MFL Weekend Preview

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Les James Challenge Cup (Quarter Finals)

Central Ajax V Earlswood Town

Central Ajax host Earlswood Town at Ajax Park tomorrow in what should be a tight match in the LJ Challenge Cup. Both teams are comfortably in mid table in division two and are capable of going far in this competition.

Central Ajax are coming into this match in good form and notably beat Lane Head away from home 2-1 last weekend. Their 11 points above the relegation places and have two games in hand over Littleton in 15th.

Their home record in the league has been good so far with just two losses from eight matches. They have beaten AFC Solihull (Away) and BNJS (Home) to reach this stage of the competition.

Shaye Eden is their main attacking threat who scored a brace last weekend.

Earlswood Town are in the top half of the table coming into this match and it’s a good opportunity to go on a cup run. The Earls are in 8th and similar to Central Ajax, have a 11-point gap between the relegation places.

They have played well away from home this season and notably drew 1-1 against Knowle at the Robins Nest a few weeks back. They have four wins and three draws from nine matches on the road.

The visitors have beat Lane Head (Home) and DSC United (Home) to reach this stage of the competition.

Louis Bridges is a player to watch for Earlswood who can make things happen in the final third. 

Fairfield Villa V Littleton

Fairfield have been playing well over the last few weeks and have a lot to play for in the remaining few months of the season. The Swans are battling to stay in the division with a five-point gap over the relegation places and are also involved in the LJ Challenge Cup and the Worcester Saturday Cup.

They beat Gornal (Home) and Coventrians (Home) to reach this stage of the competition. Their home form has been their main strength this season with four wins and three draws in the league. They also notably drew with Knowle 1-1 a few weeks back.

Samson Omotayo is a player to watch for the Swans who has that quality in the final third to create chances.

Littleton are currently battling to stay in the division between now and the end of the season. Their in 15th and four points off safety. The main positive is that they have five games in hand over Inkberrow in 14th and are not too far cut adrift of staying up.

Similar to Fairfield, the visitors are involved in a lot of competitions and are still in the Worcester Saturday cup. Their away form has not been too bad given their league position with two wins from five matches. They go into this match as marginal underdogs based on Fairfield’s home form but are capable of getting a result.  

Hampton V Birmingham United

Hampton host Birmingham United in a huge match at Field Lane tomorrow. Both teams are capable of going on a run in the Les James Challenge Cup and are comfortably in the top half of the table.

The hosts are in 7th with 23 points and have played well in a competitive division. Their home form at both New Mill Lane and Field Lane has been a positive with four wins and one draw from eight matches. They notably drew 1-1 with AFC Coventry Rangers last weekend which suggests it’s going to be a tough test for Birmingham United tomorrow. 

They have beat Balsall and Berkswell (Away) and Northfield Town (Home) to reach this stage of the competition.

Birmingham United have been good in division two and have been competing near the top of the league. The visitors are in 2nd with 39 points and have been one of the standout teams in the league.

The division title might be a stretch too far with the amount of games played so the Les James Challenge Cup feels like a good opportunity to make a statement at this level.

Their away form has been a strength throughout the season with seven wins from 12 matches. They have beaten AFC Coventry Rangers (Home) and Meadow Park (Away) to reach this stage of the competition.

The visitors are also coming into this match in a good run of form with nine points from their last four league matches.

​Another strength of Birmingham United has been their smart recruitment with the club signing a lot of quality players to challenge at this level.

Connor Doyle is a player to watch who can makes things happen from midfield who signed from Earlswood Town. Urio Hijambazapo is another player to watch who is clinical in the box and joined from Lane Head where he scored 8 goals for them earlier this season.    

Knowle V Alcester Town

Knowle host Alcester Town at the Robins Nest tomorrow in a huge match in the Les James Challenge Cup. The Robins are the defending champions and come up against one of the standout teams in the division for a place in the semi-finals.

Their home form has been a strength this season with eight wins from eleven matches and their currently top of the league with 46 points. Redditch Borough are their nearest challenger in 3rd with 38 points and five games in hand. None the less, the Robins have to play them home and away in the league so it’s all to play for.

It’s an exciting final few months of the season for Knowle supporters who will be hoping of step six football. The LJ challenge cup would be a nice bonus and if they can achieve both it would be a great season for the club.  

The Robins have beaten Feckenham (Home) and Leamington Hibernian (Home) to reach this stage of the competition.

George Seeley is a player to watch who has that quality on the ball to make things happen in the final third.

Alcester have been brilliant in division two and are challenging for both the league and the LJ Challenge cup. Out of the two, the LJ Cup is the more realistic and the Romans are more than capable of winning it come the end of the season. Their currently 5th in the league with an 18-point gap to make up over Knowle with six games in hand.

Their away form has been a strength with four wins from six matches on the road. They also notably beat Knowle away on the opening day of the season so an upset could happen tomorrow.

They got a walkover against Redditch Borough and beat Continental Star (Home) to reach this stage of the competition.

James Ward is a player to watch for the visitors who is a key threat in the final third at this level. He has 15 goals in all competitions and played for Redditch Borough earlier this season.    

All Les James Challenge Cup matches kick off at 2:15pm on Saturday.

Preview feature written by Rhys Beardmore for the Midland Football League