West suffered defeat in their last game of 2006 to second placed Herons Youth, although it could have been different if their finishing had been better.

The first good opening came following a good ball down the left wing from Ryan Maher for Greg Springall to chase. He then sent a good cross into the area to be met by Scott Howlett but the resultant shot unfortunately went just wide. The opening goal came after five minutes as West failed to clear a Herons corner which was headed in. Worse was to come after twelve minutes as a Herons player on the edge of the area was given time to turn and shoot to give them a 2-0 lead.

West didn’t let their head drop though and continued to push forward, with a number of chances being created, however each time the Herons keeper either made a good save or the shot went wide.

In the second half, West raised their game, which included seeing a number of surging runs though midfield by centre back Charlie Craigen. Scoring chances were limited at both ends though, but as the second half progressed West  pushed ahead more, with one good through ball creating an opening for Elliott Jay before a last ditch tackle by a Herons defender robbed him of possession just as he was about to shoot. With space for Herons to counter attack they then created a few chances themselves, but Martin Robinson in goal played very well to deny them a third goal. West still pushed forward right to the end, if only for a consolation goal, but it was not to arrive, and the score remained 2-0 to Herons.

This was a disappointing result, as if the first half chances had been taken they could have been leading at half time, but while the boys tried hard, they lost too many 50/50 balls, and surrendered possession too easily at times.