The Under 8s Mob 23rd April 2005

The conspiracy theorists were out in force following Wasps shock 3-2 defeat at the hands of Sean Turner’s Under 8s coaches and parents Select XI on Saturday afternoon. Watched by the biggest crowd of the season this match had everything and kept the fans thoroughly entertained from start to finish but the Wasps were stung by some interesting refereeing decisions by Mr Shone, who also coaches the Under 11s. Mmm…food for thought.

Rumour had it that the aforementioned referee had appeared on Bid TV on Saturday morning and Wasps Manager Neil Mitchell, having squandered the club funds on his recent scouting mission to Florida, could only offer a paltry £1.53 to the evidently corruptible Detective Inspector. Sean stepped in with the promise of loose women (bit harsh on his wife I thought) and as much free beer after the game as he could manage, which to be fair is not very many.

Just in case we’re in danger of libel you will see that the author of this report is in fact Mike Jones, Wasps assistant manager…or is he the coach?…or the physio?…or maybe the kit man?…or the club psychologist?…I’m really not sure ‘cos he never does much and only turns up occasionally to watch…and even on Saturday he was seen sneaking away 15 minutes from the end a la Sven Goran Eriksson to avoid the traffic. Anyway Mike, it’s good of you to write this match report!

And so to the game. Wasps playing numbers were amazingly swelled to 16 after weeks of struggling to field a team as all the part-timers saw that the sun was shining this particular Saturday afternoon. Neil McKay didn’t even need his tube of false tan.

Wasps started brightly and came close to snatching an early lead when Basil pounced on a defensive error but couldn’t quite squeeze the ball home from a tight angle under pressure from the Mob’s keeper. It wasn’t long before Wasps took a deserved lead however, when Iain Mackie found space on the left hand side (leaving Sean Turner in his wake!!!) and crossed low into the box for Ian Barr to sidefoot home from close range.

The Under 8s mob responded superbly to this setback and got themselves level when referee Shone correctly pointed to the spot following a clumsy challenge in the box on Mike ‘Gringo’ Marland, who scored 5.9 on the Ronaldo scale for the dive that followed the contact. Rob Doig stepped up and took an excellent penalty into the left hand corner (Neil, were you watching?!). 1-1 and game on.

Wasps should have regained the lead when Ian Barr evaded the offside trap to pull the ball back to Iain Mackie to run on to and side foot past the stranded goalkeeper. Cue dodgy decision number 1…Mr.Shone blew for offside against the goalscorer. At this point I should point out a rule pertaining to offside…if you are behind the ball when it is passed to you it cannot be offside.

Now what makes this decision all the more questionable from a conspiracy point of view is that this was the first offside decision Mr.Shone had ever given! You normally have to be standing on the goal line with all the other players in the other half of the pitch before he blows up! I don’t wish to labour the point but even the Under 8s children said no way was it offside!

At this point 5 changes were made to the Wasps side from the sidelines which disrupted the momentum and handed the initiative to the Under 8s side, who took full advantage and went ahead with a superb piece of cool finishing by Chris Hawkes (Basil, were you watching?!) who took the ball round Barry Dempsey and slid into the empty net.

Wasps came close to equalising when Basil rounded the ‘keeper at the other end and pulled the ball back across goal for Neil McKay instead of shooting himself, only to turn round and see that his strike partner had been pole axed on the edge of the area just after he called for the ball to be cut-back.

Then another dubious decision by the referee again denied Wasps a goal. Once more it was Basil who was penalised when he challenged for a 50-50 ball with a shoulder charge on his opponent before crossing for Dave Gooden to finish. Lanky Mac wasn’t happy!

The best moment of the match came just before half time when Colin Croft of the Under 8s mob unleashed a tremendous right foot drive from 35 yards that thundered against the crossbar with Dempsey beaten. It deserved a goal and was a strike Judas himself (Rooney to his mates) would have been proud of. Half time 2-1.

Wasps played in the second half with the slope of the pitch and the wind in their favour. Basil attempted to lob the ‘keeper from the kick off and everyone in the Wasps team then went to sleep as the clearance upfield saw the parting of the central defence before the ball found its way to the mercenary, Mark White, on the left hand side. He advanced past Ray Smith before placing an exquisite chip over Dempsey from outside the box…a quality strike from the man who has played for Wasps several times this season and against us for two different sides!

This was a real setback for the Wasps side who made a further 5 substitutions with half an hour remaining. Things started to get a bit lively, with Gringo almost losing his moustache following a challenge by Fatty Mac.

Wasps did reduce the deficit from a corner kick when Mike Wright came late at the back post to bullet a header into the net. The big centre half tried to repeat the feat a few minutes later but clattered into a defender and landed awkwardly. It later transpired that Mike did in fact break his ankle and as I am writing he is still in hospital following his operation. He has confirmed this is the end of his playing days and I am sure we all wish Mike a very speedy recovery from a bad break that has been pinned.

One final opportunity for Mr Shone to atone for his previous errors came when Ian Barr was clearly fouled in the box…a stonewall penalty and stud marks all the way down the front of the striker’s leg. But no whistle! Unbelievable!

Despite goalkeeper Dempsey’s excursions into the opposition box at several corner kicks the Under 8s mob held on under increasing pressure for a famous victory, with centre half Dave Leat in superb form at the back.

Sean and his men celebrated their victory long into the night at the Twelfth Man and Mr Shone was last seen in flagrante delicto with a mysterious long dark stranger with blonde hair…or was it a pint of Guinness?!

Mike Jones.

Port Sunlight 16th April 2005

Sunlight shafted

West Kirby Wasps successful season continued with a commanding performance against Port Sunlight Vets, a team that has qualified for the National Vets Cup Final next weekend. Sounds impressive doesn’t it…getting to the final of that competition? That is until we find that it actually is more like a local competition than a national one, as I don’t know of any side outside a 40-mile radius that actually competes!

Nevertheless, Sunlight are obviously a half-decent team but they were made to look very ordinary by a Wasps team that had too much class, pace, movement and skill in all areas of the pitch. At the end of the match Wasps players were demanding the management put the club forward for this National Cup next season and explore the possibilities of playing in a League…had they forgotten about the joys of playing at Coronation Park in the wet mud of a January afternoon?

This week’s caretaker manager was Neil McKay, who chose the occasion to dispose of his gay tendencies of wearing gloves and sporting his socks over his knees. He obviously has Thierry Henry as his role model as his liking for fake tan would also indicate but having missed two penalties in his last two appearances he has finally accepted that the Arsenal hit man might just be in a different universe, let alone a different league.

Questions are being asked about the commitment of the management team to the Wasps cause. First they disappear en-masse on a ‘scouting mission’ to Florida and when they return they go awol, preferring to watch some second rate team at Anfield instead of providing their renowned tactical insight to the Wasps squad. Personally I have always found them to be a great inspiration, particularly with their decision to withdraw the golden boot award, which has probably got more to do with the fact that they don’t have up to date goal scoring records than the stated reason that only 3 players could actually win it! No chance of Managers Player of the Season for me now then!

Manager McKay sprung a surprise in his team selection, pairing the Mackie brothers, Lanky and Fatty, in central midfield and playing himself up front alongside last season’s golden boot winner, Ian Barr. This turned out to be a stroke of genius as the movement going forward ran the opposition ragged and gave the Sunlight defence a torrid afternoon. Dave Allen (re-incarnated?) and Ian Adams on the wings harried and hassled their opponents all afternoon, whilst at the back our two resident bouncers, Kevin Murphy and Simon Bradley, looked menacing and composed at the same time. Full backs Mark Perryman and Mark Torgerson never looked like being beaten down the flanks against two dangerous opponents and as a consequence goalkeeper Barry Dempsey was able to smoke as many fags as he could wish for as he enjoyed another quiet afternoon between the sticks.

Wasps started the game in determined fashion and immediately put the Sunlight defence under considerable pressure with some neat passing movements. Ian Barr held the ball up superbly and produced some good lay offs for the onrushing midfielders and it was only a lack of accuracy with the shooting that prevented the men in orange taking an early lead. But it was from such a move that Wasps deservedly went in front after about 15 minutes, when the ball found its way to Barr’s feet just inside the area and he pulled it back for Iain ‘Basil’ Mackie to strike a right footed shot that took a big deflection and deceived the opposition goalkeeper as it bounced fortunately into the centre of the goal.

This was to be a game to remember for the aforementioned Basil for all sorts of reasons. Ten minutes later he found himself on the left hand side of the field as the ball was played back from near the corner flag. He floated a left foot cross towards the back post and to everyone’s surprise the ball found itself nestling in the far corner of the net. 2-0 to the Wasps and although both goals had more than a touch of fortune about them it was no more than the boys deserved for their efforts.

Shortly afterwards ‘El Cleeseiastico’ challenged for a ball in midfield and was aggrieved by what he thought was a deliberate kick by his glove-handed opponent. As he rose to remonstrate with the McKay gay-alike, Basil realised that he had slid hand first into a particularly attractive decoration on the pitch, left by one of our canine friends. For some reason the gloved one refused to shake hands offered by way of apology for misconstruing the nature of the original challenge!

It wasn’t long afterwards that Wasps went further ahead with another good passing move down the left that put McKay in the clear to finish coolly past the beleaguered Sunlight ‘keeper. Half time Wasps 3 Port Sunlight 0.

The home team tried to rally in the early stages of the second half but never really threatened to score and following another flowing move Neil McKay found himself in space down the left hand side and tried his luck from a narrow angle. The ball squirmed under the goalkeeper on his near post before being cleared away by a desperate defender amid vehement claims that the ball had crossed the line. The referee gave the benefit of the doubt to the defending side and once again fuelled the debate over the introduction of video technology, although the site of Barry Dempsey in a goalkeeper kit is surely reason enough never to succumb to the growing clamour.

Sunlight came close to pulling a goal back when they were awarded a free kick just outside the area. Dempsey was unhappy with his wall and so Basil offered to cover one side of the net and threatened to run out as the attackers started to move closer to the goal. The double bluff worked superbly as a swinging free kick was directed in towards the top right hand corner of the net only for the lanky one to flick it up and over the bar with his balding pate. Dempsey will always claim he had it covered but even Spiderman wouldn’t have got close!

With time running out Wasps took their foot off the gas and allowed Sunlight to pull a goal back, but it was purely a consolation effort.

And now for the controversial moment…who scored the Wasps fourth goal? Following a corner the ball landed at the feet of Ian Adams who poked a shot goal wards from the edge of the area. That same bald patch that had flicked the ball over at one end got in the way once again and the faintest of touches ensured the ball nestled in the left hand corner to make it 4-1. We have had the ball forensically examined for skin particles and I can confirm that the goal has been awarded to Basil as a dislodged hair (not many left now!) has been found. Anyway, I’m writing the report so “nah, nah, nah-nah nah!”

There was no dispute over the Wasps final goal, which came deep into injury time. Mark Torgerson played a long ball down the left and Fatty Mac out sprinted his younger opponent to cross the ball superbly for Lanky Mac to neatly round the ‘keeper and slot into an empty net. That’s 9 goals in the last 7 games for the goalkeeper, cum centre half, cum centre midfielder, cum centre forward!

Full time Wasps 5 Port Sunlight 1

An excellent all round performance by the men in orange and a deserved win. Well played everyone. There can only be one man of the match…Barry Dempsey!

Taking a lead from the entire management team being away on their annual scouting mission, this time in Florida, many of the West Kirby Wasps squad must have misread the fixture list and decided they too could spend the Easter break en vacances.  And so it was left to caretaker manager John Cleese to summon the remaining troops for the most difficult fixture of the season, away to Saltney Vets. This was the team that had knocked the ball around so well in their 4-0 victory last season that Coronation Park’s mud suddenly appeared like the playing surface at the Millennium Stadium.

In fact maybe that was the reason for such a high rate of absenteeism in this fixture…the sensible ones couldn’t face being humiliated again. After several e-mails and phone calls we still only had 6 players two days before the game so Dave Mackay and Basil agreed to raid the club coffers and offer some pecuniary incentives to anyone who’d agree to sporting an orange shirt at 1pm on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately that plan backfired as it was soon realised that Messrs. Jones and Mitchell had taken the funds to supply themselves with Pina Coladas at their luxury hotel, not to mention the extra pillow each (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, know what I mean!).

So to Plan B…tell anyone who wants to play we can offer them a discounted levy of just £3 compared to the £30 that we normally charge for the privilege of representing Wirral’s finest Veterans team…(Dave, if we tell the rest of the lads the subs are £5 next season we can go to Florida in 2006 too!).  And so, having put the Alistair Campbell spin on the benefits of playing football for West Kirby Wasps on Easter Saturday against a team of ex-semi pros, we managed to call upon the services of a motley crew of has been’s, never were’s and Craig Mackay, who at 16 could qualify to be a Vet far sooner than he could qualify to be a vet, if you see what I mean!

At this point it would be rude not to mention the long-suffering wife of Mr.Mackay senior, the delectable Debbie. She thought she’d convinced her lesser half to hang up his boots last season as his left knee finally succumbed to the pressure of keeping the big man on his feet for 40 plus years. Then her 16 year old decides to buy Dad a new pair of football boots for his birthday (for refereeing apparently – have you ever seen a ref wearing white boots??!!)…she must have seen the writing on the wall and when the Wasps came knocking, big Dave knew it was time to heed the call.

And so we just managed to scrape a bare 11 and as we travelled to Chester the clouds turned black and the rain came lashing down…surely a sign of things to come? For a fleeting moment the poem by Tennyson sprang to mind…‘Into the Valley of Death rode the 600’…if you’ve ever been to Saltney you’d know what I mean…but at least there were 600 of those buggers…we only had 11!!

A few of the new recruits decided to get changed quickly and have a warm up whilst we were waiting for the stragglers to arrive. Five minutes later, Steve Norbury (ex-Tranmere Rovers “I used to play with Peter Davenport”…hope his missus doesn’t know about that) returns to the changing rooms with some sort of muscular injury to his upper thigh, probably the first exercise it’s seen since he cavorted with the aforementioned striker.

So picture the scene…hopalong goalkeeper who can’t take goal kicks or bend down to pick up a ball, has been striker who can’t run or kick a ball with his right foot and 9 other masochistic individuals who had never played together before and took 60 minutes to learn each other’s names!  But we did have Kevin Murphy at centre half. I knew we’d be alright when he took his teeth out before the kick off and smiled at me…Christ, if that didn’t frighten the opposing strikers nothing would!

And so to the match, refereed by good old Fred Dibnah, flat hat and all. I think we spent the first half camped in our own territory although a couple of breaks down the right hand side by Mike Fryer and Craig Mackay culminated in good crosses that caused some problems for the Saltney defence and their part-time goalkeeper. Despite the opposition’s domination of possession they never once looked like breaking the deadlock as the central midfield of Andy Mackie and Sean Boyle ably protected the back four of Ian Adams, Mark Perryman, Kevin Murphy and John Cleese, all of whom dealt with any threat of danger with some assured and composed defending.

The Wasps team grew in confidence as the half went on and started to get the ball down and pass to feet as we realised the opposition weren’t as good as we were led to believe, although there was a certain reluctance to tackle one of the Saltney midfield players who revelled in the nickname ‘Killer’, which rather belied his appearance as a Steve Stone lookalike! Actually I wish he’d looked more like Sharon Stone.

At half time the scoreline remained goalless and the boys justifiably felt pleased with their efforts. The only question was would we run out of steam in the second half with so many players making only their second appearance in the famous orange jerseys.  The pattern of the second half remained the same and the most likely threat came from set pieces, with the Saltney captain Peter von Richtoven a constant menace in the air. It was from a corner kick that the hosts almost opened the scoring, with a goalbound header from the Killer inadvertently blocked by Andy Mackie’s back.

Big Dave (aka the one-legged Cat) made a couple of fine overhead saves as the pressure mounted on a tiring Wasps team and eventually the deadlock was broken as a cross was deflected away from the waiting defenders to a Saltney player who headed home from close range half way through the second period.  With a quarter of an hour remaining Basil moved up front and put the crock Norbury at the back as Wasps tried to chase the game. Unfortunately the scoreline changed for the worse within a couple of minutes as the best move of the game culminated in a second Saltney goal.

By this time the troops were really feeling the pace but with a couple of minutes remaining Wasps were handed a lifeline when, following a corner on the left the ball found its way to Ian Adams whose cross from the right was deftly flicked on by Andy Mackie to make the score 2-1.  In fact the Wasps should have equalised if the goalscorer hadn’t been such a greedy dratsab (re-arrange the letters to form whatever appropriate expression you like!) when he cut in from the left and chose to shoot instead of squaring to the unmarked Sean Boyle who would have had a tap-in from the edge of the six-yard box. The keeper made a good save but that was a real let off for them and a real let down for us.  At the other end Dave Mackay pulled off the save of the game as he thwarted the Saltney skipper when through on goal and so the final whistle went with a 2-1 defeat for the valiant Wasps team. I think the only person I haven’t already mentioned is Mark Walker who gets my award for man of the match as he offered yet again to take the kit home and wash it! Top man. 

Many of the boys went back to the pub with their hosts to watch the England match. It turns out that Saltney were last season’s Northern Cup winners and are unbeaten this season, so to lose by a single goal against such a good team says a lot for the performance of the 11 good men and true. Well done everyone and thanks for making the effort to turn out and fulfil a fixture that looked like being cancelled all week.

Saturday 9 April 2005

West Kirby Wasps Vets 3 SNFC 1

Scorers: Mackie A, McKay, Barr

Saturday 26 March 2005

Saltney Vets 2 West Kirby Wasps Vets 1

Scorer: Mackie A

Saturday 12 March 2005

West Kirby Wasps Vets 4 Liverpool Ramblers 4ths 1

Scorers: Mackie A 2, Gooden, Mackay

Tuesday 8 March 2005

Wirral Masters 1 West Kirby Wasps Vets 1

Scorer: Mackie I

Saturday 5 March 2005

Chester Nomads 3 West Kirby Wasps Vets 4

Scorers: McKay, Mackie I, Gooden, Mackie A

Saturday 26 February 2005

West Kirby Wasps Vets 3 MSC Eastham 2

Scorers: Mackie, McKay, Stu ?

Saturday 19 February 2005

West Kirby Wasps Vets 1 Chester Nomads 1

Scorer: Barr

Saturday 5 February 2005

West Kirby Wasps Vets 0 Old Convocation 1

Saturday 4 December 2004

West Kirby Wasps Vets 2 Port Sunlight 2

Scorers: Mackie I, McKay

Saturday 27 November 2004

Shafts 2 West Kirby Wasps Vets 3

Scorers: AN Other 3

Saturday 29th January @ Irby Cricket Club

Irby CC 1 – West Kirby Wasps Vets 3

WEST KIRBY – IRBY DERBY ARGY-BARGIE!

A 15 man squad assembled in the sunshine at Irby Cricket Club for this eagerly awaited local derby clash. Absentees Dempsey and Torgersen were apparently treating their respective ‘better half’s’ to romantic weekends away (before the prices go up nearer Valentine’s Day), but was it just coincidence that the transfer window was about to close and Birmingham City have still to replace Savage, whilst Man Utd still haven’t replaced Schmeichel?

Manager Sven and Assistant Turd Grip made an appearance to update everyone on their injuries, leaving Skipper Gooden to announce the team selection and formation.  With four subs on the line, no further motivation was required; however, this did not stop manager Sven from blatantly attempting to ‘tap up’ a watching centre half, a move which clearly unsettled the Wasps defence. 

Wasps started the match with some composed football, on a freshly mowed and rolled pitch that was helpful to the Wasps passing game. Wasps created some good chances, but as with the last game, these were spurned by the front men, including one header by Ian Barr over the crossbar which to this overweight, infirm spectator, looked easier to score.  Shortly afterwards, Wasps good work was rewarded with a well placed header by Walker past the keeper, who looked as though he could have been Peter Bonetti’s dad. 

For the rest of the first half it was relatively comfortable for Wasps, and despite a vicious shot from Fryer that left the ball embedded 2 feet into a hedge, and a comical half-volley header from Mark White, they were unable to extend their advantage. 

H-T: Irby 0 - Wasps 1 

There was a feeling in the crowd at half-time that Irby had to improve, and they did pick their game up for the second half.  Moustachioed Mercury mimic Marland, ineffective in the first half, began to assert himself as playmaker in the centre of the park, happy to let the kids around him in the Irby midfield make forward runs. 

The Wasps had three or four let offs, including one fantastic block by Adams when a goal looked certain, as Irby enjoyed increased possession. The Irby youngsters were bursting through from midfield (no doubt ‘high’ on E numbers from their half-time orange), and the Wasps defence got more desperate. One Tittle tackle was so bad that play was held up for a couple of minutes so the injured Irby player could receive some attention from his Mum.  A kiss, a rub, and a Buzz Lightyear plaster did the trick.  Indeed, two minutes later she was shouting for joy as her ‘little tyke’ fired home the equaliser, earning himself a MacDonald’s tea in the process.

On reflection, Irby had been helped by the four changes that Sven had made towards the end of the first half, and in the aftermath of the equaliser, Turner and Tittle could be heard demanding that Sven made further changes. A minute later they were both replaced – off quicker than Ulrikka’s knickers.

But the changes seemed to have the desired effect, and Wasps started to control the game again; it was very much a case of the next team to score would win. The second Wasps goal came from a fine move; Turner (now back on) played a long free kick out of defence to Barr, who controlled the ball and looked up to see Neil McKay in a central position, some ten yards outside the box. Barr played a perfect ball to McKay, who in one move hit the ball in a venomous looping arc towards the goal. The keeper took both hands off his zimmer-frame in an attempt to reach the shot, but it was too good for him, and it nestled in the top right-hand corner of the goal.

The game was wrapped up shortly afterwards when Andy Edler, who had enjoyed a solid game in midfield, found himself near the edge of the Irby penalty area with time, and curled a shot that went under the flailing home keeper.

At this point the referee decided that he would have some fun to liven up the last fifteen minutes. After awarding a dubious free-kick against Perryman, the straight-talking Wasps full back explained his thoughts on the matter to the Ref, and was promptly sin-binned for ten minutes, which was doubled when he told the Ref, in the same terms, what he thought of that decision. Wasps were able to adapt quite well to playing with ten men, going 4-4-1, but were stumped some five minutes later when Turner received the same punishment for a late challenge, and Wasps were down to 9. The final ten minutes were played out in a niggly manner, with the Wasps travelling supporters chanting ‘we only need nine men’, and Ian Mackie hiding the ball down his shirt in an attempt to waste time. Mackie would do well to remember to pass the ball to one of his ‘larger’ colleagues next time, as the ball was wider than he was, which was something of a give away.

F-T: Irby 1 – Wasps 3

So, the Wasps good run goes on. A solid team performance, with all fifteen players contributing, and some very good football; McKay’s goal was the pick of the bunch. Difficult to pick out one player for MOTM, but for another robust performance all over the pitch (and for getting me a pint in the pub later) the award goes to Ian Adams. As for Irby, they’ll never win anything with kids…….

‘Neil’, Perryman, Turner, Tittle, Allen, McKay, Gooden, Walker, Edler, Barr, Mackie (I), Adams, Fryer, White, Smith 

Saturday 22nd January @ Old Wirralians RUFC

Wirral Masters 1 - West Kirby Wasps Vets 2 

BACK MAN TURNER in OVERDRIVE

MSC Vets 1 – Wasps 2

Wandering Wasps Windy Winners

Saturday 13 November

West Kirby Wasps Vets 2  Wirral Masters (Police) Vets

A four-goal salvo from ageing stalwart Kenny McKenna proved too much for the Orangemen as they crashed to their heaviest defeat of the season.  Their opponents, resplendent in their blue (Dukla Prague away) colours adapted far better to the blustery conditions, with too many of the Wasps key players performance’s falling short of the high standards expected.

The first half produced very little quality from either side, with both defences on top and for all their endeavours Dooley’s were unable to penetrate the Wasps rearguard, superbly marshalled by Iain Mackie.  However on the stroke of half time McKenna capitalised on a momentary lapse in the Wasps defence to gain the visitors a rather fortunate lead. 

Half Time: Wasps 0 Dooleys 1 

The Wasps responded almost immediately from the restart, Dempsey’s long clearance was glanced on by Mackie and Gooden, the Wasps pint-sized predator, ran on to finish coolly past the keeper.

The old cliché about teams being most vulnerable after scoring a goal couldn’t have been more apt. No sooner had the Wasps players finished congratulating their goal scorer, and then they fell behind.  An innocuous looking through ball seemed to pose little threat, but Mabon doing what amounted to an abject impression of ‘Len Ganley’s stance’, was caught out as McKenna added his second of the game.  The inevitable hat-trick soon followed when the visitors sprung the offside trap and McKenna’s cross come shot, somehow found the corner of the net.

In the final quarter McKenna capped a fine performance side-footing in from close range after the Wasps flanks had once again been breached.

Disgruntled player coach Mitchell, refused to elaborate on his team’s inept performance, other than adding he had more than enough ‘reasons to be miserable’.

Wasps Rating: **

Star Man: Few Wasps players emerged with any credit, Gooden was his usual industrious self and keeper Dempsey excelled with some vital saves.  However Iain Mackie’s virtuoso performance at the heart of the Wasps defence, kept the Wasps in contention for far longer than could have been expected.  Indeed his duel with McKenna would not have been out of place in the Nationwide Conference circa 1985.

Team: Dempsey, Adams, Smith (White), Mabon, Mackie (I), Torgersen,  Fryer (Mitchell), McKay, Allen, Mackie (A), Gooden

OTCCC 3 West Kirby Wasps Vets 7

Scorers: Edler 3, Mackie (A) 2, Bradley, Walker

Irby Cricket Club 1 West Kirby Wasps Vets 1

Scorer: McKay

Port Sunlight Vets 4  West Kirby Wasps Vets 3

Scorers: Walker 2, Wright

Old Convocation 0 West Kirby Wasps Vets 8

Scorers: Barr 3, Mackie (I) 2, McKay 2 (1 pen), o.g.

West Kirby Wasps stumbled to an opening season defeat in a hard fought contest against Crosby’s finest. Promising newcomers, Perryman and Walker were given their debuts, but it was the Wasps own “little and large” in Gooden and Mackie that took the plaudits. 

The Wasps had little time to get into their stride, when from the Ramblers first attack the Wasps rearguard was breeched.  Ten minutes later worse was to follow when from some shoddy marking the Ramblers were allowed to double their advantage. However the bold Keegan/Toshack pairing up front soon reduced the deficit when Gooden’s intelligent run released Mackie to force home from close in.  

The home side were on the back foot at this stage and it was very much against the run of play when the Ramblers added to their tally, with an excellent angled drive as the half drew to a close.

West Kirby Wasps pre-season preparations got off to a perfect start with a resounding 5-3 victory against Liverpool foes, Convocation Old Boys.

The intensive work that First Team Coach Mike Jones and his Conditioning Coach Neil McKay had implemented upon the squad, paid off handsomely with a performance that bodes well for the new season proper.

Andy Mackie bagged a memorable hat-trick in no small thanks to his "whippet –like" brother Iain who turned provider on this occasion. All this after Mark White had opened his account for the season with a "sand wedge" like chip from his unorthodox right foot. Goalkeeper Dempsey also got in on the act with a deft header in the second half, when given a well earned break from his customary role as the Wasp’s custodian. Dempsey’s presence at the back in the second half, brought some stability to a defence that had looked vulnerable at times and exposed veteran stalwart Sean Turner’s diminishing pace.

Player Manager Mitchell will clearly not get too carried away with what amounts to little more than a meaningless fixture, but will hope that the extra training and strict dietary restrictions placed on the players reap dividends.