The County Files

MIDLAND COUNTIES YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP 2001-02 Saturday 19th January, 2002 County HQ, Ray Hall Lane, Birmingham Birmingham FA 2-0 Herefordshire FA TEAM LINE-UP REACTION BACK TO MAIN COMPETITION PAGE NO NAME CLUB 1 Andrew Wheeler Nuneaton Borough FC 2 Aaron Bishop Great Barr & Celtic HN FC 3 Phil Garner Rushall Olympic FC 4 Dean Perrow Sutton Town FC 5 Adam Fletcher Tamworth FC 6 Michael Glynn Kidderminster Harriers FC 7 Manni Sandhu Nuneaton Borough FC 8 Anthony Hall North Birmingham College 9 Craig Hancox North Birmingham College 10 Jamie Hood Nuneaton Griff / Frank Parkers FC 11 Indy Khela Kidderminster Harriers FC 12 Richard Langford Kidderminster Harriers FC 14 Paul Marshall North Birmingham College 15 Dean Allmark Great Barr & Celtic HN FC 16 Matthew O'Rourke Marconi (Coventry) FC 17 Danny Williams Nuneaton Borough FC 18 Paul Holden Great Barr & Celtic HN FC 19 Scott Lower Kidderminster Harriers FC 20 Chris Woodhall Nuneaton Borough FC Birmingham 2 - 0 Herefordshire 19th January 2002 Goals in the first and last minutes of the game gave Birmingham 3 points to get them back on track in their defence of the Midland Counties Youth Championships today. Herefordshire had hardly moved when Sutton Town's Dean Perrow caught the opposition standing as his powerful shot found the bottom left hand corner of the Herefordshire goal within 12 seconds of the start. Birmingham sustained pressure on their rivals, with chances falling to Marconi (Coventry)'s Matty O'Rourke and North Birmingham College's Craig Hancox which should have finished Herefordshire off within the first 45 minutes. O'Rourke saw his shot blocked by Tom Llewellyn in the Herefordshire goal who turned Hancox's close range follow-up shot round his post. Nuneaton Borough's Manni Sandhu met the resulting corner, but once again his header was saved. Having the lion's share of possession in the first half did not allow Birmingham to capitalise, with Llewellyn making countless impressive saves to keep the score at 1-0 going into the break. The second half was a different story for Birmingham who looked a nervous side throughout and seemed intent to create their own problems rather than chances. Just 5 minutes into the second period, Jamie Hood failed to clear from the area, giving Andy Sherlock a chance to test Andrew Wheeler in the Birmingham goal. The Nuneaton Borough 'Keeper could only parry his shot and had to chase back to collect as the ball rolled towards his goal. Hood redeemed himself in the 30th minute with a vital challenge on Mortlock as the Herefordshire substitute was running clear on goal with only Wheeler to beat. The Birmingham defence did just enough to deny their opposition a goal, and could only breathe easier when Michael Glynn secured all three points in the dying seconds of the game. A tackle on Sandhu in the area after gave the Kidderminster Harrier his chance from the penalty spot in the 48th and final minute. Birmingham's final game - and possibly the deciding fixture - in the MCYC is away to Staffordshire on 17th February but before that, the squad face Middlesex away in the Quarter Final of the FA County Youth Cup on Saturday 2nd February. Top