Brave West Kirby march on

Feb 3 2010 by Our Correspondent, Birkenhead News

APEX Marine Park was no place for the faint hearted on Saturday when West Kirby and Newton locked horns in a titanic struggle to progress to the quarter finals of the Wirral Senior Cup.

Visitor’s Newton silenced West Kirby fans to seize the advantage with a stunning early goal. Raising their game, West Kirby pushed forward seeking to reply, but a combination of resolute and uncompromising defence with rushed finishing gave no rewards for all their first half efforts.

If the pace of the first half was fast, it rose to a frantic level from the resumption. West Kirby’s continued effort to thread creative moves together was rewarded with a Kieron Fleetwood goal to level the scores.

Following a series of uncompromising tackles by Newton midfield defenders, four free kicks and a yellow card, West Kirby's patience ran out when Paul Hughes retaliated with an elbow. A red card signifying the early bath served to ignite an already charged atmosphere.

To the delight of the home fans, 10-men West Kirby defied the loss of a player to score twice easing into a 3-1 lead. Not satisfied with the two-goal cushion the home side continued to push forward with a series of well worked plays.

Wingers Kevin Bimpson and Paul Casey taunted Newton with piercing runs down the flanks to deliver an ample supply of ball for a deciding goal. In the event the attacking endeavour of the 10 men proved costly as twice Newton caught them on the break to score two goals locking the scores at 3-3