AFC Wulfrunians 0-1 Atherstone Town Atherstone finished their season with a win against AFC Wulfrunians at Castlecroft over the weekend. It’s been a positive campaign for the Adders at step five and the result confirms a top half finish which is a good achievement in a competitive division. Gabe Webster scored the winner for the visitors in the second half in a tight match against two evenly matched teams. AFC Wulfrunians have one more game remaining which is against Stone Old Alleynians next weekend at Kings Park. Both teams will be looking ahead to next season and are in a good position to challenge with the future looking bright. Dudley Town 1-5 Congleton Town Congleton got a memorable win against Dudley Town at the Guardian Warehousing Arena on Saturday. It’s their 8th away win of the season and was watched by an excellent crowd of 601 supporters. It was a team effort in front of goal for the visitors with the five goals coming from George Sankey, Ethan Hartshorn, Daniel Cocks, Max McCarthy and Tom Hampton. Dudley Town scored a consolation goal late on through Abdul Bashiru to make it 5-1 to the visitors at full time. The Bears have one of the best attacks in the league with 96 goals scored over the course of 33 matches. They have one more match to go against Tividale in mid-week to finish the campaign. Regardless of the result, it’s been a positive season for Dudley Town who have finished in the top half of the table and been one of the form teams since the New Year. Highgate United 7-0 Wolverhampton Casuals Highgate got a convincing win against Wolverhampton Casuals at the Coppice over the weekend to keep their play off push on track. It’s their 12th home win and The Gate will be looking to get in the play offs and take it from there over the next few weeks. A crowd of 46 supporters turned up to watch Highgate get their 18th win of the season. It was a team effort in front of goal with efforts from Aaron Brown, Liam Cairns, James Wilcock, Jake Collins, Tyree Sanusi and a brace from Ryan Harkin giving them a resounding win. It’s a brilliant result and a good way to bounce back from the loss at Darlaston last Thursday. The play offs are in Highgate’s hands with two games to go and if they win against Northwich Victoria and Bewdley Town away from home they’re in. It was a tough day at the office for Wolverhampton Casuals but when looking at the season overall it’s been a success with their future at step five confirmed for another season. Lichfield City 2-1 Studley Lichfield got a momentum building win against Studley at the weekend to finish off their season. They have gone throughout the whole league season without losing at home from 17 matches with 13 wins and four draws which is an excellent achievement. There going into the play offs in 2nd place which means they will be at home which is a huge plus. None the less, it can be a lottery and the teams below them have a lot of quality so it’s shaping up to be an even play off field and anything can happen in a one-off match. An excellent attendance of 234 supporters turned up to the Trade Tyre Community stadium to watch Lichfield get their 22nd league win of the season. Bailey Fuller scored early on for Studley before goals from Dan Smith and Joe Haines got the win for Lichfield City. It’s a good win from Lichfield who showed character to come back and win the match and respond to the mid-week loss away at Highgate United. The play off race is out of Studley’s hands and the Bees will have to rely on results going in their favour over the next week to make the play offs. The crucial fixture to look out for is Northwich Victoria v Highgate United on Tuesday evening. If the Vics beat Highgate, Studley would probably get in on goal difference. Northwich Victoria 7-0 Bewdley Town Northwich got a confidence boosting win against Bewdley Town at Booth Street on Saturday. It’s been a transitional season for the Vics at step five and there comfortably in mid table with a few games to go. A commendable crowd of 107 supporters watched Northwich get their sixth home win of the season. The main highlight was Callum Parker scoring four goals for the Vics in a resounding win over relegation strugglers Bewdley. Further goals from Sam Unwin who scored a brace and Eli Fisher made it 7-0 at the full-time whistle. The hosts have a fair bit to play for over their three remaining matches and could influence the play-off picture alongside climbing up the table. It was another tough day at the office for Bewdley Town who are playing for pride over the final week of the season. Similar to Northwich, they could have a big say on the play off race with home games against Stourport and Highgate coming up. If they could defy the odds and hold one of them to a draw it could have a huge say on the play offs. Romulus 0-0 Uttoxeter Town Romulus finished their spell at Castle Vale Stadium with a goalless draw against Uttoxeter Town watched by a decent crowd of 61 supporters. The Roms are comfortably in mid table with a game to go and are looking at the future. There’s been some positives and if they can keep players and build during the summer their capable of challenging next season. Uttoxeter are comfortably in mid table going into the final week of the season. It’s been an encouraging season from the visitors, and it will be interesting to see if they can build on it next season. The main aim was to establish themselves in step five which they have done comfortably. Tividale 0-2 Shifnal Town Shifnal got a good win at the Beeches against Tividale to put them in a strong position for a top half finish with two matches to go. The visitors are challenging to finish in the top half and are a point better off than AFC Wulfrunians in 10th. A decent crowd of 43 supporters turned up to watch Shifnal get their sixth away win of the season. Goals from Brandon Tanomjit and prolific forward Joe Ellis Cuff was enough to give the visitors the three points. There’s positives for Shifnal and there building a squad that is capable of challenging next season with a good amount of attacking quality up front. Tividale have got one match remaining which is against league champions Congleton on Tuesday evening to round off their season. It’s been a transitional campaign under new manager Stuart How and there’s been some positives to build on. They should take confidence from the FA Vase run and taking points off the likes of Highgate United. Stone Old Alleynians 3-4 Stourport Swifts Stourport got a crucial win against Stone Old Alleynians at Evans Park on Saturday evening to put them in a strong position for the play offs with two matches to go. If they can win against Bewdley Town on Tuesday, they will be competing in a semi final in a few weeks’ time. The Swifts took a 2-0 lead going into half time thanks to an own goal and an effort by Aaron Birch. Stone Old Alleynians responded in the second half and managed to get it back to 2-2 before the visitors retook the lead through Jamie Meddows. In a thrilling match the hosts got it back to 3-3 which would have dented Stourport’s play off hopes before they got the win a few minutes before full time. A corner by Martin Slevin went directly in at the far post for a huge three points for the Swifts. It puts them in a strong position to be in the play offs and as long as they beat Bewdley there in. The goals from Stone Old Alleynians came from a brace from Jack Bowater and a solo effort by Charlie Batho in an action-packed game. Full credit to the hosts for making it one of the matches of the weekend in the MFL. Regardless of the result, it’s been a good season for Stone Old Alleynians who have stayed up and established themselves at step five. They could still have a big say on the play off picture with a home game against Darlaston Town on Tuesday which could decide who finishes in the top three. Round up feature written by Rhys Beardmore for the Midland Football League Darlaston were looking to continue their excellent form against Whitchurch Alport at the Paycare Stadium yesterday afternoon to cement a play off position. The Citizens were coming off five consecutive wins going into this match and were one of the form teams in the premier division. They were on an incredible run of five clean sheets which included notable wins over Lichfield and Highgate over the last week. It's been a transitional season for Whitchurch Alport under Adam Shillcock who was appointed as their new manager back in the Autumn. The Shropshire side were one of the form teams going into this match with 12 points from their last five matches. They were looking to respond to the 1-0 loss at AFC Wulfrunians last weekend with a statement result against Darlaston. The atmosphere around the Paycare Stadium was friendly and welcoming prior to kick off. There was a good turnout of both Darlaston and Whitchurch supporters which added to the match. The weather was brilliant yesterday with clear skies and sunny conditions. The ground is a brilliant location to visit for casual groundhoppers across the West Midlands and is accessible to get to by public transport. Supporters can get on the number 37 from Walsall Town Centre and stop off at Wrexham Avenue for a short walk to the ground. It’s well worth a visit for supporters around the Walsall area and offers a good standard of football. Starting line ups Darlaston Town’s starting line up included Tom Allsopp starting in goal and Alexander Foreshaw captaining the team from central defence. The formation appeared to be a 4-2-3-1 with Aaron Bishop leading the line up front and being supported by Rivel Mardenborough and James Rowland on the wings. There were two changes from the team that started against Highgate United on Thursday evening with Jason Wood coming into the team and playing in holding midfield. The starting line up for Whitchurch Alport included Jack Sheward starting in goal and Aaron Simms captaining the team from central defence. The formation looked like a 4-2-3-1 with Nicky Parker playing up front and being supported by Harry Bower and Lewis Bloor on the wings. There were three changes from the team that started against AFC Wulfrunians last weekend with Cameron Dourish coming into the team and playing in the holding midfield role. First Half The opening twenty minutes of the match were fairly scrappy with both teams settling into it and working each out. Darlaston started brightly and their first good chance came when Harry Chesterton played an excellent ball into the box that found Lewis Gill who headed wide for the Citizens. Whitchurch were positive on the ball and looking to make things happen down the wings with the pace of Harry Bower and Lewis Bloor causing Darlaston a few problems. The first half was even based on the balance of play with both teams carrying a threat going forward which made for an entertaining match. Both teams were well organised off the ball to limit the clear-cut chances in front of goal throughout the first half. The visitors settled into the match well and managed to take the game to play off chasing Darlaston. Whitchurch were winning the midfield battle and the composure on the ball of Cameron Dourish and Craig Pritchard gave them a way of building into the match. The best chance for the visitors came when Lewis Bloor cut inside before having a shot well saved by Tom Allsopp in the Darlaston goal. To the hosts’ credit they were well set up at the back with Alexander Foreshaw having a reliably good game in central defence and heading dangerous balls away. They did a good job of not getting caught off guard and conceding a preventable goal. The most concerning thing for Darlaston in the first half was the injury to James Rowland on the half hour mark who had to be substituted. He’s been brilliant this season with 18 goals in all competitions and home supporters will be hoping it’s not too serious which could rule him out of the upcoming play offs. The first half was quite tense overall and both teams had spells in front of goal where they were building some momentum. The main thing missing was that composure in the box to create clear cut chances. None the less, it was well set up for the second half. Second Half Whitchurch started the second half well and were building some momentum in front of goal. They had a great chance to take the lead in the opening ten minutes when Harry Bower found space in the box before having a shot instinctively saved by Tom Allsopp. It was by far the clearest chance of the match up to that point and a key moment in the game. Darlaston responded with a good chance of their own a couple of minutes later. Rivel Mardenborough did well to work the ball out on the left-hand side before playing an inviting cross to Jason Wood whose header was saved by Jack Sheward at the far post. As the match was getting more stretched in the final half an hour, it saw Darlaston looking to break down a resolute Whitchurch defence to take the lead. The visitors were playing on the counterattack and looking to draw Darlaston on to them so they could make the most of the available space. They had an excellent chance to take the lead on the counterattack from a corner where they were three on one with Josh Jones back for the hosts. The right back did well to narrow the angle and make it harder to score for the visitors to keep it goalless. He had another underrated match yesterday for Darlaston and is one of the key players at the back for the hosts. Dean Gill made a good tactical substitution in the second half which decided a close match. He brought on Kieron Miller and played him as a central striker up front which helped Darlaston get on the ball more and build attacks. His hold up play was excellent, and he brought players into the game which made a real difference in this match. He was crucial in the opening goal for Darlaston in the middle of the second half. A ball was played to him in midfield, and he held off his defender before playing an excellent ball to Rivel Mardenborough down the left. He accelerated with the ball before playing a low ball to Jack Downing who finished well into the left corner to make it 1-0. It was a moment of genuine quality from the hosts. Darlaston managed to find a second goal a few minutes later and it was another quality move. Aaron Bishop found some space out on the left before playing a defence splitting pass to Kieron Miller who produced an excellent finish into the left corner to make it 2-0. The hosts managed to see the match out well following the second goal for a crucial three points and their 13th home win of the season. Full Time Darlaston played well yesterday and showed character to get the result against a good Whitchurch Alport side. It’s been a busy week for the Citizens with three matches in a week and they had to show a bit of resiliency to dig in and get the win. The most pleasing thing about this match was how they kept switched on to not let it get away from them. This result is huge for Darlaston and cements their play off position with a good chance of a top three finish. Whitchurch competed well in this match and were ultimately undone by a moment of quality from Darlaston rather than anything they did wrong. It was just that final ball in the box that was missing but apart from that it was a really encouraging performance from the visitors. Harry Bower was excellent on the wing and a real threat in the final third. FT score: Darlaston Town 2-0 Whitchurch Alport Man of the Match: Kieron Miller (Darlaston Town) Attendance: 158 Match report written by Rhys Beardmore for the Midland Football League |
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March 2024
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