Birmingham Tigers 0-6 AFC Solihull AFC Solihull continued their title charge with a convincing away win at the Hadley Stadium over Birmingham Tigers on Saturday afternoon. The win leaves them in 1st with 48 points and creates a six-point gap between them and Northfield Town in 3rd who drew with BNJS at Shenley Lane. Jahvan Howell was excellent in this match and scored four goals for the visitors. Further goals by Dylan Daniels and Abdo Said gave AFC Solihull their ninth away win of the season. A key strength has been how consistent they have been on the road, and this continued here against Birmingham Tigers. This was always going to be a tough match for Birmingham Tigers. They have struggled at home this season with seven consecutive losses at the Hadley Stadium and are currently bottom of the table. None the less, they have a game at home against BNJS on Saturday which is a good opportunity to pick up some points. Castle Vale Town 4-2 DSC United Castle Vale Town got a momentum building win against DSC United at CV Stadium on Saturday to cement their position in the top six. It’s the Spitfires third home win of the season and they are now in 5th with 36 points. This time last year they were in 11th with 4 points. It’s been an excellent turnaround from the club in the space of a year. Tarus Zaman was the standout player in this match and scored a hat-trick for the Spitfires to give them the three points. Josh Pitters also had a good game for Castle Vale and scored a goal as well as contributing an assist for the hosts. DSC United scored from an own goal and capitalised on a defensive mix up at the back to make it 2-2 going into half time but Castle Vale pushed on in the second half. Despite the defeat, DSC United are still in a good position to compete for a top half finish come the end of the season and they are currently in 8th with 21 points. Gornal 1-3 Feckenham Feckenham continued their excellent run of form with a convincing away win against Gornal on Saturday at the Wombourne Leisure Centre. The win cements the Millers’ position in the top two and they now have a three-point gap over Northfield in 3rd who have a game in hand. The Worcester side also have a superior goal difference to Northfield which could be pivotal come the end of the season. Goals from Ashley Bunn, Ben Cox and William Skelton gave Feckenham their sixth away win of the season. Similar to league leaders AFC Solihull, they have been consistent away from home with six wins from nine matches which has put them in the top two. Gornal competed well against a quality side and have been tough to beat at home despite their league position with just four losses from eight matches. The club is adjusting to step eight and have shown moments of quality this season such as when they beat division two Inkberrow in the LJ Challenge cup back in August. Meadow Park 2-2 Leamington Hibernian Meadow Park and Leamington Hibernian played out an entertaining 2-2 draw on Saturday afternoon. Both teams are comfortably in mid table and are above the teams that are either transitioning to the level or struggling in the table. Samuel Ajayi and Luke Woolley scored the goals for the visitors with Meadow Park getting two goals thanks to a brace from Dan Jarvis in the second half to take home a point. Northfield Town 2-2 BNJS BNJS got a statement result against Northfield Town at Shenley Lane on Saturday to dent their hopes of a top two finish. This was arguably one of the surprise results of the weekend alongside the 2-2 draw involving Silhill and Boldmere Falcons and shows the strength of the division. A crowd of 43 supporters turned up on Saturday to watch Northfield get their first home draw of the season. The hosts scored two goals thanks to a brace from prolific forward Patrick Behan who has been excellent in front of goal this season with 17 goals in all competitions. To the visitor’s credit they have been competitive on the road with four draws so far in division three. Like Gornal, there another club adjusting to step eight but results like this should give them encouragement to compete at this level. It’s all about building for BNJS and they have genuine quality up front with the likes of James Reid and Josh Sarmento. Solihull Sporting 6-2 Balsall and Berkswell Solihull Sporting got an excellent home win at Tudor Grange Academy Kingshurst against Balsall and Berkswell on Saturday. Their home form has been one of their strengths with six wins from twelves matches in the league alongside having the ability to score goals. Fiifi Kwofie was the standout player for the hosts with a hat-trick in this match. Further goals from Gabriel Harding, Lewis Shaw and substitute Brodi Kennedy gave Sporting the three points in an entertaining game. Balsall and Berkswell scored thanks to efforts from Luke Tildesley and Lucas Van Spelde to give Hornets supporters something to cheer at the weekend. Both teams are comfortably in mid table and have a lot of quality players that can go under the radar in a competitive division. Wake Green Amateur 1-2 AFC Birmingham AFC Birmingham continued their push for a top two finish with a crucial win against Wake Green Amateur at the Holloway on Saturday. The visitors are currently in 4th with 40 points and have a five-point gap to make up over Feckenham in 2nd with a game in hand over the Millers. Wake Green went into half time with a 1-0 lead thanks to a goal from Ashley Smith who has been prolific in front of goal at this level over the last few seasons. The visitors responded in the second half thanks to goals from Armani Bennett and David Emiloju to take home the three points and get their ninth away win of the season. Round up feature written by Rhys Beardmore for the Midland Football League Silhill were looking for a result yesterday afternoon to challenge the teams at the top of the division. It’s been a successful season for the Solihull club since joining division three over the summer and they have adjusted to step eight well over the last five months. Boldmere Falcons were looking for a statement result yesterday under new player-manager Jordan Lengthorn. He joined the club back in late November and has signed a lot of players over the last few weeks in a new look squad for the Falcons. The atmosphere around Sharmans Cross was relaxed and positive prior to kick off with both teams looking forward to the match. It’s a ground full of character and the clubhouse is excellent for step eight and features a history of the club. It’s also accessible to get to for local non-league groundhoppers across the West Midlands. There’s the 4A bus from Carrs Lane near Birmingham Moor Street where supporters can get the bus to Solihull and it’s only a short walk from the Sharmans Cross bus stop to the ground. Starting Line Ups Silhill’s starting line-up included Matt Pickford starting in goal and Jamie O’Neil captaining the team from holding midfield. The formation appeared to be a 3-4-3 with Tom Hudson leading the line up front and being supported by Jon Myrie and Lewis Williams further back. There were five changes from the team that started against Castle Vale Town a few weeks back with Owen Fackrell coming back into the team and playing in central defence. The starting line up for Boldmere Falcons featured Jimmy Griffiths starting in goal and Alex Spencer captaining the team from central defence. The formation looked like a 3-4-3 with a front two of Ryan McFadden and Dale Huckfield being supported by Mouhamadou Kandiaye further back. There were seven changes from the team that started against Continental Star last weekend with Ben Rea coming into the team and playing in central defence as part of a back three. First Half Boldmere started the opening fifteen minutes of the match excellently and took the game to Silhill. The Falcons were linking up well around midfield and in the final third and were passing the ball around with a sense of confidence. They caused Silhill a lot of problems defensively and took the lead in the 6th minute. A brilliant ball into the box evaded the defence and found Ryan McFadden who finished well into the bottom right corner to make it 1-0. The momentum was fully with Boldmere throughout the early stages of the first half with Silhill gradually growing into the match as it went on. Another brilliant passing move by the Falcons was finished off by Mouhamadou Kandiaye in the box to make it 2-0 in the 15th minute. He accelerated through the final third before scoring past Matt Pickford to give the visitors a two-goal lead against one of the top teams in the division. Silhill gradually started to build some momentum as the first half went on and were starting to link up well from the 25th minute onwards. They had an excellent chance to make it 2-1 in the 26th minute when Alfie Merriman had a header well saved by Jimmy Griffiths at the back post. It was the first real chance of note for Silhill and they started to really threaten the Falcons goal from then on. Tom Hudson also made a good run down the left flank and played an excellent ball on the edge of the box to Jon Myrie who shoot wide from a good position near the end of the first half. Silhill were getting into the match, but it was not quite clicking in the final third for the Solihull club in the opening 45 minutes. Second half Silhill took the initiative at the start of the second half and asserted themselves more than they did in the opening 45 minutes. Alex Spencer was substituted at half time for Boldmere due to an injury. He was excellent in the first half and was replaced by Joe George who filled in admirably at the back. However, he did concede an unfortunate penalty at the start of the second half when the Falcons were reduced to ten men with Ryan McFadden being sin binned for ten minutes. A foul on Jon Myrie in the box gave Silhill a penalty which Tom Hudson stepped up to take. He had an effort on target brilliantly saved by Jimmy Griffiths in the Falcons goal to keep the score at 2-0 in the 50th minute. The momentum was firmly with Silhill in the second half with Boldmere playing on the counterattack and looking to break with pace. The hosts found an opening goal in the 55th minute to make it 2-1 with substitute Gilad Grant placing an excellent header into the net at the back post. The goal was a moment of genuine quality rather than any defensive mistake at the back from the Falcons. Gilad Grant was having a significant impact on the game as the second half went on and was looking the most likely to get Silhill back into the match. He had a shot well saved by Jimmy Griffiths who made an instinctive save to prevent the equaliser. The hosts did manage to find an equaliser in the final twenty-five minutes, and it came from a corner delivered into the box. Boldmere cleared the ball which fell to Gilad Grant on the edge of the box who finished excellently into the bottom left corner to make it 2-2 in the 70th minute. Despite Boldmere putting in a resilient effort at the back, they did have chances to get a late winner on the counterattack. The best one fell to new signing Dale Huckfield on the edge of the box who shot narrowly wide of the post from a good position. Silhill had a couple of good chances to win it late on and take home the three points. Gilad Grant had an effort go narrowly wide in the 90th minute before Jon Myrie headed marginally wide from a well delivered corner into the box deep into injury time. Not long after, the referee blew for the full-time whistle, and it finished 2-2 in an entertaining match at Sharmans Cross yesterday afternoon. Full Time Despite probably being disappointed not to get the three points, Silhill battled back well in this match to get something out of it against a resilient Boldmere Falcons side. They showed a lot of character in the second half in tough conditions to get a point and they played well from the middle of the first half onwards. Substitute Gilad Grant was excellent and made a notable impact in the second half for Silhill. He has that quality both on and off the ball to unlock defences and cause problems in the final third such as making clever runs into the box. Owen Fackrell played well at the back and read the game well defensively. Jamie O’Neil also had an underrated game from holding midfield and gave the team that composure to build attacks in the second half. Boldmere Sports and Social Falcons were excellent in this match and deserved a point based on their effort and performance level. Their main strength was undoubtedly their back three which was excellent throughout the 90 minutes and withstood the Silhill pressure. Dean Rea had an underrated game as part of the back three. He was excellent in the second half and constantly cleared balls away from danger. Jimmy Griffiths had an excellent game in goal and made some brilliant saves to keep the Falcons in it late on. Ryan McFadden and Dale Huckfield looked promising up front and offered the Falcons an attacking outlet when given the opportunity. Mouhamadou Kandiaye also looked good on the ball from attacking midfield, especially in the first half. Overall, it was an encouraging performance from the Falcons yesterday that showed their capable of competing against the quality teams. FT Score: Silhill 2-2 Boldmere Sports and Social Falcons Attendance: 35 Man of the Match: Gilad Grant (Silhill) Match report written by Rhys Beardmore for the Midland Football League |
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