Diamond Academy U21s V Stafford Town U21s (MFL U21s Division)

​Diamond Academy were looking to respond to the home defeat to Stourport Swifts last weekend with a result against Stafford Town yesterday morning. It’s a big week for the hosts who are due to play in the challenge bowl against Cadbury Athletic on Tuesday at the Erin Go Bragh based at Holly Lane Sport in Erdington.  

Stafford Town were looking to get back on track following a tough defeat at home to Leicester Football and Education Academy a few weeks back. Despite being bottom of the division, the visitors have not looked too bad and have impressed at home with five wins from thirteen matches at Evans Park. There main issue has been away from home where they are yet to win from nine matches going into yesterday.   

The weather was nice around Erdington yesterday morning with the sky being clear and sunny and the windy conditions not fully kicking in until the afternoon. There was a decent turnout of supporters and a commendable number of Stafford Town supporters who made the trip down to Holly Lane for the match.  

Starting Line Ups   

Diamond Academy’s starting line up included Issah Ibrahim starting in goal and Mohamed Osman captaining the team from the attacking right hand side. The formation appeared to be a 4-3-3 with Lamin Barrow leading the line up front and being supported by Khye Darlington from attacking midfield. Karoy Williams and Dominic Bennett started in central defence.

There were three changes from the team that started against Stourport Swifts last weekend with Ngala Nelly Shey coming into the team and playing in holding midfield.

The starting line up for Stafford Town featured Sam Pedley starting in goal and Ben Powell captaining the team from central defence. The formation looked like a 4-2-3-1 with Harley Oscar leading the line up front and being supported by Dan Rotherham and Alfie Mantle on the wings.

There were six changes from the team that started against Leicester Football and Education Academy in the Challenge Bowl a few weeks back with Sam Scott coming into the team and playing in holding midfield. 

​First Half

The opening stages of the match were fairly scrappy with both teams settling into it and working each other out. Stafford Town started the stronger of the two teams and were looking to take the game to Diamond Academy early on and cause problems in the final third.

The visitors scored from their first clear cut chance to take an early lead. It came from an excellent strike on the edge of the box from Sam Scott who found the right-hand corner in the 15th minute to make it 1-0. Stafford Town had the momentum for large spells of the first half following the goal and it took Diamond Academy a while to settle into the match.

The visitors were causing a lot of problems down the wings and managed to get a second on the 25th minute. It came from an attacking move down the right-hand side where a good ball into the box found Dan Rotheram whose shot was well saved by Issah Ibrahim before the second ball fell to Harley Oscar who finished well to make it 2-0.

Diamond came to life in the last fifteen minutes of the first half and managed to respond to the initial set back of going 2-0 down. It started when Lamin Barrow worked the ball well before having a half chance on the edge of the box for Diamond in the 33rd minute where he fired wide.

The hosts showed character in the final few minutes to turn the match around. Mohamed Osman did well to anticipate a defensive mistake at the back by Stafford Town and finished over Sam Pedley to make it 2-1 in the 42nd minute. He then produced an excellent through ball to Lamin Barrow who produced a composed finish into the bottom left corner to make it 2-2 just before half time.

The second goal was a moment of genuine quality on the ball by Diamond and arguably the highlight of the match yesterday. It was a brilliant way to comeback from the hosts who have had a tough season in the U21s division, but they showed plenty of character to get back into this match.

​Second Half

The early stages of the second half continued in a similar pattern to how the first half finished with Diamond having some momentum in front of goal and searching for a third goal. Lamin Barrow worked the ball well into the box before having a shot well saved by Sam Pedley in the Stafford Town goal.

The visitors had a few half chances to take the lead in the second half with the best of them falling to Sam Scott around the edge of the box where he fired wide.

The second half was a bit cagier than the first with the chances in front of goal being more limited. Both teams were well organised off the ball and did well to keep it tight at the back. Dominic Bennett was reading the game well for Diamond Academy and managed to clear dangerous balls into the box for the hosts.

Ben Powell was doing a fine job at the back for the visitors and was heading dangerous balls away to prevent chances in front of goal. There was a good chance for Diamond substitute Mustapha Touray in the middle of the second half which was well cleared by the defender to keep it at 2-2.     

Khye Darlington was sent off in the latter stages of the second half. He picked up a second yellow card for a late challenge which reduced Diamond to ten men to set up a nervy finish. None the less, the chances for Stafford Town were mainly limited to a few shots from distance.

The best chance for Stafford Town came at the end when Issah Ibrahim made a mistake playing out from the back and let Sam Scott through on goal to score. The midfielder put his effort off target to see the match finish 2-2.  

Full Time

Diamond Academy played well in this match and caused Stafford Town a few problems. The main positive is how they responded to the 2-0 setback early in the first half and came back to get something out of it. There was plenty of effort and endeavour yesterday from the hosts and they worked hard to get the draw.       

Ngala Nelly Shey had an underrated match from holding midfield and gave the team that composure on the ball to settle into the match. He also linked up the play well and broke it up effectively when defending off the ball. They might be disappointed with a draw but there’s positives to take for their upcoming matches over the next few weeks.  

Stafford Town played well and showed character to take the game to Diamond early on and battle for a point. They will feel disappointed not to get the win as they had a great chance at the end of the match to take home the three points. The main thing missing was that final ball to create chances in front of goal, but the effort was there.

There was plenty of positives in terms of players stepping up and having good games. Alfie Wright had an underrated game from holding midfield and was linking up the play well and having that composure on the ball to build attacks. Dan Rotherham was also trying to make things happen on the right-hand side and was positive on the ball when going forward.

Despite the result, there’s positives both teams can take from yesterday’s match.

FT score: Diamond Academy 2-2 Stafford Town

Man of the Match: Mohamed Osman (Diamond Academy)

Match report written by Rhys Beardmore for the Midland Football League