AFC Birmingham 11-0 Birmingham Tigers AFC Birmingham continued their brilliant form with an emphatic win against Birmingham Tigers at Illey Lane on Saturday. It’s now three consecutive wins for the hosts and 22 goals scored from their last three home matches. The result moves them into the top two and there in the mix for promotion to step seven. A decent crowd of 33 supporters turned up to watch AFC Birmingham get their sixth home win of the season. A brace from Jayden Hunter and efforts from Louis Clifton and Harley Baker alongside an own goal gave the hosts a 5-0 half time lead. The goals kept coming in the second half with Jayden Hunter completing his hat-trick and Rahiem Faulder coming off the bench and scoring a hat-trick. Further efforts from Louis Clifton and David Emiloju made it 11-0 at full time to AFC Birmingham in a statement win. It was a tough day at the office for Birmingham Tigers in what’s been a challenging season in division three. BNJS 3-1 Meadow Park BNJS got a good win against Meadow Park on Saturday for their third home win of the season at Hadley Stadium in Smethwick. The result moves them up to 14th with 16 points and it’s been a good first season at this level. They have been competitive this season against a range of teams, and it continued here against Meadow Park. If they can build on the positives of this season, they could be one of the teams to watch next season. Despite the loss, Meadow Park are in a good position in the league and challenging for a top half finish. They have been brilliant since joining the MFL and if they can keep their good home record going, they can finish in the top half at the end of the season. Boldmere Sports and Social Falcons 3-0 Solihull Sporting Boldmere Falcons got a convincing win against Solihull Sporting at the weekend to cement their position in mid table. They were looking to respond to a couple of challenging defeats against the likes of AFC Birmingham and Meadow Park and got an encouraging win here against a good Solihull Sporting team. It’s the Falcons’ fifth home win of the season and moves them up to ninth in the table. Chris Uwabor scored in the first half to make it 1-0 at half time. Further efforts in the second half from Marvelous Omoregie and Shaun Reid sealed the win for an improved Boldmere side. Solihull Sporting’s away problems continued but there comfortably in mid table and are a challenge for any team on their day. Continental Star 7-1 DSC United Continental Star got an eye-catching home win against DSC United at the Holford Drive Community Hub in Perry Barr at the weekend. The result moves them up to 13th and they have impressed at home this season in division three. Despite their league position, their home record has been good with four wins and four draws from 15 matches. The main positive for Continental Star is being competitive in division three and causing problems for several teams. Despite the loss, DSC United are still in a good position and can challenge for a top ten finish between now and the end of the season. Feckenham 1-4 Silhill Silhill got an excellent away win against promotion chasing Feckenham at Mill Lane on Saturday to boost their chances of a top five finish. The visitors have been brilliant away from home this season with only two losses from ten matches. It’s a brilliant result for the Solihull club against one of the top teams in the league. A decent crowd of 40 supporters turned up to watch Silhill get their sixth away win of the season. It was a team effort in front of goal for the visitors with Gilad Grant, Tom Cherry, Alieu Jabang and Kyle Porter getting the goals for Silhill. Prolific forward Will Skelton got a consolation goal for Feckenham in the second half in a rare defeat for the Millers. Despite the result, Feckenham are still in the mix for promotion to step seven and have some winnable home matches over the coming weeks to get their push back on track. There now in 3rd and a point off AFC Birmingham in 2nd with a game in hand. Gornal 1-4 AFC Solihull AFC Solihull got a crucial win against Gornal at the Wombourne Leisure Centre to extend their lead at the top of division three. The result has created a 14-point gap over nearest challenger AFC Birmingham in 2nd and there now in a strong position to win the league at the end of the season. The result continues AFC Solihull’s excellent run of form and makes it five consecutive wins in division three. Their away record has been a strength throughout the season with eleven wins from 13 matches. Gornal took a surprise lead in the 3rd minute to make it 1-0. AFC Solihull responded and scored two quick fire goals from Sam Delaney and Abdo Said to go into the half time break with a 2-1 lead. A brace from prolific striker Jahvan Howell sealed the win for the visitors in the second half. Gornal have been good this season despite their league position and have managed to be competitive against a range of teams in their first season at this level. Northfield Town 3-3 Wake Green Amateur Wake Green managed to hold Northfield Town to a draw at Shenley Lane at the weekend. It’s a brilliant result for the visitors against one of the top teams in the league. A good crowd of 62 supporters turned up at the weekend to watch the entertaining draw between Northfield and Wake Green. Josh Westwood scored for Northfield and prolific forward Patrick Behan came off the bench and scored a brace for the hosts in the second half. The result leaves Northfield only a point off the top two with a few games in hand over AFC Birmingham in 2nd. It’s set to be an exciting promotion race in division three between AFC Birmingham, Feckenham and Northfield for that second promotion spot between now and the end of the season. Wake Green have gone a bit under the radar in division three but are having a good season and are looking to cement their position in the top half of the table over their remaining matches. Round up feature written by Rhys Beardmore for the Midland Football League Leamington Hibernian were looking for a result yesterday afternoon to climb up the table and challenge for a top ten finish. It’s been a tough season for the hosts so far and yesterday was their first match in over a month since the 6-0 home loss to Boldmere Falcons. On a positive, they have a lot of matches left and were only five points off DSC United in 10th going into yesterday’s match. Castle Vale Town have been excellent in division three this season and were looking to respond to their 2-1 home defeat to Wake Green Amateur a few weeks ago. Their away form had been a real strength coming into this match with eight wins from eleven matches. The Spitfires were looking to continue their good record here to cement their position in the top five. The atmosphere around Stockton Football Club was relaxed and positive prior to kick off with both sets of supporters looking forward to the match. It’s a brilliant location for casuals groundhoppers across the West Midlands and can be accessed by getting on the 63 bus from either Rugby or Leamington. Supporters can stop at the Square in Stockton and it’s only a five-minute walk to the ground. Leamington Hibernian can go under the radar in division three, but they have been competitive this season and can be a tough test on their day. The people at the club were welcoming and down to earth yesterday and there’s a lot of effort that goes on behind the scenes from local volunteers. One of the positives of football at this level is a sense of localness which can add to the match going experience. Starting line ups Leamington Hibernian’s starting line-up included Roddy Attwood starting in goal and Zach Featherstone captaining the team from holding midfield. The formation looked like a 4-3-3 with a front two of Kallum Blake and Kyle King being supported by Jordan Featherstone in the attacking midfield role. There were four changes from the team that started against Boldmere Falcons with Jordan Barry coming into the team and playing in central midfield. The starting line-up for Castle Vale Town featured Alex Bowen starting in goal and Jordan McKenzie captaining the team up front. The formation appeared to be a 4-2-2-2 with a front two of Tarus Zaman and Jordan McKenzie up front. There were two changes from the team that started against Wake Green Amateur with Will Case coming into the team and playing at left wing-back. First Half The opening twenty minutes of the match were mostly cagey with both teams settling into it. With a lot of matches getting cancelled over the last few weeks this was understandable and both teams needed a bit of time before they settled into a passing rhythm. Out of the two, Castle Vale Town started the brighter and were looking to pass the ball through the thirds. The chances were few and far between in the opening stages of the first half with both teams well organised off the ball to limit the clear-cut chances. The main pattern of play involved Castle Vale Town looking to play a possession-based style with Leamington looking to catch them on the counterattack. The match came to life in the middle of the first half when the visitors managed to take the lead through a moment of quality. An excellent set piece routine gave Castle Vale Town a 1-0 lead. Jordan Evans delivered an accurate ball into the box to Ensa Jarju who had a powerful header go into the net at the near post. The rest of the half saw Castle Vale Town protect their lead and stick to their passing game to have a control of the match. None the less, there weren’t that many chances in front of goal which gave Leamington Hibernian some hope of getting something from it. Their best chance of an equaliser in the first half fell to Kallum Blake who had a header go the wrong side of the post. Despite Castle Vale Town having a control of the match, it was a tight affair in the first half with Leamington looking a threat in spells. It was well set up for the second half. Second Half The opening stages of the second half was similar to the first and it took a while for the match to get going following the half time break. The game opened up on the hour mark and the chances started to come in front of goal. Jordan McKenzie was getting into some good position around the box for the visitors and he had a great chance to make it 2-0 before firing wide inside the box. The best chance of an equaliser for Leamington came in the final ten minutes when a neat passage of play resulted in Jack Breen working the ball on the edge of the box and having a shot well saved by Alex Bowen. It was a moment of quality from Leamington Hibernian and showed what their capable of. Substitute Idris Oyeniyi had an excellent chance to make it 2-0 for Castle Vale Town in the final few minutes. He did brilliantly to beat his man and cut inside from the left before having a shot go the wrong side of the post. Substitute Alex Henry was sin binned in the final few stages of the match which set up a nervy finish for Castle Vale Town. The visitors did well to hold on across the five minutes of additional time and managed to clear a lot of dangerous balls into the box. They were awarded a penalty near the end of the match with Owen Reynolds being fouled in the box. Jordan McKenzie stepped up and took an excellent penalty into the bottom left corner to make it 2-0 and seal the three points. Full Time Leamington Hibernian were good in this match and put a lot of effort and endeavour in to get something from it. They have struggled in front of goal this season but were a lot more dangerous in the final third than their goals scored record would suggest. They were getting into some good position around the box and just needed that final ball or composed finish. Their main strength was how well they were set up off the ball which stood out yesterday. Zach Featherstone was excellent in the holding midfield role and shielded the defence well to prevent the clear-cut chances for the visitors. Sam Newey and Samuel Ajayi also had underrated games at the back and stood up to the Castle Vale Town pressure well to keep them in the game. Kallum Blake also looked good up front and was getting into some promising positions around the final third. Amari Thomas was also a threat since coming on in the second half and was linking up the play well. Castle Vale Town were good yesterday and did well to have a control of the match since taking the lead in the first half. There’s quality both on and off the ball and Luke Evans has done a good job of making the Spitfires one of the top squads in a competitive division. Luke Smith and Talal Kelani were excellent at the back and were constantly clearing balls out of play throughout the afternoon. They got into the right positions and stopped Leamington Hibernian creating chances in front of goal. Ensa Jarju was also good in the holding midfield role and offered that composure on the ball to settle into the match. Jordan McKenzie played well up front and especially in the second half when the game was more stretched. He managed to get into some brilliant positions in the box and deserved a goal. Both William Case and Idris Oyeniyi impressed on the left yesterday for the visitors and were a genuine threat going forward. Overall, a brilliant advert for step eight football yesterday between two competitive teams. FT score: Leamington Hibernian 0-2 Castle Vale Town Man of the Match: Talal Kelani (Castle Vale Town) Match report written by Rhys Beardmore for the Midland Football League |
MFLThe official news channel of the Midland Football League (founded 2014) Archives
March 2024
Categories |