AFC Birmingham V Wake Green Amateur AFC Birmingham will be looking to continue their excellent form against Wake Green Amateur on Saturday afternoon at Illey Lane. They have been one of the form teams over the last month and are on a run of four consecutive wins going into tomorrow’s match. They got a big win away at Meadow Park on Easter Monday to leave them in 4th and only two points off the top two with a game in hand. They have been consistent at home with six wins and three draws from eleven matches to make them contenders for the top two. One of their strengths has been up front with 71 goals scored from 24 matches. Rahiem Faulder has been excellent with 18 goals in all competitions. Wake Green Amateur have gone a bit under the radar this season but are in the top half of the table with an outside chance of a top six finish. They will be looking to respond to the 1-0 away defeat at Balsall and Berkswell on Monday with a statement result tomorrow afternoon. They can be a tough team to play on their day and have conceded just seven goals from their last six matches. Adam Turner has been one of their main attacking threats with 17 goals in all competitions. AFC Solihull V Castle Vale Town AFC Solihull will be looking to get the league title wrapped up over the next few weeks so they can prepare for life in step seven next season. It’s been an excellent campaign from the league leaders who have a twelve-point lead at the top with five matches remaining. They will be looking to respond to the surprising loss away at Silhill a few weeks back with a win against Castle Vale Town tomorrow. They have been strong at home with eleven wins from thirteen matches. In a team full of quality, Jahvan Howell has stood out in front of goal with 30 goals in all competitions and has been an excellent addition since joining from DSC United last summer. Castle Vale Town will be looking to build on their encouraging home win against Gornal on Easter Monday with a statement result against AFC Solihull. The Spitfires are on a run of three matches unbeaten going into this weekend’s match. It’s been an excellent season from the visitors and a top six finish would be a good achievement in a tough division. They have been good away from home with nine wins from fourteen matches. They have been tough to break down away from home with just 19 goals conceded and Luke Smith has been excellent at the back for the Spitfires. Balsall and Berkswell V Gornal Balsall and Berkswell will be looking to build on their 1-0 win over Wake Green Amateur on Monday with a result against Gornal. It’s been a transitional season for the Hornets with a new manager coming in at the middle of the season. They are challenging for a top half finish over their remaining ten matches and are comfortably in mid table. It’s all about building for the Hornets over the next few matches and setting themselves up for next season. Zach Featherstone is a good signing from Leamington Hibernian and will help to solidify the midfield. They have not been too bad at Lavendar Hall Lane this season with only three losses from ten matches. Gornal played well on Easter Monday against Castle Vale Town despite the result and will be looking to build on the positives of that match against Balsall and Berkswell. The visitors have been decent since joining the MFL and have looked competitive in division three. One of their main issues has been away from home with one point from ten matches. This has stopped them being comfortably in mid table as their home form is notably better with five wins from fourteen matches. Jaden Muckley is a player to watch who played well on the wings on Monday against Castle Vale Town. Birmingham Tigers V Boldmere Sports and Social Falcons Birmingham Tigers will be looking for their first win of the season against a much-improved Boldmere Falcons side at the Hadley Stadium tomorrow afternoon. It’s been a challenging season for the Tigers with two points from 27 matches and they are playing for pride over their remaining five matches. They have had a few disappointing results over the Easter with the loss at home to Continental Star standing out. The Tigers are capable of takings point off teams on their day and will be looking to be tight at the back and frustrate Boldmere Falcons tomorrow. Their main issue has been up front with just 18 goals scored which is the lowest in the division. Boldmere Falcons will be looking to build on their encouraging goalless draw against local rivals Castle Vale Town with a convincing away win tomorrow. The visitors are on a run of four matches unbeaten and are challenging for a top ten finish over their remaining five matches. The best result in that run was the home win against promotion chasing Northfield Town a few weeks back. Dale Huckfield has impressed since joining in the middle of the season and has four goals for the Falcons in all competitions. If the visitors can finish the season with some momentum, they will be one of the teams to watch in division three going into next season. Feckenham V Northfield Town Feckenham are at home to Northfield Town at Mill Lane tomorrow afternoon in a huge match for the 2nd promotion place. Both teams have been excellent since joining step eight and are competing for automatic promotion to step seven over the next month. The hosts got a crucial win away at Leamington Hibernian last Saturday which will give them some confidence going into this match. They are two points off the top two with seven matches remaining. One of the positives for the Millers is their defence with is the one of the best in the division with just 26 goals conceded. Northfield got some big home wins over the Easter period and are coming off consecutive wins against Solihull Sporting and Silhill going into this weekend. They are currently in 2nd and two points better off than Feckenham in 3rd so tomorrow is a huge match. They have been good away from home with eight wins from twelve matches. Louis Jones is a player to watch who has impressed with three goals over the Easter weekend. Leamington Hibernian V Meadow Park Leamington Hibernian will be looking to respond to the 2-0 home loss against Feckenham last weekend with a result against Meadow Park. There’s been signs of progress under new manager Kyle King such as the convincing home win against Birmingham Tigers and it’s all about building going into next season. Charlie Fitzmaurice has impressed since joining a month ago and has two goals from three matches. Meadow Park have been good since joining the MFL last summer and have been competitive in step eight. There comfortably in mid table and challenging for a top half finish over their remaining nine matches. One of their main issues has been away with three wins from ten matches which has stopped them being higher up the table. They will be looking to respond to the 1-0 home loss against AFC Birmingham on Monday with a result against Leamington Hibernian tomorrow. Silhill V Solihull Sporting Silhill will be looking to get a result tomorrow against Solihull Sporting to put some pressure on the teams above them. The hosts are in 6th and six points off the top two with seven matches remaining. They will be looking to respond to the 4-3 loss away at Northfield Town where they were close to getting something from being 3-0 down at half time. There one of the form teams in the division with ten points from their last five matches. They have also been strong at home with nine wins from thirteen matches to have an outside chance of promotion. It’s been a brilliant first season in the MFL and a top six finish would be a good achievement. Solihull Sporting are comfortably in mid table going into their remaining seven matches of the season. They will be looking to respond to the 4-3 loss against DSC United on Easter Monday with a statement result against of the standout teams in division three. The main positive for the visitors has been up front with 57 goals scored and having that attacking quality in the final third to cause teams problems. Fiifi Kwofie has been excellent with 12 goals in all competitions and he will be looking to build on the brace scored against DSC United on Monday. Preview feature written by Rhys Beardmore for the Midland Football League Castle Vale Town were looking for a result yesterday to cement their position in the top six with three matches to go. It’s been an excellent campaign from the Spitfires who have been competing near the top of the table in division three. They were in 5th with 50 points going into their match against Gornal and were looking to build on their 0-0 draw against local rivals Boldmere Falcons at the weekend. It's been an encouraging first season competing in step eight for Gornal. Despite their league position of 15th, they have not been too bad this season and have caused a few shocks along the way such as beating Balsall and Berkswell and Leamington Hibernian at home. Their main issue has been away with one point from nine matches going into yesterday. The atmosphere around CV stadium prior to kick off was friendly and relaxed with both sets of supporters looking forward to the match. There was an excellent attendance of 95 supporters which was commendable given the late stage of the season. Overall, it feels like Castle Vale Town are going in the right direction with a good amount of local community interest in the club which is a huge positive. Starting Line Ups The starting line-up for Castle Vale Town included 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 Taurus Zaman being supported by Owen Reynolds in the attacking midfield role. There were five changes from the team that started against Boldmere Falcons on Saturday with William Case coming into the team and playing on the left of a midfield four. Gornal’s starting line up featured Tyler Beach starting in goal and captaining the team. The formation looked like a 4-2-3-1 with Raman Mohammed leading the line up front and being supported by Theophilus Yiadom and Jaden Muckley on the wings. There were three changes from the team that started against Wake Green Amateur on Saturday with Yusuf Wahab coming into the team and playing in central defence alongside Enoch Danso. First Half The opening 15 minutes of the match were fairly scrappy, and it took a while for the match to get going with both teams settling into it. The conditions were well suited for a passing based style yesterday and both teams were looking to play through the opposition which was easy on the eye and contributed to a free-flowing match. Castle Vale Town started the match the sharper of the two teams and were looking to take the game to the visitors in the opening stages of the first half. The Spitfires were boosted by a good atmosphere from the main stand at CV stadium which helped them build some momentum in front of goal in search of the opener. Jordan McKenzie had a few good chances to open the scoring for Castle Vale Town in the opening 25 minutes. He had a shot well saved by Tyler Beach in the 13th minute alongside having a shot go over the bar from a promising position in the box in the 24th minute. The best clear-cut chance for the Spitfires came in the 33rd minute when Owen Reynolds was free in the box and had an excellent chance to score. His shot was instinctively saved by Tyler Beach to keep it goalless and allow the visitors a way of building into the match. To Gornal’s credit they dug in throughout the first half and dealt with a lot of the Castle Vale Town pressure well. They took the lead on the counterattack in the 41st minute and played quick and incisive football to make it 1-0. A good ball was played down the left which found Theophilus Yiadom who accelerated with the ball into the box before squaring it to Jaden Muckley who finished well. The momentum was with Gornal for the last 15 minutes of the first half and they were in the ascendancy and looking to make it 2-0 going into half time. They had a chance from a passing move that was similar to the first goal with Theophilus Yiadom getting into the box and crossing the ball to Jaden Muckley who fired wide in the 45th minute. Second Half The visitors had a good chance at the start of the second half to make it 2-0 with Jaden Muckley playing a good ball to Devante Warner who fired wide from a good position in the 46th minute. The tactical set up of Gornal was causing Castle Vale Town a few problems and they were looking to make things happen out on the wings. A defensive mix up at the back allowed Jordan McKenzie to go through on goal where he was one on one with Tyler Beach. The prolific forward produced a composed finish into the bottom left corner to make it 1-1 in the 49th minute and get the Spitfires back into it. The match was evenly balanced at 1-1 with Castle Vale Town showing promise in front of goal and Gornal looking dangerous on the counterattack. Jaden Muckley was excellent out on the right wing for the visitors and was a real attacking threat going forward. Alongside looking to beat his man he also played some brilliant balls into the box for the visitors. Castle Vale Town took the lead through a moment of quality to make it 2-1 in the 68th minute. A good ball into the box found Joshua Pitters in the box who produced an excellent flick on to set up Tarus Zaman who finished well into the right corner. It was a composed finish and underlined why Castle Vale Town are having such a good season with that quality in front of goal standing out. The final twenty minutes of the match were nervy with Castle Town looking to see the match out and Gornal searching for an equaliser and building some pressure in front of goal. The best chance for Gornal came when substitute Elias Ibrahim cut inside before firing wide in the 80th minute. Castle Vale Town did well to stand up to the Gornal pressure throughout the second half. Luke Evans made a good tactical substitution with Leadun Dunlevy coming on and solidifying the midfield. He did an excellent job of tracking back and shielded the defence well to limit the chances in front. The Spitfires made it 3-1 late on to settle the match and the goal came from a well worked corner into the box in the 90th minute. A well delivered ball into the centre of the box found substitute Abdoullah Kchikech who headed past Tyler Beach. It was a well-earned result for Castle Vale Town yesterday and their 7th home win of the season. Full Time Castle Vale Town played well yesterday, and the main positive was how they were creating chances in front of goal with Jordan McKenzie getting into some excellent positions around the box. They also did well to see the match out against a dangerous Gornal team who looked capable of getting an equaliser in the second half. Luke Smith was reliably good at the back and regularly cleared the ball out of danger. Daniel Wyatt also had an underrated game and dealt with the attacking threats of Jaden Muckley and Salifu Jabbi well on the left of the defence. Gornal played well yesterday and looked a lot better than their league position would suggest. There were signs of quality both on and off the ball with a lot of players standing out and putting in a good performance. Yusuf Wahab had an underrated game at the back and made some key blocks and headers to keep them in the game. The refereeing team also had a good game and went a bit under the radar. Katrina Pritchard did a good job as the main referee and kept the match flowing throughout the afternoon. Overall, it was an entertaining match yesterday at CV stadium and a good advert for division three. FT score: Castle Vale Town 3-1 Gornal Attendance: 95 Man of the Match: Daniel Wyatt (Castle Vale Town) Match report written by Rhys Beardmore for the Midland Football League |
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March 2024
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