Mini Soccer Report for First Half Cup Finals

On the 17th December 2006 Rushall Olympic FC played host to the WJYFL’s first half cup Finals. Sixteen teams, four at each age group, had qualified to their respective semi final stages. After heavy rain on the Friday had cast doubt that the games would go ahead, the sun came out on the Sunday morning to provide the perfect backdrop to a feast of football action which resulted in Shire Oak Gunners winning the Joe Wharton Memorial Shield and Tipton Town taking the John Schwartz Shield. In the Under 9’s section Tigers United won the Dereck Tarbuck Memorial Cup, while at Under 10’s it Wednesfield Youth North who were victorious in the Ron Hughes Memorials shield.

Under 10’s-The Ron Hughes Memorial Cup
The second round draw provided a succession of really close ties. It was just the odd goal that saw Pelsall Villa beat Tower FC, Wyrley Juniors overcome Tipton Town, Silverdale A beat Park Hill Boys and Tettenhall Wood succeed against Cresswell Wanderers. Three other ties went to penalties with Hednesford Town beating Beechdale 3-2 after the score was 1-1 after extra time; Division 1 leaders Wednesfield Youth North were level 1-1 with FC Strollers after extra time but finally won 3-2 on penalties, whilst Shire Oak Allstars and Holy Name enjoyed a 3-3 goal fest with Holy Name winning 3-2 in the penalty shoot out. The Ashmore Park derby saw Ashmore Park Rangers beat Ashmore Park Rangers 06 by four goals to one to complete the quarter final line up.
In the quarter finals, last seasons first half cup winners, Ashmore Park Rangers went through to the semi finals with a 4-2 win over Hednesford Town.; Pelsall Villa A overcame Wyrley Juniors by two goals to one, and another close tie saw Silverdale A beat Tettenhall Wood 2-1. Wednesfield Youth North showed good form in the other quarter final as they beat Holy Name 6-0.
The semi finals stage saw Ashmore Park Rangers put on an impressive performance against Pelsall Villa A as they won 4-0 with goals from Rhys Horton, Jack Potts, Billy Jukes and Harry Cunningham. The second semi final was a particularly competitive game with few chances coming to either side, but with the score 0-0 at half time it was Wednesfield who put a series of passes together for Danny Hall to score the decisive goal 5 minutes into the second half.
The final was a repeat of last years first half cup tie, but it was Wednesfield’s turn this year to get their hands on the silverware. Within a minute of the kick off Danny Hall put Wednesfield into the lead. Ashmore Park did recover from the early setback, and both teams created some half chances, but the game was made safe when Reece Rafferty got Wednesfields second mid way through the second half.

Under 9’s-The Dereck Tarbuck Memorial Cup
The second round saw good wins for Tipton Town (4-1 against Hednesford Town), Wednesfield FC (4-1 against Pelsall Villa A) and Great Barr Harriers (Bye). Shire Oak Lions and Shire Oak Saints both had 2-0 wins against Cheslyn Hay Eagles and Dulwich respectively to set up an all Shire Oak quarter final, while a last minute goal for Tigers United was enough to give them a 2-1 win against Bush Blades. There were also two surprise results as Wyrley Panthers (Div.2) beat Silverdale A (Div.1) by 1-0, and Brownhills Community Colts (Div.3) beat Ashmore Park Rangers (Div.1) by 2-0.
In the quarter finals the Shire Oak derby saw Saints win a close game against Lions by 2-1. Tipton Town put on a strong performance to beat Great Barr Harriers by 4-1, and Tigers United beat Wednesfield FC 2-0. Brownhills Community put on another good performance to beat Wyrley Panthers 1-0 to complete the semi final line up.
The first semi final saw current Division one leaders, Tipton Town, against second placed Shire Oak Saints. In a close game it was Shire Oak who took established a 1-0 lead in the first half and then consolidated their lead in the second half with two further good goals to run out 3-0 winners, with goals from Keiren Nelson and Jordan Newall(2). Tigers United put on an impressive performance against Brownhills Community to run out winners by 4-0, with goals from Thomas Jones (2), Leon Roberts and Marlon Hill.
The Final put Shire Oak Saints, last years first half cup champions, against Tigers United, whose league form this year has put them currently to a mid table spot. However, it was Tigers United who came out on top in a close contest, as goals from Thomas Jones and Leon Roberts for Tigers was enough to beat Jordan Newall’s goal for Shire Oak Saints.

Under 8’s-The John Schwartz Shield
The second round cup matches saw good wins for: Wednesfield Boys (3-0 against Shire Oak Spartans), Cheslyn Hay FC (3-0 against FC Strollers), Shire Oak Strollers (2-0 against Pelsall Villa Colts) and DDC Colts (4-0 against Wednesbury SU). Tipton Town A, winners of the first half cup in 2005-06, had a bye, while Lane Head Eagles and Brewood Junior Colts had 2-1 victories against FC Premier and Blakenall Harriers respectively. Wyrley Tigers 1-0 win against Cresswell Wanderers completed the quarter final line up.
Wednesfield Boys and DDC Colts both had convincing 3-0 wins against Lane Head Eagles and Brewood Junior Colts respectively, while Shire Oak Strollers beat Cheslyn Hay FC 1-0, and runaway Division one leaders, Tipton Town A could only manage the same score against Wyrley Tigers.
In the Semi Finals Shire Oak Strollers played Wednesfield Boys in a match where both teams played great football, but neither team could score. The game went into extra time, but the score still stayed at 0-0, and so it went to penalties, with Wednesfield Boys winning the shoot out by 2-1. In the other semi final Tipton Town put on an impressive performance to beat DDC Colts 4-1 with goals from Yan Danda (2), Jak Hickman and Akeal Rehman overcoming Keiran Scrivens solitary goal for DDC Colts.
The Final was a repeat of 2005-06 final between Tipton Town and Wednesfield Boys, and unfortunately for Wednesfield the outcome was the same. Another close game saw a brace from Jak Hickman enough to overcome a Jake Brooks goal for Wednesfield.

Under 7’s-The Joe Wharton Memorial Shield
There were comfortable second round wins for Wyrley Juniors (4-0 against Cresswell Wanderers) and Shire Oak Gunners (4-0 against Blakenall Harriers). Tipton Town beat FC Bloxwich Sharks by 2-0, and there were 1-0 wins for Wednesfield FC (against Brewood Juniors), Bentley Community (against Lane Head Raiders), Pelsall Villa Colts (against Hednesford Town) and Ashmore Park Rangers (against Shire Oak Swifts). A 2-1 win for Bush Juniors against Bustleholme FC completed the quarter final line up.
The quarter finals started with Tipton Town continuing their good form with 4-0 win against Wednesfield FC. There were 1-0 wins for Shire Oak Gunners against Wyrley Juniors and Ashmore Park Rangers against Bush Juniors. The final quarter Final match saw Bentley Community draw 1-1