Peter Brown Craven Minor League

Match Reports Week Ending February 25

Under 8 - Birkdale 4 Southport Juniors 3

What awful weather conditions for a match! but what great football was witnessed from both teams.
Birkdale took an early lead with an unlucky deflection but SFCJ never let their heads drop.  Callum Harper went on the attack with a great run and superb finish.  Birkdale pushed on with the wind and SFCJ had to battle against the elements. Birkdale took the lead after some nice play and then got their third soon after, ending 3-1 at half time.

After taking time to regroup SFCJ then went on the offensive and Matt Howard scored a well worked goal, his 1st for the team.  Birkdale then replied with their 4th.  SFCJ keeper Luke Dempster made some fine saves keeping the Juniors in the match, which spurred the Juniors on for their final push and their inspirational captain Andy Thorpe took on several players before smashing the ball into the back of the net making the score 4-3 to Birkdale.  Both teams played very well, mom for the Juniors was Andy Thorpe.

Town Green 2 Redgate 0

Town Green finally overcame Redgate A in a titanic battle in driving rain at Aughton. This was a physical encounter that was high on commitment and effort but in which Town Green's superior football ultimately won the day. 

Few chances were created in a 1st half which was as notable for its injuries as its goal opportunities. 10 minutes in Town Green captain Dan Brady made way for Thomas Bradley, who impressed straight away with a neat shot which fizzed past the post. Brady was reintroduced when Josh Dean had to withdraw after a crunching tackle which exemplified the way the half was played. Then, in an incident which was to prove significant, the Redgate goalkeeper had to come off after what proved to be a thankfully minor head injury. The teams got to half time level on points but goalless.

The 2nd half started brightly, with the home side looking the more likely to score. 5 minutes in, Thomas Bradley played a hopeful through ball into the heart of the Redgate defence, but uncertainty between centre-half and stand-in goalkeeper allowed a moment for Dan Brady to nip in between them, collect the ball and roll it calmly into an empty net.  Redgate came back strongly and forced a free kick in a dangerous position on the left flank, which Giacomo Poli's thigh took with full force and deflected to safety.

Town Green fought back and won a succession of corners. One was well cleared, but only into the path of Tom Hartley, whose thundering shot crashed onto the cross-bar, and Brady again reacted smartly to get to the rebound first and give the home team an unassailable 2 goal lead.  Despite a sterling effort to get something from the match, Redgate finished without managing a shot on goal at all; in fact Town Green's resolute performance meant that goalkeeper Michael Power touched the ball only once in the whole match.

Perhaps that fact more than any other shows just how good a performance this was.

SHELTER URGES RENTERS TO PROTECT DEPOSITS AGAINST ROGUE LANDLORDS

SHELTER is urging private tenants living in the North West to protect their deposits in a new scheme which comes into force on April 6, as research reveals renters are risking more than £1 billion in deposits held by landlords in England.  In 2005, more than 75% of all tenants who had money withheld claimed it was retained by their landlords unfairly. With the average deposit now reaching £700 in England, losing a deposit causes financial hardship and in the worst cases, homelessness.

But the new tenancy deposit protection scheme requires landlords to protect tenants' deposits in 1 of  3 independent government-approved custodial or insurance-based schemes. Deposits are held within the scheme until the end of a tenancy, at which point tenants can reclaim their cash. The schemes also provide a quick, easy way to resolve disputes without resorting to the courts.  Shelter has produced a special red envelope to help tenants protect their money when they hand it over. The envelope sets out landlords' obligations under the new law and includes a handy receipt to prove the deposit was paid.

Adam Sampson, chief executive of Shelter, said:- "With 259,000 households privately renting in the North West, it is vital people are aware of this new scheme. Shelter helps hundreds of people each year in the region with deposit problems and has campaigned for many years to get tenancy deposit protection introduced. This money represents a sizeable chunk of cash for many tenants and losing it unfairly not only leaves thousands of people out of pocket, but can lead to homelessness.   The tenancy deposit protection schemes provide a vital safety net for both tenants and responsible landlords, making the private rental sector more professional and fairer for everyone."

L0W PAY COMMISSION MUST AIM HIGHER

"A missed opportunity to close the growing gap between the rich and the poor" is the verdict of UNISON, the UK¹s largest union with 1.4 million members, on the 17p increase in the national minimum wage.

UNISON North West Head of Local Government Ray Short, said;- "We are deeply disappointed at the proposal to raise the minimum wage by just 17p This is a missed opportunity to close the growing gap between the rich and poor and we hope that it doesn¹t signal a retreat by the Low Pay Commission.  When the national minimum wage was introduced in 1999 the doom and gloom merchants predicted jobs would go and people would be worse off. That has not happened. 9 years on we continue to need a bold approach from the Low Pay Commission because too many lives are still blighted by low pay.

Having 3 separate minimum wage rates does not make sense. It is time to have a single minimum wage rate and pay young workers the proper rate for the job. These workers are doing increasingly more responsible jobs and need to be rewarded on the their competence not paid less because of their age.  In UNISON there are 2 large and growing areas, social care and child care, where wages need to grow as part of a plan to improve the quality of the service."

UNISON gave written and oral evidence to the Commission in favour of a minimum wage of £6.75 an hour, highlighting the difficulty of trying to live on anything less and the need for higher wages to underpin the governments desire to improve quality in social care and child care.  Sadly thought UNISON has not thought about small businesses in their calls.