Castle Vale Town V Wake Green Amateur (Division Three)

Castle Vale Town were looking for a statement result against promotion chasing Wake Green Amateur yesterday afternoon. It’s been another good season for the Spitfires in division three and they were sitting in 7th going into this match. They had five consecutive wins earlier in the season and were looking to build on last weekend’s 3-3 draw with Meadow Park.   

Wake Green Amateur have been one of the most consistent teams in division three over the last few seasons with consecutive top six finishes over the last two years. The visitors were dark horses for a promotion push and had two games in hand over 2nd placed Silhill with an eight-point gap to make up.

A key strength of Wake Green Amateur this season has been their defensive record which is one of the best in the league with only 22 goals conceded from 14 matches going into this one.

​Storm Bert was causing havoc yesterday with a lot of non-league fixtures getting postponed across the non-league pyramid. This was one of the few matches that went ahead thanks to the 3G pitch and there’s a main stand at CV stadium to shield supporters from the rain. 

Starting line ups

The starting line up for Castle Vale Town included Joel Chadwick starting in goal and Jordan McKenzie captaining the team up front. The formation looked like a 3-5-2 with a front two of Tarus Zaman and Jordan McKenzie being supported by Will Case in attacking midfield.

There were two changes from their match against Meadow Park last weekend with Tarus Zaman coming back into the team.

Wake Green’s starting line up included Joe Beale starting in goal and Nathaniel Percival captaining the team on the wing. The formation looked like a 4-2-3-1 with Xavi Moore leading the line up front and being supported by Nathaniel Percival and Harry Prew on the wings.

There were four changes from their last league match against Meadow Park a few weeks back with Sam Lloyd coming into the team and playing in holding midfield alongside Farzam Taghavi. 

​First Half

The opening stages of the match were cagey with both teams working each other out and looking at where to find the space. Wake Green had an early chance when Nathaniel Percival found some space in the box before firing wide from a good position.

​A defensive mix up at the back by Castle Vale resulted in the opening goal in the 19th minute. The Spitfires were struggling to clear the ball away from danger and getting deeper in their own half before Joel Chadwick deflected a pass into the goal. It was unfortunate as they were moving the ball well in the early stages of the first half with Leadun Dunlevy building attacks from midfield.     

Wake Green gradually grew into the match as the first half went on and started to build some momentum in front of goal. Josh Crampton had a volley from the right side of the box go wide of the far post in the 20th minute.

The visitors were doing a good job off the ball to limit the space available to Castle Vale. Lewis Percival was reading the danger well at centre back and helping to clear the ball out of play.

Wake Green were on the front foot on the half hour mark and looking to make it 2-0 going into the half time break. They looked a threat in the final third and Xavi Moore was doing a good job of pressing high up the pitch to keep the pressure on Castle Vale when playing out from the back.

Harry Prew played a looping ball to Josh Crampton down the left-hand side who was through on goal before firing wide. Xavi Moore also put a header wide of the near post from a well worked corner routine.

There were some good last ditch defending by Luke Smith to keep Castle Vale in the match in the latter stages of the first half. He made an inspired run from centre back and beat a few players before running through on goal and getting a shot off that was saved by Joe Beale in the Wake Green goal.

The pressure from Wake Green eventually told and they made it 2-0 in the closing stages of the first half. A well delivered corner by Nathaniel Percival found Xavi Moore who was free at the front post. He made no mistake and headed into the top left corner for the visitors.

Not long after the referee blew for half time with Wake Green leading at the break.

Second Half

Castle Vale Town had an early chance to reduce the deficit in the early stages of the second half when Luke Smith found some space at the back post before putting his header wide from a corner.

The Spitfires were building some momentum on the hour mark with Josh Pitters and Idris Oyeniyi looking a threat down the wings and making things happen.

Wake Green stood up to the pressure well and looked organised defensively. Dan Dineen was reading the game well at centre back and heading the ball away from danger to cut out a lot of promising attacks. Ben Loose also defended well at right-back and was tough to beat to get crosses into the box.

The chances were limited throughout the second half with both teams cancelling each other out until the final ten minutes.

Jamal Ismail came on for Wake Green in the middle of the second half and did a good job of tracking back from holding midfield to break up the play.

The best chance for Castle Vale came late on when Jordan McKenzie found some space from a second ball into the box before firing straight at Joe Beale.

The Spitfires had a few half chances in front of goal yesterday and on a different day could have got a point from this match.

Joel Chadwick got caught playing out from the back in stoppage time with Josh Crampton running through on goal and finishing well into the bottom right corner to make it 3-0.

Not long after the referee blew for the full-time whistle with Wake Green continuing their unbeaten away record in division three.

Upcoming Fixtures

Castle Vale Town have a run of home fixtures coming up over the next month with three of their next four matches taking place at CV Stadium. They play Gornal (Home) next weekend before matches against Leamington Hibernian (Home), Gornal (Away) and Continental Star (Home).

The Spitfires are well worth checking out for supporters across the Birmingham area and play a good brand of attacking football. Having a 3G pitch helps them beat the weather at this time of year.

Wake Green Amateur are a team in form in division three with three consecutive wins. The Solihull side will be looking to challenge for that second promotion spot in the coming months against the likes of Silhill and Kenilworth Sporting in a competitive division.

Their upcoming fixtures include AFC Birmingham (Home), Solihull Sporting (Away) and BNJS (Home). Similar to Castle Vale, the visitors are well worth checking out for supporters in and around the Solihull area and play a positive brand of football.                          

FT score: Castle Vale Town 0-3 Wake Green Amateur

Man of the Match: Xavi Moore (Wake Green Amateur)

Attendance: 50

Match report written by Rhys Beardmore for the Midland Football League