffy worked really hard and scored another superb Hat-trick and is joint top scorer in the league, an accolade she hopes to regain this season. The best goal of the game saw Saffy break from the TCFC box, on the left, ran, leaving the defenders chasing the length of the pitch and fired the ball to the keepers right, fantastic goal. The other goals were great team goals and were created by a series of quality passes, one goal was almost one touch football. So well played to Saffy for the hat-trick earning you the MOM award this week and well played to a very convincing TCFC side who are through to the semi's. Thornton's Man of the Match:Saffron Q ------ West Lancashire Girls LeagueCrosby Stuart Girls U15s 1-7 TCFC U15s GirlsAt last a game and a report !!!!! It was 19th November since the last competitive game and the first 20 minutes or so showed it had been a while. The girls started slow and could not get into the game. Crosby Stuart in fact were the first team to score and it was a well taken goal at that. After about 20 minutes Thornton did start to find their range of passing although this was made difficult by the strong winds and uneven bounce. Thornton's first goal came through the left hand side Jade T winning the ball from the Crosby Stuart attacker and laying a nice ball into the feet of Chloe S who in turn sent a lovely ball into the feet of Sally P. Sally looked up and delivered the ball to Leah H who slotted home. Leah was provider in the next Thornton goal, Leah crossed the ball into the busy Sally P who riffled home a curling shot. Sally P was again on the score sheet for Thornton's 3rd goal after more good work down the left from Chloe S. Thornton's passing was starting to improve and there was plenty of chances, down the right hand side Natasha I and Tamara F who always seem to be on the same wave length, were starting to cause problems for the defenders. Sally P completed her hat trick and Thornton's 4th goal in the first half. Great work from Chelsea W who I have to say had a great game winning most tackles but could not hit a barn door in front of goal. Chelsea played the ball out wide for Leah to deliver the cross again for Sally to score. Thornton started the half slow again but after a change bring Leanne B back into the holding role in midfield. This stabled the midfield and allowed Thornton's attacking midfielders to get further forward. Leanne has taken this position and made it her own. Thornton's 5th goal was scored by Tamara F, young Natasha I playing a lovely ball into the feet of Sally who laid it into the path of Tamara to finish coolly. Thornton had to be alert at the back Jade, Chloe and Natasha were dealing with most things Crosby throw at them but when they did get through Rachael S was at hand to deal with the chances. Chloe S scored the 6th goal and what a goal some how it fell to Chloe who struck a fantastic shot from 20 yards. Well done Chloe. Thornton's last goal was scored by Leah again a great finish, after good work from Tamara and Chelsea. It was nice to get a game under our belts but this was well short of the high standards the girls have set themselves, I believe the girls know they can play better and will do so in their next game. Thornton's Man of the Match:Chloe S ---- Lancashire Girls League:Euxton Girls U16s 4-3 TCFC U16s GirlsThe first game since 19 November and I was expecting it to show but in the opening few minutes was pleasantly surprised. Over the whole of the 80mins the Thornton Girls had most of the possession, made the most chances on goal and played the better football. But in the periods that we didn't - we got punished. After being 2-0 up early in the first half it was 2-2 at half time with Euxton only having two attempts on goal and both were soft goals to concede. In the second half Euxton went 3-2 up then 4-2 up first a well struck shot from distance that beat keeper Charlotte L and the second a fortunate wind assisted cross from the touch line that looped into the top corner of the net. But from that moment Thornton pushed on, lead by Natalie B and Thornton pulled one back. A good game from both sides, we had chances to take the points but didn't put them away...
Thornton's Man of the Match: Natalie B
----- Blackpool & District League:TCFC U12s 3-4 BJFF U12sBJFF nicked this thrilling match by the odd goal in seven with virtually the last kick of the game. With the scheduled referee failing to turn up, the match started 10 minutes late and so did Thornton - as BJ scored with only 2 minutes gone. It looked ominous for Thornton but after 10 minutes they began to get their act together with Tom S and Callum M giving the BJ defence a torrid time. Unfortunately, they failed to find the net before half time and with the prospect of playing the 2nd half against a very stiff breeze Thornton knew they would have their work cut out to get anything out of the match. However, playing against the wind proved to be easier, as Thornton started to play the better football whilst BJ adopted the long ball tactics used by Thornton in the 1st half. Within 10 minutes of the restart Thornton was level after good passing through midfield Callum M was put through and beat both the keeper and two defenders to put the ball into the net. Minutes later Thornton went ahead when Danny E drove the ball home from 15 yards following a deep cross from Tom S. Thornton were well on top at this stage but couldn’t find the elusive 3rd goal and with every BJ attack Ben C’s penalty area became more heavier and Thornton found it difficult to get the ball away. Eventually the inevitable happened and BJ scored twice in quick succession to lead 3 -2. With time running out Thornton won a free kick 25 yards out and it was BJ’s turn to get bogged down in their area allowing Cain H to strike home through the melee from 12 yards. 3 – 3 would have been a fair result but what was to be BJ’s final attack saw the ball stick in the penalty area yet again and a BJ striker was 1st to react and despatched it into Thornton’s net leaving only time enough for Thornton to kick off before the final whistle blew. It was played with great spirit by both sets of lads, who conducted themselves on the field in the way parents and coaches expect them to. Alex R was Thornton’s man of the match for another flawless performance in defence. ---- Poulton & District League:South Shore U9s A Team 0-0 TCFC U9s RedWind blowing strongly down the pitch, with a smattering of rain thrown in - where else but Common Edge!? A little warmer than last week though. The reds narrowly lost the previous fixture against South Shore so it would be a testing game and the conditions were not going to allow too much pretty football. Wind behind them in the first half the reds took the game to South Shore. Patrick C, captain for the day, had a quiet time of it early on but gathered well on the few occasions the ball got past Harry and Frazer at the back. Both had plenty to do, Harry putting in one or two vitally important tackles to protect Patrick. Frazer’s man marking skills were outstanding; his tackling was confident and effective every time. In midfield, Jacob W ran his socks off, having been given the Centre Midfield role, in a slightly changed line up from last week. On the right of midfield, Lewis W was wreaking havoc with several mazy runs into the last third, whilst linking well with the defence at the same time, helping them to carry the ball to the half way line, particularly in the second half. Rhys K, on the left of midfield was setting the standard for the rest of the team today. He battled his way through this game, put in some hefty challenges, and used the ball well in setting up moves. George M ran into some nice positions, but the final ball didn’t get through to him. One or two passes into George from some of the promising positions that were found, and in his current vein of goal scoring form, he’d have bagged one. It wasn’t to be however, his only real chance came when he was put through one on one with the keeper from the half way line. As he reached a shooting position he shot high and on target and the keeper saved well. Chances were few and far between and the first goal would have probably won it. On came Dan F and Tom B at half time. Tom started brightly and so nearly got on the end of a superb cross from the right by Lewis W, any kind of touch and the ball would have been over the line but his legs couldn’t stretch themselves that far. Dan slotted in well at the back and looks to have found a new dimension to his game back there. Strong in the tackle he cleared the danger well on a few occasions. Playing into the wind this half, they still carved out a few chances but clearing the ball was proving difficult and the team as a whole had to defend together which they did so well. Man of the Match goes to Rhys K for an all round excellent game. He was strong in the tackle, creative with the ball and held the team together in difficult circumstances. Thornton's Man of the Match:Rhys K ----- The views expressed on this page are those of the contributor and the opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the BBC. | 
