AFC Birmingham 2-1 Gornal AFC Birmingham got a crucial win against Gornal at the weekend to keep in touch with the automatic promotion race in division three. There only three points off Feckenham in 2nd and have a similar goal difference to Northfield in 3rd who are two points better off. They will have to rely on teams dropping points but it’s not out of the question. Goals from Drew Ricketts and Ashley Brown was enough for AFC Birmingham’s 8th home win of the season. It was a battling result on Saturday against a good Gornal side and they did well to get through this match and pick up the three points. A decent crowd of 25 supporters turned up to watch it at Illey Lane. They have a huge home game against Silhill this evening which could be pivotal for their promotion hopes. If they can win tonight, it would put them in 3rd and level on points with Feckenham who have a better goal difference. They have a good chance of putting pressure on the teams above them with the way the fixtures have been scheduled. Gornal competed well on Saturday against one of the top teams in division three and were close to getting a result. It’s been a positive week for the visitors with the away win at Meadow Park and pushing AFC Birmingham close. AFC Solihull 2-0 Meadow Park AFC Solihull made it consecutive wins in the league with a result against Meadow Park at Leafield Athletic. It keeps their eleven-point lead at the top intact with three matches to go and they have shown consistency throughout to lead the way in division three. They have only lost four out of 29 matches in the league which is an excellent achievement. Goals in each half by Dylan Daniels and Jahvan Howell was enough for their 12th home win of the season which has been a fortress at both Tudor Grange Leisure Centre and Leafield Athletic. It’s been a tough month for Meadow Park with seven consecutive defeats in the league. Balsall and Berkswell 1-2 Northfield Town Northfield got a crucial win at Lavendar Hall Lane to keep on pace with Feckenham in 2nd. The result makes it four consecutive wins for the visitors and leaves them only a point off Feckenham with a game in hand over the Millers. They have a big match away at DSC United on Wednesday which would put them in 2nd with a win. It’s Northfield’s 12th away win of the season and continues their excellent record on the road with 29 points from 39 available. A goal in each half settled a tight match. Tommy Black scored what turned out to be a consolation goal for Balsall in the second half in a battling performance against one of the top teams at this level. It’s been a positive week for the Hornets with home wins against Leamington Hibernian and Meadow Park. They were close to getting something from this match and competed well. There away at Leamington Hibernian on Tuesday night and looking to continue their good form with 13 points from their last six games. Birmingham Tigers 2-2 Castle Vale Town Birmingham Tigers managed to hold top six side Castle Vale Town to a draw on Saturday at the Hadley Stadium to get their third point of the season. It’s a brilliant result for the hosts and arguably one of the highlights of the league campaign. Castle Vale Town have been one of the form teams away from home with nine wins and three draws from fifteen matches, so Birmingham Tigers did well to hold them to a draw and get something out of this match. If they can build on this, they might pick up some more points over the next few weeks against Wake Green and Balsall and Berkswell. It was a tough day at the office for the visitors, but they have had a good season at this level regardless and are looking to secure a top six place. It’s going to be tight, and there currently two points better off than Wake Green in 7th who have a game in hand over the Spitfires. Silhill 8-1 Leamington Hibernian Silhill got an excellent home win against Leamington Hibernian at Sharmans Cross over the weekend. The Solihull side have been strong at home throughout the season with ten wins and two draws from fourteen matches and it’s been a fortress in the league. There comfortably in the top six and will be looking to build on this with matches against AFC Birmingham (away) and Solihull Sporting (home) over the next week. A good crowd of 40 supporters turned up to watch Silhill’s 17th league win of the season at the weekend. It was a team effort in front of goal for the hosts which was highlighted by Kamal Richardson scoring a hat-trick. Further goals by Brandon Williams, John Baker, Lewis Williams and substitutes Mohammed Ali and Todd Bonehill sealed off a resounding win for Silhill. They have been one of the form teams in the league with five wins from their last six matches. It was a tough day at the office for Leamington Hibernian and it will be interesting to see how they respond in the next week with upcoming matches against Balsall and Berkswell and Meadow Park. Solihull Sporting 2-3 Wake Green Amateur Wake Green got a crucial win against Solihull Sporting to chase down a top six finish. It’s an excellent result for the visitors and leaves them only two points off Castle Vale Town with a game in hand. There on an excellent run of form with four consecutive wins in division three. A brace from Xavier Moore and a solo effort from Harry Prew gave the visitors their 8th away win of the season. Wake Green have grown into the season and gradually climbed up the table as it’s gone on. They have a good run of fixtures to finish in the top six over the next few weeks. Solihull Sporting battled well in this match and are having a good season regardless of the result. They took the lead twice thanks to efforts from Erique Manuel and Tyler Ahmed. There comfortably in mid table and building for the future to challenge next season. Round up feature written by Rhys Beardmore for the Midland Football League Continental Star were looking to cause an upset against promotion chasing Feckenham at the Holford Drive Sports Hub yesterday afternoon in Perry Barr. The hosts were on a good run of form with three consecutive wins in the league coming into this one and presented a tough challenge for the Millers. Feckenham were looking to continue their excellent run of form yesterday and record their fourth consecutive win. The Millers have been one of the standout teams in step eight and were looking to make it five matches unbeaten going into this match. They were sitting in 2nd and a point better off than Northfield Town in 3rd prior to kick off. The match between Feckenham and Northfield on the 2nd of May could be crucial in determining how it shapes up going into the final weekend of the season. The atmosphere around the Holford Drive Sports Hub was welcoming with both sets of supporters looking forward to the match. Feckenham brought a good number of fans who made the trip up from Worcestershire to cheer on the Millers. The ground is an excellent location for casual groundhoppers across the West Midlands and is only a 15-minute walk from Perry Barr Train station. It’s definitely worth checking out and visiting for local supporters around the North Birmingham area. Starting Line Ups Continental Star’s starting line up included Armando Pepa playing in goal and Rhys Hoyte captaining the team from central defence. The formation looked like a 4-2-3-1 with Kymani Hunter leading the line up front and being supported by Lawrence Taylor and Khadim Fall on the wings. There were three changes from the team that started against Birmingham Tigers a few weeks ago with Francesko Totti coming into the team and playing in attacking midfield. The starting line up for Feckenham featured Adam Watson starting in goal and Kian Davies captaining the team from central defence. The formation appeared to be a 4-2-3-1 with prolific forward Will Skelton playing up front and being supported by Ben Cox and Lewis Espley on the wings. There were two changes from the team that started against BNJS in mid-week with Josh Bowen coming into the team and playing in attacking midfield. First Half The opening stages of the match were fairly scrappy with both teams working each out and where to find the space to build attacks. It was evenly matched with both teams having a good share of the ball and looking to cause problems in the final third. Continental Star had a half chance from the edge of the box when Francesko Totti had a shot that was saved by Adam Watson. Feckenham managed to take the lead in the 14th minute through their first real chance in front of goal. It came from a well delivered corner into the box that was initially cleared by the hosts before the second ball was recycled well by the visitors with Kian Davies playing a ball into the box that found Will Skelton who finished into the bottom left corner to make it 1-0 to the Millers. Continental Star responded well to going a goal down and managed to settle into the match. There were not that many clear-cut chances for much of the first half as the hosts were building some momentum and reducing the Feckenham chances to stay in it. A lot of this was down to how well they were set up off the ball with Kona Campbell having a good game at the back and clearing dangerous balls into the box. The best chance for the hosts to get an equaliser came in the last ten minutes when Rumal Johnson had an effort on goal that was instinctively saved by Adam Watson. He tried to catch the goalkeeper off guard from the edge of the box, but the Feckenham stopper was alert to keep the clean sheet intact. Second Half The early stages of the second half were similar to how the first half left off with Continental Star having a lot of the ball and Feckenham looking to play on the counterattack. To the visitors’ credit they were resolute at the back with Ashley Bunn having an excellent game from central defence and clearing dangerous balls into the box. The visitors made it 2-0 in the 48th minute when Kevin Ingram capitalised on a goalkeeping mistake from a free kick into the box. Armando Pepa was looking to clear the ball away but struggled to connect with the ball with Feckenham anticipating the mistake and setting Kevin Ingram away on the right-hand side of the penalty box who finished well across goal. The hosts responded to the setback well and showed character and resolve to keep going. Marcel Simpson had a header saved from a good corner into the box. Substitute Michel Fueto came off the bench in the middle of the second half and made a positive impact in the final third. He held the ball up well and bought players into it to build attacks. The most clear-cut chance of the second half for Continental Star came in the 70th minute when Michel Fueto did well to find space in the box before putting an effort wide of goal. Just as the hosts were close to scoring, Marcel Simpson was sent off for an incident off the ball which reduced them to ten men. It was a shame as they were building something, and it disrupted their rhythm going forward. The visitors managed to make it 3-0 late on when a long ball resulted in another goalkeeping error from Armando Pepa who misjudged the flight of the ball. Will Skelton anticipated the mistake well and was in the right place to produce a composed finish to seal the three points for the Millers. Feckenham saw the match out in the final stages to get a huge result and keep pace with Northfield and AFC Birmingham who both won yesterday. Full Time It was an interesting match to watch yesterday with Continental Star having a lot of the momentum in the final third but lacking that ruthlessness in front of goal. They created a fair number of chances which was encouraging. None the less, despite the visitors not having that many chances they were clinical when it mattered which was the main difference between the two teams. Continental Star should not be too discouraged by the result as they played well and put in a spirited performance against one of the standout teams in division three this season. The effort and endeavour were certainly there, and they looked well set up off the ball to get something from future matches. Francesko Totti had a good game from holding midfield and was linking up the play well going forward. Lawrence Taylor also looked a threat out on the right-hand side and was making things happen on the ball. There was a lot to be encouraged by yesterday for the hosts. Feckenham put in a professional effort to get the three points and see the match out against a tough Continental Star team. The visitors did enough to get the three points and a lot of the credit should go to the defence who did well to stand up to the pressure and get the clean sheet. Ashley Bunn was excellent at the back and made some key interceptions to break up promising attacks. Lucas Cooke also had an underrated game from holding midfield and was helping to link up the play and stop promising Continental Star attacks. It was a battling win from the visitors yesterday and they worked hard to get this result. Overall, it was an entertaining game to watch at the Holford Drive Sports hub yesterday which showcased both teams well. FT score: Continental Star 0-3 Feckenham Attendance: 34 Man of the match: Ashley Bunn (Feckenham) 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 |