Premier Division Congleton Town 2-0 Lichfield City Congleton got a huge win against Lichfield City on Saturday to continue their unbeaten home record and extend their lead at the top of the league. The Bears are now eight points clear at the top of the premier division with eight matches remaining. They have been excellent this season at step five and making Booth Street a fortress has gone a long way with fourteen wins and one draw. An incredible crowd of 1,002 supporters turned up to see Congleton get their 18th league win of the season. In a tight game, two second half goals from Congleton made the difference with Daniel Needham and Richard Duffy scoring to give the Bears the three points. Congleton have responded to the challenge of joining a new league well. They now have a strong chance of playing in the Northern Premier League next season and competing at step four. There’s no shame in losing to Congleton for Lichfield and the visitors are still in with a strong chance of finishing in the top three which will be the aim between now and the end of the season. Dudley Town 2-0 Uttoxeter Town Dudley continued their impressive unbeaten run by beating Uttoxeter 2-0 at the Guardian Warehousing Arena on Saturday afternoon. It’s now 13 matches unbeaten for the Robins in the league and the result moves them up to 7th in the table. They have been incredible since December with 35 points from 13 matches. A good crowd of 161 supporters turned up to see Dudley Town get their seventh home win of the season. Harry Crook scored a second half brace to give the Robins the three points against Uttoxeter Town who are comfortably in mid table. Uttoxeter were just unlucky to meet one of the form teams in the league on Saturday. It’s now four consecutive losses for the visitors but they have the chance to respond on Tuesday against Tividale. Highgate United 4-3 Stourport Swifts Highgate got a crucial win at the Coppice on Saturday to keep their play off push on track. A decent crowd of 67 supporters turned up to watch Highgate get their ninth home win of the season. The result leaves them 4th and three points better off than Darlaston Town in 6th who drew with Atherstone Town at the weekend. The win was capped off by Ryan Harkin scoring a hat-trick for Highgate. Stourport showed character in the second half and managed to score three goals thanks to efforts from Goodluck Eke who scored a brace and Drew Canavan. Bassit Mandey also got on the scoresheet for Highgate in the second half in an action-packed match. Stourport have been better on the road of late and notably beat Uttoxeter in February alongside testing the likes of Highgate United this weekend. There in a good position in the play off race and three points better off than Darlaston in 6th. Studley 3-2 AFC Wulfrunians Studley continued their excellent home form with a win against top half side AFC Wulfrunians at the weekend. Their now in 3rd and seven points better off than Darlaston Town in 6th in the race for the play offs. None the less, the teams below them have a few games in hand so getting points on the board leaves them in a good position. A decent crowd of 68 supporters watched Studley get their 10th home win of the season against a good AFC Wulfrunians side. They started the match brightly and went into a 2-0 lead in the opening 20 minutes thanks to efforts from Zach Guinan and Reiss Taylor Randle. The visitors responded through a Finlay Barker goal to make it 2-1 before Studley scored again near the end of the first half through Zach Guinan to make it 3-1 at half time. AFC Wulfrunians got a goal back in the second half thanks to an effort by Daniel Munday, but Studley held out to get the three points. The hosts did well to see the match out and were reduced to ten men early in the second half with Zak Harbon being sent off in the 55th minute. Division One Coventry Copsewood 2-3 Wednesfield Wednesfield got a brilliant win to cement their position in the play offs on Saturday. It’s been an incredible few months for the visitors who have won six consecutive matches in the league to sit in 2nd and four points better off than Bilston in 6th. A key part of their success has been away from home with seven wins from 13 matches. Coventry Copsewood took the lead in the first half thanks to a penalty by Daniel Lole to make it 1-0 going into the break. Wednesfield showed character in the second half and managed to score three goals thanks to a brace from Freddie Cockerell and a solo effort from Jay Holdcroft. The hosts scored in the second half directly from a corner thanks to Charlie Gordon which made it 2-2 at one stage. Despite the loss, the hosts are comfortably in mid table and in no real danger of getting dragged into a relegation battle. They have gone a bit under the radar but are having a good season at step six with Sean Kavanagh scoring 14 goals in all competitions. Nuneaton Griff 6-2 AFC Bridgnorth Nuneaton Griff got a momentum building 6-2 win against AFC Bridgnorth at the Pingles Stadium at the weekend. The win cements the Heartlander’s position in mid table and they are well clear of any relegation concerns with a fourteen-point gap over the bottom three. A good crowd of 90 supporters turned up on Saturday to watch Nuneaton Griff get their fifth home win of the season. It was a team effort in front of goal with their six goals coming from efforts by Matt Chadaway, Ruben Wade, Lucinee Donzo, Jared Bradshaw and substitutes Jacob Dumbleton and Harry Taylor. AFC Bridgnorth scored what proved to be two consolation goals. It’s been a tough few months for AFC Bridgnorth with one point from their last seven matches. They are currently five points off safety with ten matches remaining this season to stay at step six. Paget Rangers 1-3 Heather St John’s Heather St John’s got a big win against Paget Rangers at Coles Lane to have an outside chance of the play offs. The win leaves the Saints in 9th and three points off the top five. None the less, they have played a few games more than the teams above them and would have to rely on teams slipping up between now and the end of the season. It’s Heather St John’s fifth away win of the season and their now three matches unbeaten in the league. The goals for the visitors came from efforts by Jake Finnerty, Kian Taylor and prolific striker Kyle Jardine to give the Saints the three points. Paget scored what proved to be a consolation effort in a defeat. Paget are currently three points off safety with nine matches remaining. They got a huge win against Wolves Sporting last weekend to give themselves a chance of finishing above the bottom three. The Bears will need to get on a run of form and rely on Wolves Sporting slipping up with their two games in hand over the next few months. None the less, it’s not a lost cause just yet for Paget. Sutton United 2-5 Cradley Town Cradley Town got a momentum building win against Sutton United at Coleshill Road on Saturday to give their play off chances a boost. It’s the Hammers sixth away win of the season and leaves them in 7th and only two points off the play offs. It was a team effort in front of goal by Cradley with efforts from Harry Edwards, Luke Morris, Umara Saho and substitutes Farid Mikidam and Cameron Milne giving them the three points. Sutton United were competitive in this match and got to a stage where they were close to making it 3-3 at one stage. The hosts are comfortably in mid table and challenging for a top half finish in step six this season. They have gone a bit under the radar due to the race for the play offs but are having a brilliant first season at this level having come up from division two. It will be interesting to see how they get on next season. Round up feature written by Rhys Beardmore for the Midland Football League Atherstone were looking for a result yesterday afternoon to keep their play off push on track. It’s been a brilliant few months for the Adders with an uptick in form since the appointment of Mitch Thomson in December. They were one of the form teams going into this match with four consecutive wins to leave them only three points off the play offs. Darlaston were also looking for a result to aid their play off chances. The Citizens have been consistent throughout the season with only five losses from 23 matches to leave them only a point off the top five going into yesterday. They were also in a good run of form with ten points from their last five matches prior to this one. Both clubs have made strides in the MFL over the last few years. They were both promoted from Division One back in the 21-22 season and are now challenging for the play offs at step five which is encouraging. Sheepy Road is a brilliant ground to visit for casuals groundhoppers across the West Midlands. It’s full of character and has a good atmosphere with the supporters being close to the pitch. It can be accessed by getting on the 65-bus route from either Tamworth or Nuneaton and getting off at the Sheepy Road stop for a two-minute walk to the ground. Starting Line Ups Atherstone’s starting line up included Finn Osborn starting in goal and Ryan Quinn captaining the team from midfield. The formation appeared to be a 5-3-2 with a front two of Lewis Collins and Jamie Spiers being supported by Gabe Webster in the attacking midfield role. There were four changes from the team that started against Whitchurch in mid-week with Jack Wells coming into the team and playing as part of a back three alongside Jacob Shilton and Callum Rudd. The starting line up for Darlaston featured Tom Allsopp starting in goal and Alexander Foreshaw captaining the team from central defence. The formation looked like a 4-2-3-1 with Kieron Miller playing up front and being supported by Rivel Mardenborough and Aaron Bishop on the wings. There were two changes from the team that started against Shifnal Town a few weeks back with Rivel Mardenborough coming into the team and playing on the right wing. First Half Atherstone started the match brightly in the opening 20 minutes and took the game to Darlaston Town. The front two of Lewis Collins and Jamie Spiers were impressing and causing the Darlaston backline problems. Lewis Collins had a good chance in the first few minutes at the near post which was a sign of things to come. The Adders managed to take the lead a few moments later with Lewis Collins making a brilliant run into the box and producing a composed finish into the bottom left corner to make it 1-0. Darlaston had a few half chances to get back into the match in the opening stages of the first half following the goal with the best chance falling to Aaron Bishop who had a shot hit the cross bar for the visitors. Atherstone were playing a possession-based style in the first half and looking to work the ball down the channels and into the box to cause Darlaston problems. Having a front two was a positive tactical set up with the movement off the ball creating space to build attacks. The visitors were mainly playing on the counterattack in the opening half hour and gradually grew into the match as it went on. Following a neat passage of play by Atherstone the ball fell to Gabe Webster on the edge of the box who worked the ball into a shooting position before having a shot well saved by Tom Allsopp in the Darlaston goal. This was arguably the best chance the Adders had to make it 2-0 before a sending off changed the complexion of the game. Callum Rudd was sent off in the 35th minute for a high tackle on Aaron Bishop near the halfway line which reduced Atherstone to ten men for the rest of the match. It was a shame for the hosts as they were building a run of momentum and playing well up to that point. To their credit they managed to see the first half out to go into the break 1-0 up. Second Half Darlaston took advantage of the man advantage early in the second half and found an equaliser to make it 1-1. Rivel Mardenborough got into a good pocket of space down the right and accelerated with the ball before squaring it to Aaron Bishop who scored into the bottom left corner. The pattern of the second half was the opposite of the opening 45 minutes with Darlaston playing an effective possession style looking to break down a resolute Atherstone Town defence. The hosts were mainly playing on the counterattack and looking to play off the shoulder. Even though Darlaston had a degree of control over the match, Atherstone still looked dangerous on the counterattack and were causing the visitors a number of problems. Lewis Collins was holding up the ball well and bringing players into the game to build attacks in front of goal. Jamie Spiers also did well and provided the team with an attacking impetus in the final third. The Adders managed to make it 2-1 in the middle of the second half and Jamie Spiers headed the ball into the net following an excellent ball into the box. It was a brilliant response to conceding the equaliser. The hosts kept on going despite the situation which was a real positive yesterday. Darlaston Town managed to show character of their own to going a goal down and found an equaliser a few minutes later to make it 2-2. They worked the ball well down the right-hand side and put the ball into the box at pace which was put into the net by Jacob Shilton for an own goal. It was unfortunate on Atherstone but to Darlaston’s credit they were passing the ball well and finding the space in the second half. Ryan Winwood was excellent from holding midfield and regularly picked out passes to cause Atherstone problems alongside having a sense of composure on the ball to build attacks. The visitors had the best chance to win it late on. They worked the ball into the box before Jake Pearson had a shot on goal well blocked by Jacob Shilton to go the wrong side of the post. Atherstone managed to see the match out to get a valuable point against one of their rivals for the play offs. Jacob Shilton and Jack Wells did well at the back following the red card for Callum Rudd and stepped up to the Darlaston pressure in the second half and dealt with it well. Full Time Atherstone played well yesterday and were ultimately undone by an unfortunate sending off rather than any defensive lapses. They will feel slightly disappointed with the draw, but it shows how far they’ve come. A point against play off chasing Darlaston is a good result with eleven men so to be close to getting the three points with ten men is encouraging for the Adders. The front two really stood out yesterday and how they linked up the play to give Atherstone an attacking outlet in the final third. Lewis Collins and Jamie Spiers were good up front and were getting into some good positions in the box which was promising. Darlaston were good in this match and put in a reliable performance to get something out of it. There’s quality throughout the team and one area that can go under the radar is the backline which came to the rescue yesterday against Atherstone. Alexander Foreshaw and Ben Podmore were brilliant at the back and regularly cleared balls away to give the visitors a foothold in the match. Rivel Mardenborough also looked threatening down the right and stood out in the second half for the visitors going forward. Having that quality on the ball could be key in tight matches down the stretch. FT score: Atherstone Town 2-2 Darlaston Town Man of the Match: Jamie Spiers (Atherstone Town) Match report written by Rhys Beardmore for the Midland Football League |
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March 2024
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