THE joys of shock and surprising results in The Tony Houlihan Memorial Challenge Cup was the order of the day in The Houlihan’s Birkenhead Sunday Association Football League.

The most notable was Maxwell Barbers Division One side Eastham Rangers Colts, who in their debut season, beat Premier Division co-favourites and current holders Woodchurch Hotel 4-3 on penalties after the game finished 3-3 at 90 minutes. On the mark for Woodchurch Hotel were Jordan Deer with a double and Danny McLaughlin. The marksmen for Eastham Rangers Colts were Andy Rogers, Ollie Lloyd and Jim Ludbrook.

Eatham will meet KRCT Bidston in the semi final on Easter Sunday after they disposed of 10 time winners Queens Park 2-1. Dava Bowe and Vinnie O’Toole did the damage while Tom Black replied for Queens Park.

Rig Move, who are also in their debut season in the Maxwell Barbers Division One, secured the final place in the semi finals after sinking Premier Division Great Float S&S 4-0. Lee Ludgate hit a smart double and added to singles from Shaun Weaver and Daniel Page. They will met seven times winners Dock AFC also on April 9.

The giant killing acts continued in the David Tacey Cup Quarter Finals with 3rd Division side Old Parks claiming a great achievement defeating cup holders and 2nd Division outfit Saughall FC 4-3 on penalties after both side were locked at 1-1 at the end of the normal time. Old Parks are set to meet Cheshire Cheese in early April.

Whitby Rangers  lost only their second game of the season and both were in cup ties. This week’s loss was against Wellington FC 5-3 who they have to meet again in the WDFA Sunday Amateur Cup Final, (date and venue to be confirmed). Wellington FC's strikes came from Ellis Jones with a treble and he was supported by singles from Nathan Leyland and Billy Rainbow. Whitby are still chasing silverware with another final on Thursday, April 13 in The Tony Smith Final at Villa Park, the home of Ashville FC, versus Prenton FC with a 7pm kick off.

A four goal haul from Adam Lea for Dock AFC helped beat current champions Rock Ferry Social 4-0. Dock AFC is still in the mix for five Trophies and they have a very busy seven week period coming up with two Cup finals, in the Cheshire Sunday and The WDFA Sunday Premier Cup, two semi finals, The Tony Houlihan Memorial Challenge Cup and Veronica Conway Premier Cup added to the League Championship. Rock Ferry Social are still in pole position and have the points in the bag but their latest defeat means that title could be slipping away. 

Beechwood FC enhanced their chances of lifting the Ryan ‘Gigsy’ Atherton Trophy with a 3-1 win over Neston Nomads. Evan Perry, Rob Cull, and Morgan Woods netted for Beechwood.

There is a similar story in The Maxwell Barbers Division One but with only two places guaranteed for promotion to the holy grail of The Premier Division, six clubs are in the mix. The game of the day was second placed JPL Jets hosting leaders Bushell Athletic. Bushell’s do have two games in hand and are one point behind and after their goalless draw the other four chasing clubs will be rubbing their hands.

Upton Town, who have numerous games in hand and are currently in sixth place did their chances no harm in a local derby with Woodchurch Rovers running out 7-3 winners. Goal getters for Upton Town were Callum Mernock, Brendan Doherty, Matthew Easterbrook, Liam Healy and Adam Ledgerton with a double each. Wirral Radio (Shane Neermul, Bradley Greer) accounted for AFC Shaftes (Matt Walsh) 2-1

Bedford FC, who are joint favourites to win Division Two, kept their unbeaten league record intact with a firm 1-0 win at Victoria Vaults.

Second placed Prenton FC recorded maximum points with a 6-3 result at Barkers Armchair FC (Mike Searson 2, Sam Price), Luke Wynne helped himself to a four timer along with singles from Matty O’Shea and Callum Riley.

There are seven teams chasing three promotion places but Barcodes FC may have had their chances dented after Poulton Victoria S&S hit them with a 4-0 romp after Tom Price bagged a pair along with further efforts from Carl Hadden and Liam Jameson.

Lions FC got back to winning ways securing a 2-0 win over Glenavon Athletic to give themselves an outside chance of a quick return to the Maxwell Barbers Division One after Sam Langan and Ameel al Gamri found themselves on the scoresheet.

The strength of The Houlihan’s Birkenhead Sunday League is proven with nine clubs in Division Three all chasing down three promotion places.

Leaders West Kirby United, who have a seven point lead at the helm, fell to a rare defeat at the hands of AFC Rangers 4-1 thanks to efforts from Lewis McKnight (2), and one each for Peter McNulty and Chris Caress.

AFC Rangers are one of five teams who have seven games in hand. Jordan Crowder recorded a hatrick of penalties supplemented by an Aiden Middleton strike to take the honours in a 4-1 game with AFC Raeburn.

Eastham Rangers, who have only played 50% of their league fixtures, will have a full dress rehearsal in midweek with Higher Beb Kelma and they will also face each other in The WDFA Sunday Junior Cup Final on Sunday, April 2 at Ashville FC with an 11am kick off. Higher Beb Kelma are in fine form as they found the net five times on consecutive weeks. Liam Atherton led the way with a treble, Ethan Mort and Tom Weaver both chipped with a goal each at AFC Tima who replied via a Mike Redgrift double 5-2, Jimmy Core finalists Athletic VH and Wirral Athletic (Harry Huggins, OG) both had a share of the spoils with Parkgate St Germain 0-0 and Oval FC (John Skipsey, James Broadbent) 2-2 respectfully

The Houlihan’s Birkenhead Sunday Association Football League are now accepting applications from new prospective clubs to join the League for the 2023-2024 season, a limited number of vacancies are available also a proposed Youth Division for the same season that is scheduled to start in August 2024, any Youth clubs that wish to enter two teams can do so, one team will be known as Youth U/18’s and a second team is normally known as a Colts U/17’s, please visit the League website for contact details