South Wirral High School miss out in Echo Cup Final losing 1-0 to Archbishop Beck Catholic Sports College

May 16 2012 by Paul Snowdon, Birkenhead News

SOUTH WIRRAL High School’s hopes of becoming only the second school from the peninsula to win the Echo Cup were dashed on Monday night.

A spectacular strike from distance from Archbishop Beck’s Sean Calvert settled the 60th final.

Anfield, the home of Liverpool Football Club, played host to the prestigious match between the under-14s teams.

And it was Calvert’s goal after 17 minutes that proved to be the match-winner in an entertaining encounter.

Picking up possession from a clearance inside the South Wirral half, Calvert unleashed a shot that flew into the top left hand corner of Lewis Gleeson’s net at the Anfield Road End of the ground.

The Bromborough comprehensive’s best chance of the game came in the second-half when a swift break upfield saw Connor Hughes slide the ball past Beck goalkeeper Tom Faron.

Heading out wide, Wirral teammate Liam Street latched on to it, and looking a certainty to equalise but his effort struck the base of the post.

Hughes almost levelled matters with a shot that squirmed underneath Faron, but to the Beck keeper’s relief, the ball only went behind him for an unproductive corner and not into the net.

Speaking after the game, South Wirral’s manager, Jay Durham, said: “I’m disappointed but also incredibly proud.

“We created a few good chances in the second-half and on another day it might have been different. Credit to Archbishop Beck, though, who deserve their victory.”

The result means Woodchurch High School remain the only Wirral school to win the Echo Cup having lifted the silverware back in 2004.