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It was a stroll in the woods for Higher Bebington Kelma in their quarter-final tie in The Wirral District Football Association Sunday Junior cup tie, playing hosts to Woodlands FC, running out 7-2 winners.
Paddy Bell led the way with a hat-trick, backed with singles from Liam Atherton, Harris Randles, Tom Weaver, and Joe Batty. Higher Bebington Kelma will meet fellow Division Three rivals Athletic VH, who accounted for Oval FC 1-0 and will guarantee at least one side From The Houlihan’s Birkenhead Sunday Association Football League in the final.
Eastham Rangers are the third team to claim a place in the other semi-final, but due to postponements, there are two other ties from the 2nd and 3rd rounds still outstanding. AFC Tima could make it a fourth club.
Eastham Rangers saw off the challenge of AFC Shore Villa with a 2-1 success thanks to marksmen James Bedews and Kieran Hodgson.
Domestic cup action saw a tremendous game at Coronation Park, Greasby with Division One outfit Wirral Radio visiting Division Two high flyers Saughall FC. The second-round tie in the David Keith Tacy Memorial Cup finished 4-4 after normal regulatory time. Andy Noonan helped himself to a treble and a single from Owen Kelsey for Saughall, while it was a double each for Conor Egan and Josh Ross. Saughall took the tie 5-4 on penalties.
A slight shock result in The Veronica Conway Premier Cup saw Neston Nomads oust Rock Ferry Social 2-0 with two first-half strikes from Luke Blondel to claim a place in the semi-final.
The top two clubs from Division Two met in the Tony Smith Memorial Trophy, with leaders Prenton FC taking the honours 3-0 over Bedford FC (formerly Sheridans). Doing the damage for Prenton FC were Tom Molloy, Luke Wynne, and Joe Povall.
Strikes from Dylan Palmer, Joe Roberts, and Josh Colton were just enough to seal a place in the semi-finals of the Jimmy Core Trophy for Wirral Athletic in a surprise 3-2 result over AFC Rangers who responded via Peter McNulty and Lewis McNight.
Game of the day in The Premier Division saw Dock AFC beat rivals Queens Park with a 2-0 scoreline after Jack Wood and Kieran Hamm netted. The top four is so close now as The Lukes sadly left the league and with the adjusted league table it has become even more interesting.
Corsair PV registered their first maximum points haul with a fine 3-1 win over Lancelyn Glenavon, thanks to a brace from Lewis Clarke and a further effort from Jason Bull.
Great Float S&S sailed to a 5-1 success over KRCT Bidston (Dega Taylor). Bushell Athletic leapfrogged JPL Jets to take pole position In the Maxwell Barbers Division One after a narrow 2-1 victory at AFC Shaftes (Matt Walsh). Finding the net for Bushell were Will McFerran and Ben Evans.
Woodchurch Rovers earned a very credible point in a 2-2 draw with midtable Eastham Rangers Colts (Nathan Saunders, Nathan Rowe) netting for Woodchurch Rovers as Ryan Thompson bagged a pair.
Another surprise result came in Division Two with Barcode FC (Paul Johno, Jake Norton) inflicting a second league defeat on Lions FC (Mark Head).
It was the fish n’ chips, or sometimes known as the ice cream derby, in their first league meeting of the season. Parkgate St Germain took the honours back in October in the Third Division Cup tie (Jimmy Core Trophy) 1-0, but this time it was the turn of Parkgate Panthers who recorded a narrow 1-0 win with Harris Roberts notching the all-important goal from the penalty spot.
West Kirby United, one of four clubs to remain unbeaten in all whole four divisions maintained their fine form at the helm with a comfortable 4-0 scoreline over AFC Raeburn.
The Houlihan’s Birkenhead Sunday Association Football League are now accepting applications from new prospective clubs to join the League for the 2023-2024 season, a limited number of vacancies are available also a proposed Youth Division for the same season that is scheduled to start in August 2024, any Youth clubs that wish to enter two teams can do so, one team will be known as Youth U/18’s and a second team is normally known as a Colts U/17’s, please visit the League website for contact details.
Images: Dock FC (green/white) v Queens Park (white) Credit: Bob Shaw
Premier Division
Division One
Division Two
Division Three
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