THREE outstanding goals against Stockton-on-Tees earned Wirral Schoolboys a semi-final tie against Sheffield in the English Schools FA Under 15 Inter Association Trophy on Saturday.

The Wirral schoolboys had travelled up to the north east by coach in the early hours of Saturday morning for the lunch time kick off.

Struggling to shake off the effects of the long journey Wirral conceded a goal within the first ten minutes as Stockton took control of the early passage of play.

As the first half progressed, however, Wirral settled into their neat passing game but were having trouble unlocking a well-organised Stockton defence until Cameron McGregor thundered a shot from 20 yards into the top right hand corner.

The second half saw Wirral make better use of their possession and when Jack Newhouse found himself down by the corner flag without any immediate support he cut inside and whipped the ball in the roof of the net.

Wirral were now winning most of the battles in the centre of the park, marshalled by the outstanding McGregor.

It was the pupil from St John Plessington who put the game out of reach of Stockton when he received the ball outside the penalty box and scored with an identical strike to his first half effort.

Congratulating his squad on their victory, Wirral team manager Paul Rowlands said: "The standout part for me was how well we managed the game in the last ten minutes, never giving the opposition a real opportunity to get back in to the game.

"The boys are an absolute pleasure to work with and richly deserve to come away with the win and give themselves a chance of getting to the National Cup Final."