The winners were: -

Matt Harrison Memorial Shield for Team of the Year – awarded to the Under 18s Girls who played 26 won 26, scored 257 goals, went 41 games undefeated, won the League and Cup and also the County Cup.
Walmsley Endeavour Shield – awarded to Under 11s Tigers who reached a Cup Final in Division 1 of the Walsall Junior Youth league, despite playing most of the season with a shortage of players
Jo Stoddart Memorial Shield for Clubman of the Year – awarded to Keith Hardy for his efforts in getting Long Lane off the ground.
Ben Young Memorial Shield for Club Player of the Year – awarded to Emily Quimby from Under 18s Girls who scored 29 goals from midfield including 3 straight from corners and 23 from outside the box. Emily also helps coach 2 WJFC teams, referees and won an award from Staffs FA last year.

Well done to all our winners.

We will be having a formal presentation of the trophies at one of our monthly Managers’ meeting early in the new season.

Any player aged 16 or over looking to join a team that has ambitions to get to the Midland Combination miniumum, should contact Keith on 07836202764 for more information.

Highlights for each girl: -

Nia Jay – had little to do and held on well to a number of long range efforts
Leah Fanning – overlapped all night and linked up well with Laura Cumberledge
Amy Marshall – despite the windy conditions, her confidence was back to previous levels and came out of defence well on a number of occasions
Cath Davis – won everything in the air and came close with a header from a corner
Dom McKee – her strength was again evident and her long balls caused havoc
Laura Cumberledge – her opening goal set the tone and she worked tirelessly
Laura Lindsay – dominated midfield with Emily and came close from two headers
Emily Quimby – in addition to her usual array of fine passing, she closed down at every opportunity
Hayley Turner – fashioned a number of crosses in the second half that should have led to more
Rachel Hall – chased everything and was rewarded with a fine goal
Sophie Shorrock – worked very hard (I saw her jump for a header too!) and her left footed goal was excellent
Jemma Clews – combined very well with Sophie and Rachel and her third goal was unstoppable

A fantastic achievement from the girls: -

Played 26 Won 26
Unbeaten in 41 games since January 2010
257 goals scored in the season
Treble winners including the County Cup (only 1 of 3 Wyrley teams to have won a County Cup in 29 years).

But above all they have been a joy to coach and play the game as it should be played – on the ground with a passing style that I would pay to watch. Well done girls – you deserve everything you have achieved through hard work, commitment and dedication.
The Manager was extremely proud and lucky to coach such a talented bunch! Well done girls!

Wyrley made it a 100% record in the league – played 18 won 18 – against a very hard working Marston Green team who were determined to spoil the party.
Despite having the lion’s share of territory and possession, Wyrley fashioned very few clear cut opportunities in the first half. Rachel Hall had a 1 v 1 with the keeper who blocked her effort and Sophie Shorrock had a couple of half chances that were quickly closed down. Marston Green’s efforts were limited to a number of corners. With Wyrley looking sluggish and Marston Green giving no space, Marston Green took the lead from a 25 yard free kick that eluded Nia Jay in goal.
This kick started Wyrley into action, with their passing game now coming to the fore. A loose ball fell to Emily Quimby, 25 yards out, and her swerving drive smashed into the net to give a 1 – 1 half time score line.
A much more attack minded Wyrley took control of the game but just could not finish in front of goal. Sophie Shorrock, who was hampered by losing her contact lens after only 20 minutes of the game, had three oportunities that just went wide or were well saved. Jemma Clews also had a couple of shots that went close and the move of the game – probably more than 15 passes from front to back – saw Quimby feed Shorrock. She backheeled to Clews who slotted the ball through to Laura Lindsay who saw her shot well saved by the excellent keeper. Laura Cumberledge caused problems on the left and her crosses were either cleared or subsequent shots claimed by the keeper.
With only 5 minutes remaining it looked like Marston Green would hold out for a brave point, but the quality and determination in this Wyrley team came to the top. A clearance from the keeper fell to Quimby just 12 metres inside her own half – she took one touch to bring under control and then let fly. The ball sailed over the keeper and into the net. The girls weren’t finished and Clews also gave an example of the qualities that runs through the side.
She received the ball 30 metres out, shifted it to her right and crashed home a magnificent shot that must have brushed the crossbar and the post – so close was it to the corner or the goal. NO keeper would have got near it – at any level of football!

The result was perhaps a little harsh on Marston Green who defended for their lives in the second half but on another day with better finishing the game would have been out of sight after 70 minutes.

Summary of the girls: -

Nia Jay – almost clawed the ball out for the goal. Had few other shots to save.
Dom McKee – mixed in a number of fine through balls with her driving runs. Showed her strength to recover the ball on a number of occasions.
Amy Marshall – worked well in tandem with Lauren and made a number of great timely interceptions
Lauren Gilbert – candidate for girl of the game with a determined performance including some crashing last ditch tackles. Came close with a header from a corner.
Cath Davis – came on after being out for 4 weeks with a broken wrist and soon slotted back into position
Leah Fanning – had a number of driving runs in the first half and also defended well.
Laura Cumberledge – her pace was used effectively and a number of low crosses could have resulted in more goals
Laura Lindsay – had two opportunities to score and put in a good shift on the wing
Beth Crook – slotted back into midfield after Sophie’s contact problem and was her busy self doing the simple stuff well
Emily Quimby – led by example and her 2 goals were tremendous
Rachel Hall – led the line well and had a couple of half chances to open the scoring
Sophie Shorrock – hampered by vision problems after being hit in the face with the ball but still had 3 opportunites that just went wide
Jemma Clews – started on the right but her quick feet and close control caused problems. And the goal? Spectacular doesn’t describe it! A goal fitting to cap off a magnificent league campaign for the girls.
Saff Hicken – an injury which I will not describe (!), meant that she was an unused substitute.

Well done girls – this is an achievement you can be rightly proud of. One that can only be equalled but not beaten.

The girls now move on to Chelmsley Town FC on Thursday evening for the Open Cup Final.

Wyrley took an early lead and soon doubled it, before being pegged back with perhaps the only opportunity Longbridge had in the game. Wyrley then moved through the gears to maintain attack after attack. Despite this, the Longbridge girls never dropped their heads.
Goal scorers were Sophie Shorrock 4, Emily Quimby 3, Rachel Hall 2, Jemma Clews 1, Laura Lindsay 1, Laura Cumberledge 1 and Lauren Gilbert 1.

Highlights for each girl: -

Nia Jay – distributed the ball well
Leah Fanning – as usual, moved forward well and had a couple of close attempts
Dom McKee – her usual driving forward runs and mixed in with some simple effective passing
Amy Marshall – snuffed out everything that came her way
Lauren Gilbert – scored her first goal for Wyrley with a brave header at the far post
Rachel Hall – her first goal was well taken, a smart turn on the edge of the box and a powerful shot into the far bottom corner
Laura Lindsay – gave a lesson in simple passing and took her goal well
Emily Quimby – 3 powerful efforts from outside the box for her goals, including the third that still has the post shaking before going in. Even completed a ‘Dom’ turn!
Becky Jones – linked up well with Jemma and Sophie and put in numerous dangerous crosses
Laura Cumberledge – also took her goal well and fed Leah when overlapping
Sophie Shorrock – scored 4, closed down well and ALMOST jumped for the ball when heading just over
Jemma Clews – scored from the spot after a handball amd her all round game was very good

Wyrley now have one more league game and the Open Cup Final left to complete an exceptional season.

Keith Hardy and his family were also pleased to see United win the League – again!

Wyrley claimed their 5th top division title in 7 seasons with a performance against a rejuvinated Longbridge team that should have been over at half time – the number of chances that were spurned.

Wyrley were shorn of 8 players and arrived with 10 players to match the home team numbers. Longbridge pressed the ball well across the park and many goal bound efforts were blocked. Dom McKee, Sophie Shorrock and Jemma Clews all had efforts that found a Longbridge body in the way. Emily Quimby opened the scoring with a fine strike into the top corner from the edge of the box.
Due to absences, 4 girls had to play out of position and although the passing was good at times, the finishing could have been better.
Becky Jones, despite suffering pain after a minor foot operation in the week, still turned out and she doubled the score with another shot from the edge of the box into the corner. Wyrley continued to seek goals but Longbridge halved the lead with a free kick from 30 yards – their first strike on goal but reward for the effort they had put in to deny us space.
A foul on Jones led to Quimby hitting a sweet free kick over the keeper to again open up a two goal gap. Unfortunately, a rare corner from Longbridge was turned into the net for an own goal.
Nerves were settled with 5 minutes to go. A wriggling run from Sophie Shorrock led to her been fouled and although the resultant penalty was saved, she put away the rebound to clinch the win.
Praise must be given to Longbridge for the effort they put in.

Wyrley clinched the league with a current margin of 5 points with 2 games remaining. Well done girls!

June 1st marks the start of the one month in the year when organised football matches need approval from the County FA. From this date onwards, players start looking ahead to next season and who they will play for.

Players move for one or more of the following reasons: -

- friendship base is stronger elsewhere
- the elements of having fun and enjoyment is greater elsewhere (the main reasons why players play football!)
- the quality of the coaching and the continuous development of the coach is better elsewhere
- the style of football is felt to be better
- the professionalism of the manager and new team is thought to be better e.g. organisation, communication, website etc (interestingly, we have 2 managers of teams at Cresswell & RPS who are members of our website)
- the reputation of the new club and manager within their leagues, County Association and peers is better
- other opportunities within the new team/club – e.g. tournaments, free physio etc
- facilities are better
- existing coaches criticise performance unfairly and lose players as a result
- some players (or perhaps parents) want to move to a winning team

If you are reading this does it ring any bells with you – is that why players leave your team? Can you change how you develop yourself; how you motivate your team and how you communicate? The key thing for me is to ensure the players have fun and enjoy the few hours they are involved with the team.

I still hear stories of Managers contacting players of other teams on social networking sites such as Facebook. We have guidelines already – within the Safeguarding Children tab on this website – stating that minors should not be contacted or become ‘friends’ without the express approval of their parents.
I also hear stories of parents of a player in another team being contacted and asked ‘over a pint’, ‘what do I need to offer you for your child to come to play for me?’.
Certainly the above should not be carried out.

As mentioned above, we are now entering the close season when parents can be contacted to invite players along for training to ‘see if their child likes what they see’ BUT it must be done professionally AND outside of the current season, when players are still signed on.

I’d be interested in others’ views.

Mini Soccer team – Under 10s Girls Pumas – who played 3, won 2 and drew 1. They are currectly top of their league and in their league cup final in May.
11 a side team – Under 18s Girls – who played 5 won 5 including beating the second placed team RPS Dynamos, reaching League Cup Final and winning the County Cup. They are currently top of the league.

The Club congratulates both teams.

We thank Julie and her girls for their hospitality after the game and wish them well next season.