Cradley Town 10-0 AFC Bridgnorth

​Cradley Town got a brilliant win at home against AFC Bridgnorth on Saturday to cement their position in the play off places. The Hammers have been outstanding at Beeches View Avenue this season and continued their fine form with an eye-catching result in front of a notable crowd of 94 supporters.

The hosts were excellent in the first half and were linking up well in the final third to take a 6-0 lead going into the half time break. Jordan Crump scored the first goal to make it 1-0 before further goals from Cameron Milne and Josh Marsden made it 3-0 in the opening 20 minutes. Jordan Crump scored again to make it 4-0 before a brace at the end of the half from Brad Ward made it 6-0.

The second half started with Jordan Crump completing his hat trick to make it 7-0 before an unfortunate own goal made it 8-0. Further goals later in the half from substitutes Elliott Palmer and Chris Bladen made it 10-0 to the Hammers at full time.

It was a tough day at the office for AFC Bridgnorth against one of the form teams in the league. Cradley are unbeaten from their last nine league games with six wins and three draws to climb up to 3rd in the table and five points above Stapenhill in 6th. 

AFC Bridgnorth have got a big match against Coventry Copsewood this Saturday at Crown Meadow while Cradley are at home to play off rival Stapenhill at the weekend.

Heather St John’s 3-1 Wednesfield

Heather St John’s continued their impressive form at St John’s Park to climb up the table and be a contender for the play off places. The Leicester club have now won five of their eight home matches in the league and are only a point off the play offs. A good crowd of 88 supporters turned up to watch them beat Wednesfield on Saturday and get a crucial win to make it 12 points from their last six matches in the league.  

Prolific forward Kyle Jardine opened the scoring for Heather St John’s in the 13th minute before Jake Finnerty made it 2-0 in the 24th minute. Tony Agnello got a goal back for Wednesfield to make it 2-1 before Kyle Jardine scored late on in the 85th minute to give the Saints the three points and move up to 7th in the table.

The Saints have a big game at the weekend against Bilston Town at Queen Street whilst Wednesfield are at home to Paget Rangers at the Cottage Ground.

OJM Black Country 2-2 Allscott Heath

OJM Black Country and Allscott Heath played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at the Triplex Sports Association in Kings Norton. The two play-off chasing teams showed plenty of quality in this match watched by a crowd of 38 supporters.

Allscott Heath opened the scoring through Aaron Williams from a corner before Jordan Sangha equalised for the hosts to make it 1-1. Taylor Homer scored for OJM just before half time to make it 2-1 going into the second half. The visitors managed to find an equaliser late on through Thomas Fallon who scored from a long throw in that went into the box to give the Shropshire club a big point away from home.

It was a battling performance from the visitors and their now four points above Stapenhill in 6th and competing for the play offs. It was a tough result to take for OJM having led for so long, but it could be a valuable point come the end of the season.  

OJM’s next match is against Smethwick Rangers at Castle Vale Stadium on Friday evening with Allscott Heath at home to Nuneaton Griff on Saturday and looking to continue their fine form at home with five wins from seven matches so far.

Paget Rangers 2-5 Hinckley AFC

Hinckley produced an excellent performance at Coles Lane to beat Paget Rangers and move to a point off Droitwich Spa at the top of the table. The win for the Leicester club was capped off with a hat trick for Tom Weale who scored a first half brace and another goal in the second half in the 88th minute to give Hinckley the three points. Brady Middleton continued his fine form for the season with a goal in the 36th minute and Matt Dawson also got on the scoresheet with a goal in the 71st minute.

Paget managed to get a few goals and showed moments of quality against a tough team. Tobias Marshal scored in the first half for the Bears and Johnathon Millenchip scored from the penalty spot in the second half for Paget to get their second goal.

The Bears battled and showed a lot of effort and endeavour but just came up short against a clinical team in front of goal. One of the positives for Paget is that they are only two points from safety and there’s a long way to go before the season wraps up.  

Hinckley travel to Pride Park to take on Wolverhampton SC on Saturday while Paget are away at Wednesfield on the same day.    

Shawbury United 3-5 Stapenhill

Stapenhill got an impressive win at the Shrewsbury Town Community pitch on Saturday against Shawbury United to move level on points with OJM Black Country in 5th. The Swans are currently in 6th due to goal difference but right in the mix for the play off places. The visitors from Burton produced an excellent performance to get the three points with the quality coming off the bench standing out in this win.

Sam Birks scored for the visitors in the 8th minute to make it 1-0 before Shawbury scored a quick double thanks to goals from Jack Howse and Brendon Price to make it 2-1. Stapenhill managed to find an equaliser through Connor Richins to make it 2-2 before a goal from Reece Jacobs made it 3-2 to Shawbury going into the half time break.

Stapenhill substitute Ben Novis scored late on to make it 3-3 before fellow substitute George Teeney scored a crucial brace late on to give the Swans a crucial win away from home.

Shawbury travel to Coleshill Road to take on Sutton United on Saturday while Stapenhill face a huge match away at Cradley Town.   

Smethwick Rangers 0-2 Sutton United

Sutton United got an excellent win against Smethwick Rangers at Castle Vale Stadium on Saturday to continue their impressive run of form in the league. The visitors are now only three points off the play offs and have picked up 17 points from their last eight league matches. A crowd of 45 supporters turned up on Saturday to see Sutton get their third away win of the season.

Prolific forward Joe Gildea scored a brace thanks to two goals from the penalty spot to seal the win. The visitors have got a bit of momentum in the league and are at home to Shawbury United at Coleshill Road on Saturday.  

Smethwick have got another home game on Friday evening against OJM Black Country. They are only three points from safety, and it only takes a few results to climb up the table.  

Wolverhampton Sporting Community 1-2 Bilston Town

Bilston Town got a quality away win against Wolverhampton SC on Saturday to build some momentum in the league. A good crowd of 96 supporters turned up to watch the Steelmen get the three points and move up to 12th in the table. One of the positives for the visitors is having two games in hand over the sides above them and their only six points off the play off positions.

Jack Arnold managed to get a goal for Wolverhampton SC in the first half and Bilston also got a goal in the first half to make it 1-1 going into half time. The Steelmen managed to find a winner in the second half to get their third away win of the season.

Pride Park is a tough place to go for teams around the league with just three losses from nine matches for Wolves SC. This is a positive result for Bilston and something they can build on for their upcoming games.

Wolverhampton SC are at home to Hinckley on Saturday while Bilston are at home to Heather St John’s.     

Round up feature written by Rhys Beardmore for the Midland Football League

Ingles were looking to cause an upset yesterday afternoon at Thringstone Miners Social Centre against Boston Town in the first round of the FA Vase. The match was originally set to take place last weekend but was postponed due to the heavy rain caused by Storm Babet.  

​The Leicester club have started the season well in MFL Division One and are competing for the play offs places alongside the likes of Heather St John’s. Their record at home has been brilliant so far with just one loss from eight matches to leave them only three points off the play off places.    

Boston Town have gone a bit under the radar within the Premier Division North of the United Counties League but are having a good season and are well clear of any relegation worries. The Poachers are comfortably in mid table and seven points above Pinchbeck United in the relegation place.  

The atmosphere around the ground prior to kick off was welcoming and friendly with both sets of supporters and club officials looking forward to the match. The programme on offer was informative and provided a comprehensive history of Boston Town which was well researched. The visitors have a notable pedigree in the FA Vase and reached the semi-finals back in 1994 where they lost to Taunton Town.

The location of the ground is a huge positive for the casual groundhopper with the 16 bus from Loughborough to Coalville making it an accessible ground to visit for people around the Leicester area.       

Starting Line ups

Ingles’ starting line up included Scott Handley starting in goal and Billy Blackshaw captaining the team from holding midfield. The formation looked like a 4-4-2 (diamond) with a front two of Aaron Windram and Jack Allen supported by Jamie Light in the number ten role.

There were two changes from the team that started against Coventry Copsewood a few weeks ago with Billy Snaith coming into the team and playing in midfield alongside Ollie Grimshaw.

The starting line up for Boston Town featured Travis Portas starting in goal and Lee Beeson leading the team as the skipper. The formation appeared to be a 4-2-3-1 with Marshall Young leading the line up front as the number nine and being supported by Lee Beeson and Fraser Bayliss on the wings.

There were two changes from the team that started against Sherwood Colliery a few weeks back with Richard Ford coming into the team and playing at centre back alongside Luke Wilson.   

First Half

The visitors started the match the sharper of the two teams and were looking to create chances early on to test the Ingles defence. Marshall Young was linking up the play well as the number nine and Fraser Bayliss looked threatening on the left wing going forward. The visitors were mainly playing a possession-based style of play with Ingles looking to catch them on the counterattack.

The game plan was working well for the hosts in the opening 20 minutes with the team looking organised off the ball and blocking balls into the box. Billy Blackshaw was doing an excellent job breaking up the play and stopping Boston attacks from holding midfield with Michael Tuck also playing well at the back and clearing balls away from danger.

To the host’s credit they were undone by a moment of genuine quality rather than a mistake at the back for the opening goal. Lee Beeson struck a free kick near the edge of the box excellently into the bottom right corner in the 22nd minute to give the visitors the lead.

The rest of the first half involved Boston getting forward and Ingles doing a good job to break up attacks to keep the scoreline close for the second half. The visitors had a few half chances with the best one falling to Liam Adams on the edge of the box in the 39th minute which went wide.

Being well organised off the ball is Ingle’s main strength and keeps them in games. The Leicester club have only conceded 17 goals in the league so far and that played a key part it in being 1-0 at half time.

Second Half

The second half started with an early goal for Boston Town with Liam Adams capitalising on a rare mistake at the back where Ingles struggled to clear the ball away and finishing well to make it 2-0 in the 48th minute. This was a shame as Ingles gave it a good go throughout the second half and committed a lot of players forward in search of getting back into the match.

There was an improvement with how Ingles linked up the play in the second half and the hosts were starting to build a bit of confidence in front of goal. A player who really impressed in the second half was Billy Snaith who was carrying the team forward at times and getting into some good positions. He scored from a quality free kick in the 56th minute that was struck excellently into the bottom right corner to pull Ingles back into the match.

A few minutes later an Ingles cross almost went into the net for an equaliser and Travis Portas did well to instinctively tip the ball over the bar.

Boston Town had some chances at the other end to put the match out of reach with Marshall Young having a good chance one on one with Scott Handley who did brilliantly to save a shot from point blank range in the 73rd minute. The visitors managed to score a third late on to take control of the match and like the first, it involved a moment of quality on the ball rather than a glaring mistake.

George Hobbins made an important tackle to stop an Ingles attack before playing a well-placed long ball to Liam Adams who rounded the keeper and finished well to make it 3-1 in the 79th minute. Ingles managed to respond a get a goal back from a corner at the back post in the 83rd minute to set up an entertaining finish to the match.

The hosts were really searching for an equaliser in the last ten minutes with the best chance falling to substitute Cam Smith who missed from a good position in the 86th minute. Boston Town managed to see the match out from there and defended well to limit the changes for Ingles late on for it to finish 3-2 to the Lincolnshire side.

Full Time

Despite the defeat, Ingles played well in this match and showed a lot of effort and endeavour against a side from a higher division. Michael Tuck had a really good game at centre back and was constantly blocking shots and making important tackles to stop Boston Town attacks. Billy Blackshaw had an underrated game from holding midfield and managed to win the ball back for Ingles to give them a foothold in the match.

Billy Snaith was excellent from midfield and really helped the team get up the pitch and cause Boston Town problems. Substitute Jorge Pascoal looked good in the second half and was positive on the ball when given the opportunity. He was regularly taking Boston players on which gave the team something different. Ingles can now focus on the league and pushing for the play offs in what is a competitive MFL Division One this season.  

Boston Town played well and showed a lot of industry and composure to progress to the next round and avoid the upset. The quality of the team showed in this match and Fraser Bayliss and Liam Adams looked good when creating attacks. Jason Field had an underrated game at left back and looked solid defensively. Richard Ford also played well at centre back and was heading the ball away throughout the second half to withstand the Ingles pressure.

The team linked up well and looked organised both on and off the ball. The Poachers should be looking forward to playing Stone Old Alleynians at home in the next round on the 11th of November.

FT score: Ingles 2-3 Boston Town

Man of the Match: Billy Snaith (Ingles)

Match report written by Rhys Beardmore for the Midland Football League