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The Empress v AFC Kirkby

1pm  11 January 2020

Liverpool County Premier League, Division One
The Empress 8 AFC Kirkby 2 (att 13)

My primary reason for a day watching football in Liverpool was an alignment of fixtures that, I hoped, would allow me to watch this game at 1pm followed by another just a couple of miles away at 3pm.

It might have been tight, but it turned out to be easy thanks to this match getting underway a little early, a swift turn around at half time, and a slightly truncated second half.

Maybe the referee had also had plans for three o'clock, but more likely he decided that AFC Kirkby had suffered enough by the 85th minute, and so he called time a few minutes early.

To be fair on the visitors the scale of this defeat was harsh. They took a 10th minute lead from the penalty spot and were more than a match for promotion-chasing Empress for the first quarter of the game.

But when The Empress clicked into gear they steamrollered Kirkby. Five goals in about 20 minutes turned a 1-0 deficit into a 5-1 lead by half time. The visitors again looked the better side early in the second half, and pulled a goal back, but as in the first half once The Empress got going there was no stopping them.

I assume The Empress take their name from a Liverpool pub. They're based at Tiber Street in the city's Toxteth area, which is a community facility with a single enclosed artificial pitch. They share the venue with fellow Liverpool County Premier League side Botanic FC.








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