U18 League

Birkenhead Park
Spectators: 158 (Terracing: 119, Seating: 36, VIP seats: 3) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Stefan Heath started the match with the kick off. After 6 minutes, Halil Winskowsky mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Rot-Weiss-Essen and the Wirral Town FC players grew even worse after the yellow card. The throw-in from Simeon Plank in the 11th minute of the game was unfortunally taken care of by Wirral Town FC's Richard Dixon. The supporters of Wirral Town FC booed when Rot-Weiss-Essen was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 17 match minutes in a wonderful position. Errol Huch didn't get a good kick on the ball. When the match clock showed 21 minutes, the score became 0-1 when Lars Oliver Dorn sped through Wirral Town FC's defense and sent away a curving shot that went into the net to the right of Reggie Kerfoot. In the 28th minute Halil Winskowsky shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Reggie Kerfoot saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Halil Winskowsky received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 29th minute. Reggie Kerfoot tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. After having played for 38 minutes, Lars Oliver Dorn managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Rot-Weiss-Essen's supporters crossed their fingers, but Lars Oliver Dorn was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. The audience was convinced that Halil Winskowsky's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Reggie Kerfoot was relentless in the 43rd minute of the game. After some careless play in the Wirral Town FC defense, Halil Winskowsky kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Reggie Kerfoot. The Wirral Town FC fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Reggie Kerfoot should have stopped the shot. After the first half Rot-Weiss-Essen were leading 0-2. They had played with great self confidence throughout the first half and fully deserved their lead.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Halil Winskowsky to make the kick off. Reggie Kerfoot made a fantastic save in the 55th minute, when Halil Winskowsky sent off a good shot on target. In the 59th minute, Rueben Collier hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Halil Winskowsky who was well placed in front of the goal fired away a dangerous shot that in the 60thth minute tested the skills of Reggie Kerfoot when he managed to save the team from getting behind. Wirral Town FC's Reggie Kerfoot proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 64th minute of the match, managed to save Wirral Town FC from getting a goal against them. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Lars Oliver Dorn in the 66th managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Reggie Kerfoot saved Wirral Town FC from getting behind. Rueben Collier kicked well hit freekick during the 69th minute of the match. Reggie Kerfoot was in exellent shape and made a fantastic save when he, in the 70th minute of the match, managed to get hold of the ball after a long shot from Simeon Plank. Errol Huch hit a great freekick 73 minutes into the match. Johann Scheuerer took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Verne McGrath, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. In the 90th minute, Lars Oliver Dorn ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Reggie Kerfoot was frozen by the shot and now it was 0-4. In the 95th match minute, Wirral Town FC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Gez Mead to maneuver through the defense. Richard Dixon blasted a shot towards the goal in the 97th minute, but the shot hit the top of the crossbar and went out without Johann Scheuerer having to make a save. The Rot-Weiss-Essen supporters could be heard counting down the last seconds of the match. They errupted in celebration when the whistle blew, knowing Rot-Weiss-Essen would go home with victory in their luggage after a match that easily could have ended differently.