Youth Development: Win and a Draw in Academy Cup action
U12 produce performance of the day against Rhyl, while U16 draw with the Lilywhites. U14 impress against Rochdale as do the U13 and U15 v The Nomads.
On Saturday, the U14 and U16 welcomed Rochdale AFC to The Hollingsworth Group Stadium. It was the U16 who played the first game of the day and unfortunately they slipped to a 5-2 defeat.
Dave Riley and Colin Parsonage U14 side played next and produced an excellent performance. Connor Cox and Jack Blackwell gave the Wingmakers a 2-1 lead going into the final stages of the game, however, Dale nabbed an equaliser at the death make the final score 2-2. There were some standout performers for the young wingmakers, with Jonnie Bucknall, Michael Sullivan and Matty O'Brien impressing.
Moving to Sunday and the continuation of the Academy Cup programme, we hosted Rhyl FC in our second round of fixtures. Unfortunately the U14 game was postponed earlier in the week, but the U12 and U16 fixtures still went ahead as planned.
The U12 squad continue to get better and better as they ran out 7-2 winners to get their first points on the board.
Jamie Crowther and Mark Allen's U16 side didn't have it quite the same way in their game. After falling behind early, it took a late wonder volley from Kai Hardcastle to level the scores. In the closing moments of the game, Hardcastle looked set to give the young wingmakers all three points as he rounded the keeper and shot goal wards. However, an excellent block on the line from a Lilywhites defender meant that the points were shared.
On Sunday evening the U13 and U15 travelled to Connahs Quay for development fixtures. The U13 went down 5-0 to The Nomads. An early blitz from Nomads saw them breeze into a 3-0 lead at half time. An inspired second half performance from the wingmakers saw them attempt to claw their way back into the game, but another quick fire double from Connahs Quay finished the game as a contest.
Sunday's final fixture, was the U15 Flintshire derby. It was yet another tightly contested fixture that finished in an excellent 2-2 draw.
This coming weekend the U12/14/16 will travel to Conwy Borough Academy for the latest round of Academy Cup fixtures, while the U13/15 host Llandudno FC at Airbus.