Birkenhead Mens 1s 3 Whitchurch Mens 1s 1

Whitchurch travelled to Birkenhead for their first away-game of the season, against a team who immediately put the Whitchurch defence under heavy and persistent pressure.

With the 2s match postponed, Danny Foulkes stepped up to the 1s to combine with James Partington in central defence, flanked by Tom Forster and Airan Jones, and worked well to repel the well-worked plays down both wings.

Marking was tight, with Jones having an exceptional game on the left, often nullifying their right wing’s impact and forcing them to recycle across the pitch.

In the middle Jack Barnes again had a strong controlling role, commanding the centre and getting the ball out wide to Alex Fry and Ben Kimberley in the midfield, and then up to Sam Conway on the right, Nick Cooper in the middle and Fred Egerton on the left.

Cooper and Egerton also stepped up from the 2s and had solid games, helping the 1s get through their player shortage, but were often cut out from the match by a solid midfield and defence combined with a high press from Birkenhead.

That pressure finally told, after several important saves, with a drive down the right ending in a shot being well blocked initially by Paul Leigh in goal but rebounding into the path of a striker and the shot was put away well.

Whitchurch responded strongly and thought they had got an equaliser from a short corner, but Conway’s clean strike through to the back of the net was disallowed as the umpire had blown to give Whitchurch another short corner just as the ball was struck.

It was with some frustration that half time came with the Reds 1-0 down, but the talk from captain Fry was about continuing to do well the things they had been doing well during the first half, whilst maintaining a bit more composure on the ball.

The second half started in the same vein, and some excellent work from all led to a pass from Conway to Barnes to Cooper ending with Kimberley being able to put the ball over the keeper.

Again, Whitchurch thought they had another goal, from Cooper at a short corner, but it was ruled out after some confusion from the umpires over which of the various line markings on the pitch the ball needed to have crossed.

At this point frustrations showed from both teams, and an over-zealous tackle and reaction saw a player from each team receive a yellow-card.

The pressure was back on immediately, and Sturge in goal was instrumental in keeping the scoreline steady: his saves stopped several goals, and allowed the defence to clear with confidence. Unfortunately, a quick sixteen taken from deep in the Reds’ dee was cut out by the retreating Birkenhead forwards and drilled back into the Whitchurch goal.

This was followed shortly by the best goal of the game as Birkenhead put together a flowing move and managed to get a sharp ball through the Reds’ defence to a striker on the back post who was able to guide the ball home for their third.

The game ended 3-1 to Birkenhead, but there were a lot of positives to take from the game: strong defence, good marking, good movement going forward and, perhaps critically, no goals scored from the many short corners that Birkenhead won.

A string showing from Leigh in goal kept the Reds in the game throughout.

Whitchurch are at home next week to Runcorn 3s.