Premier Division Dudley Town 2-1 Stone Old Alleynians Dudley Town got their fourth home win of the season at the Guardian Warehousing Arena on Saturday to climb up the table. The Robins are now in 12th and have some breathing room over the relegation places. They now have an eight-point gap over Tividale in 17th and are looking forward to the final few months of the season. An excellent crowd of 203 supporters turned up at the weekend to watch Dudley get the win. A brace from prolific forward Harry Crook in the second half gave the Robins the three points. Stone Old Alleynians got a consolation goal late on through an effort by Ryan Goodwin to make it 2-1 but the day belonged to Dudley Town. Shifnal Town 3-0 Northwich Victoria Shifnal got a big win against Northwich Victoria on Saturday to have a chance of finishing in the play offs. An early goal by Jordan Jones and a second half brace from Joe Ellis Cuff gave the Shropshire side the three points. A good attendance of 150 supporters turned up to watch Shifnal get their fifth home win of the season. Shifnal are now only four points off the play offs and might have a chance if they can build a run of form over the next month. The away problems continue for Northwich, but they still have some breathing room over the relegation places. If they can pick up some big results at home over the next few months, they should be fine. Studley 2-2 Congleton Town Studley and Congleton played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at the weekend which leaves both teams in good positions in the division. A notable attendance of 161 supporters turned up to the Studley Sports Centre on Saturday. Studley took an early two goal lead in the first half thanks to goals from Romario Martin and Finley Holmes. The Bears got a goal back near the end of the first half thanks to an effort from McKenzie Faulkner and found an equaliser in the second half through a Dan Cocks penalty to take home a point. Both teams are on target to achieve their aims for the remainder of the season and it’s just a case of staying consistent. Division One Coton Green 1-1 Chelmsley Town Chelmsley Town battled to a point against Coton Green at New Mill Lane on Saturday afternoon. A good crowd of 50 supporters turned up for the match in Fazeley, Tamworth. Matt Gardner gave the Green Army a 1-0 lead going into half time before the visitors found an equaliser in the second half from the penalty spot to take home a point. Both teams are above the relegation zone and if they can pick up a few results between now and April they should be fine at step six. Nuneaton Griff 1-2 Shawbury United Following a tough week with the problems at Nuneaton Borough, the hosts saw an excellent turnout of 130 supporters at the Pingles Stadium on Saturday to cheer on the Heartlanders. A goal from Reiss Corfield gave the visitors the lead in the first half before an early equaliser by Jacob Dumbleton in the second half made it 1-1. Nuneaton Griff were reduced to ten men in the middle of the second half and Shawbury United took advantage late on thanks to an injury time goal from Jack Howse to take home the three points. Both teams are comfortably in mid table going into the final few months of the campaign. Smethwick Rangers 2-3 Allscott Heath Allscott Heath got a big away win at the Trevor Brown Memorial Ground on Saturday to continue their push for the play offs. The Monners had to battle for their fifth away win of the season in tough weather conditions against Smethwick Rangers. The win leaves them in 5th with a few games in hand over the teams above them. Armando Wood scored a first half brace for the visitors to make it 2-1 at half time with Smethwick getting an equaliser in the middle of the first half before Allscott scored again late on to lead at the break. The hosts managed to make it 2-2 from a free kick late in the second half before Leigh Brindley scored a crucial late winner for the visitors to take home the three points. The goals from Smethwick came from efforts by Khenan Barrett and Joseph Daley in a tough defeat. It’s looking like a struggle for the final few months of the season, but they have competed well in a tough division and if they do go down it’s not for a lack of effort. Their now five points from safety and have played a few more games than the teams above them. Division Two Alcester Town 3-3 Inkberrow Inkberrow got an excellent battling point against Alcester Town to give themselves a chance of staying up. They came back from 2-0 down at half time and where leading late on before a late equaliser from the Romans made it 3-3. The goals for the visitors coming from second half efforts by substitute Josh McKeown, Robert Guy, and Harry Bradley. The goals from Alcester came from efforts by Adam Bourn, Jimmy Ward and Ricardo Richards to get a point. They will feel disappointed not to get all three points. None the less, at this stage of the season a point could be a good result in their push for the league title. They have seven games in hand over Knowle with 18 points to make up. Inkberrow have been battling well over the last few weeks and have been picking up some results to give themselves a chance. In addition to the away win at Cadbury, this draw now leaves them on 15 points with a four-point gap over Littleton in 15th. The teams below them have a lot of games in hand but they still have a chance. Fairfield Villa 1-1 Knowle Fairfield got an excellent point against Knowle on Saturday to help them avoid relegation to step eight. The Swans are now five points better off than Littleton in 15th and their home form has played a big part in staying above the relegation places with only four losses from eleven matches. Darren Green gave the hosts the lead in the first half before Nathan Corry equalised for Knowle to give the Robins a point at full time. A notable crowd of 78 supporters turned up to Stourbridge Road over the weekend to watch Fairfield get the draw. Following a few draws over the last few weeks, the visitors have left the door open for the teams below them to challenge for the league title. None the less, if they can beat the teams around them, they still have a good chance of promotion to step six. Division Three AFC Solihull 1-1 Silhill AFC Solihull and Silhill played out an entertaining 1-1 draw at the Tudor Grange Leisure Centre on Saturday in a local derby match. Andrew Fraher gave the visitors a 1-0 lead going into half time and set up a potential upset of the league leaders. AFC Solihull showed character to get back into it in the second half and found an equaliser through Owen Williams to take home a point. It’s a good result for AFC Solihull in their quest for the league title and leaves them in a good position. Their now in 1st with 49 points and have a seven-point gap over Northfield who have a few games in hand. Silhill are still capable of competing for the top four but promotion this season might be a stretch. None the less, if they can build on the positives, it could set them up for next season. Balsall and Berkswell 0-0 Continental Star Continental Star got an excellent battling draw against Balsall and Berkswell to take home a point on Saturday. The visitors have not been too bad away from home over the last month and this continued here against Balsall and Berkswell where they managed to keep a clean sheet over the Hornets. Out of the two, the result suits Continental Star more with Balsall and Berkswell looking to challenge for the top six. The Hornets might now have to be contempt with a top half finish in a competitive division this season. Birmingham Tigers 2-5 BNJS BNJS built on their eye catching 2-2 draw with Northfield Town last weekend and got a momentum building win against Birmingham Tigers at the Hadley Stadium over the weekend. The visitors are now in 15th with 10 points and got their second away win of the season on Saturday. To BNJS’ credit they have competed well this season and are adjusting to the level having joined over the summer. It’s been a tough season for Birmingham Tigers, and they have one point from 17 matches. It’s a shame for the Tigers as the teams above them are on 10 points which leaves them in a challenging position to get off the bottom of the table. Round up feature written by Rhys Beardmore for the Midland Football League Castle Vale Town were looking for a result yesterday afternoon to cement their position in the top six. The Spitfires have been one of the stories of division three this season. The hosts have managed to turnaround what was a difficult campaign last time around to be competing near the top of the table this year. Boldmere Falcons are currently transitioning to a new coaching set up with Jordan Lengthorn being appointed as their new manager in early December. It’s all about building for next season for the Falcons and the 2-2 draw with Silhill last weekend was an encouraging result for the visitors. The atmosphere around CV Stadium was mainly friendly and relaxed prior to kick off with both sets of supporters looking forward to the match. A lot of the matches around the MFL were postponed yesterday due to the challenging weather conditions and the 4G pitch came to good use to get the match on. The ground is accessible to get to by public transport. It can be visited by taking the 67 bus from Priory Queensway and stopping at St Athan Croft in Castle Vale where it’s only a short walk to the stadium. One of the main positives of the set up at CV stadium is the view of the pitch which is excellent from the main stand. Starting Line Ups 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 3-4-3 with a front two of Jordan McKenzie and Tarus Zaman being supported by Leadun Dunlevy further back. There was one change from the team that started against DSC United last weekend with Daniel Wyatt coming into the team and playing in central defence as part of a back three. Boldmere Falcons’ starting line up included 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 was one change from the team that started against Silhill last weekend with Ross Clarke coming into the team and playing in midfield. First Half The opening fifteen minutes were eventful and involved a lot of chances in front of goal for both teams in what was an open match. Jordan McKenzie had an early chance for Castle Vale where he beat his man before accelerating into the box and having a shot go over the bar in the 7th minute. Tarus Zaman also had a good chance where he got into a good position in the box before having a shot well saved by Jimmy Griffiths in the 10th minute. Dale Huckfield looked a threat for Boldmere and was getting into some promising positions around the box in the opening 15 minutes. The match settled down for 25 minutes in the first half with both teams looking well organised off the ball and doing well to limit the chances in front of goal. Ryan Day was excellent for Boldmere Falcons at the back and stood out in the first half with the amount of clearances he made to take the pressure off the visitors. The Falcons had the best chances of the first half to take the lead late on. Ryan McFadden had a good chance before firing wide in the 40th minute. The best chance came to Marvelous Omoregie who fired wide following a good ball into the box from Jarrell Kirnon in the 43rd minute. Both teams looked promising on the ball with the only thing missing being the final ball to unlock the defence. Second Half The second half was an excellent watch for the neutral and involved a lot of attacking action in front of goal. A lot of local derby matches tend to be tight with both teams cancelling each other out and resulting in a scrappy match. This was not the case with this match, and it really came to life in the second half. Castle Vale Town managed to take the lead early in the second half in the 50th minute. A good ball into the box found Tarus Zaman who produced an excellent finish into the bottom left corner to give the Spitfires the lead. The movement off the ball and the anticipation in the box made the goal with Tarus Zaman continuing his recent run of form and showing composure in the box to make it 1-0. Boldmere Falcons showed a lot of character to get back in it a few moments later. A counter attacking move of genuine quality gave the visitors an equaliser to make it 1-1 in the 57th minute. Marvelous Omoregie made an inspired run down the left where he beat his man before shooting past Alex Bowen into the far corner of the net. The equaliser also reflected the balance of play with not much separating the two teams. Leadun Dunlevy was fouled in the box following a corner which resulted in a Castle Vale penalty. Jordan Evans took the resulting spot kick and finished well into the bottom left corner to make it 2-1 in the 67th minute. The visitors showed a lot of resiliency to get back into it in the last twenty minutes. The Falcons were passing the ball around well throughout midfield and were looking dangerous in the final third in the later stages of the second half. Substitute Christopher Uwabor was excellent in the second half for Boldmere since coming off the bench and was regularly building attacks from midfield just behind the strikers. He played an excellent ball to Ryan McFadden in the box who finished well into the bottom right corner to make it 2-2 in the 70th minute. This was a match decided by fine margins and both teams had the chances to win it in the final stages. Boldmere Falcons had an excellent chance to take the lead when Christopher Uwabor's header struck the post from a corner. A few minutes later, a moment of quality decided the match. Idris Oyeniyi made an excellent run down the left and cut inside before unleashing an excellent shot that went into the bottom left corner to give Castle Vale Town the three points. Not long after, the referee blew for the full-time whistle with the Spitfires getting their 4th home win of the season. Full Time This was an excellent match yesterday and a brilliant advert for division three. Both teams like to get the ball forward and play a positive brand of attacking football. The quality on the ball stood out yesterday with a lot of good passing moves which made it an engaging watch. Boldmere Falcons will feel disappointed not to get something from this match. They played well throughout the 90 minutes and were mainly undone by moments of quality from Castle Vale Town rather than anything they did wrong. The effort and character was certainly there by the Falcons yesterday who looked up for the derby. It was a good team performance from the visitors against the Spitfires. Shaun Reid had an underrated game from midfield and was linking up the play well for the Falcons so they could get a foothold in the match, especially in the first half. Marvelous Omoregie was excellent on the left and made things happen on the wings. Castle Vale Town were excellent in this match and produced the quality when it mattered to get the win. Luke Smith was reliably good at the back and read the game well in central defence to reduce the chances for the visitors. Leadun Dunlevy was also linking up the play well from attacking midfield and gave the team some momentum when building attacks. Daniel Wyatt also had an underrated game at the back and made some crucial last-ditch tackles to stop the Falcons getting through on goal. Overall, it was a classic derby match yesterday from division three. FT score: Castle Vale Town 3-2 Boldmere Falcons Man of the Match: Idris Oyeniyi (Castle Vale Town) Match report written by Rhys Beardmore for the Midland Football League |
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March 2024
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