MFL Weekend Round Up (Division One)

​Bilston Town 1-2 Droitwich Spa

Droitwich got a crucial win against Bilston Town on Saturday to strength their position in the play offs places. The Saltmen are two points better off than OJM Black Country in 6th and have eight matches remaining this season in the league. They have been consistent on the road with eight wins and four draws from seventeen matches.

Bilston took the lead in the early stages of the first half thanks to a strike by prolific forward Sam Yankson who has been excellent since joining the Steelmen from promotion winning Dudley Town. The visitors responded and found an equaliser in the 18th minute through an effort by James Lemon to make it 1-1 going into half time.

Droitwich found a winner in the second half to settle a tight match with Alex Dugmore scoring for the Saltmen in the 70th minute to take home the three points. It’s a big win for the visitors and a good way to respond to the mid-week loss at play off rivals Wednesfield.       

Coventry Cospewood 6-1 AFC Bridgnorth

Coventry Copsewood got a convincing home win against relegation strugglers AFC Bridgnorth at Allard Way on Saturday. It’s their seventh home win of the season and leaves them in 12th with five matches to go in the league.

The main highlight was prolific forward Sean Kavanagh scoring a first half hat trick for the hosts and continuing his impressive season in front of goal. AFC Bridgnorth responded and managed to get a goal back at the start of the second half to make it 3-1. Coventry Copsewood built on their 3-1 lead throughout the second half thanks to a penalty from Daniel Lole and a brace from Bryan Kohyrelon to make it 6-1 at full time.

It’s an impressive win for Coventry Copsewood and shows the progress they have made at step six. There comfortably in mid table and have a lot of quality up front to give any team a game on their day.

It was a tough day at the office for AFC Bridgnorth on Saturday and it will be interesting to see how they respond against play off chasing Allscott Heath this afternoon. The main positive is the visitors being only a point off Paget Rangers in 18th and they have a similar goal difference to the Bears.

The season is not over yet for AFC Bridgnorth, and they have five matches left to save their season.     

Cradley Town 2-2 Wolverhampton Sporting Community

Wolves Sporting managed to hold play off chasers Cradley Town to a 2-2 draw at Beeches View Avenue on Saturday. The result leaves Cradley Town seven points off the play offs with six matches to go and creates a bit of breathing space for Wolves Sporting over the bottom three who are seven points better off than Paget Rangers in 18th.

A good crowd of 76 supporters turned up to watch the entertaining 2-2 draw at the weekend. The visitors took the lead in the first half before efforts from Harry Edwards and substitute Oliver Jones made it 2-1 to the Hammers. Wolves Sporting responded and found an equaliser to take home a valuable point. The goals for the visitors coming from Jack Arnold and Cameron East. 

Out of the two teams the result suits the visitors more and helps their battle to stay in the division. A few wins at Pride Park should be enough for Wolves Sporting over the next few weeks to secure their step six status.

Cradley will view it as a missed opportunity to make a push for the play offs and will probably have to rely on a few results going in their favour over the next few weeks.   

Hinckley AFC 4-2 Nuneaton Griff

Hinckley continued their excellent form with a comeback home win against Nuneaton Griff at the weekend. The result makes it five matches unbeaten for the Leicester side and creates a 14-point gap at the top of the league. They have been strong at home throughout the season with only three losses from eighteen matches.

An excellent crowd of 352 supporters turned up on Saturday to watch Hinckley AFC’s 12th home win of the season.

Nuneaton Griff took a surprise 2-0 lead in the early stages of the first half thanks to efforts from Jacob Dumbleton and Reece Williams. Hinckley gradually grew into the match and made it 2-2 going into half time thanks to strikes by Kyron Green and Jack Edwards. The hosts pressed on in the second half and got two goals thanks to efforts by Jack Edwards and Matt Dawson to get a valuable three points. 

Credit to Nuneaton Griff who competed well against one of the standout teams in step six. Hinckley produced the quality when it mattered and have been reliably consistent to be top of division one throughout the season. 

Sutton United 5-5 Chelmsley Town

Sutton United and Chelmsley Town were involved in an Easter thriller at Coleshill Road on Saturday which ended 5-5 at full time. This looked like being a mid-table battle between two well balanced teams going into the weekend with not much separating them. The amount of goals came as a surprise though and made for an entertaining game for the supporters.

One of the highlights was Oliver Jeeves standing out for the visitors and scoring four goals for Chelmsley Town in an action-packed match. Adam Woods also scored for the visitors in the second half to get a valuable point against Sutton United.

The result should give Chelmsley a lot of confidence in front of goal going into their match against Paget Rangers this afternoon.

There was a well observed one minute’s silence before the match in memory of Boldmere St Michaels director of football Nick Heath who tragically passed away on Good Friday morning.

Sutton United have adapted well to step six football and it’s been a season of progress since coming up from division two at the end of last season.     

Wednesfield 3-0 Heather St John’s

Wednesfield got a huge win against play off rival Heather St John’s at the Cottage Ground on Saturday to keep their play off push on track. The result leaves them two points better off than OJM Black Country in 6th who have two games in hand over them. It’s been a good week for Wednesfield with consecutive home wins against play off chasing teams Droitwich and Heather St John’s.

A decent crowd of 36 supporters watched Wednesfield get their 11th home win of the season.

The main highlight was Freddie Cockerell scoring a hat trick for the hosts to get a convincing win. He’s been brilliant for Wednesfield since joining from Paget Rangers in the middle of the season and has 25 goals in all competitions this campaign.

It’s going to be a close battle for the play off positions between Droitwich Spa, Wednesfield and OJM Black Country over the next few weeks and could go to the final day on the 20th April.     

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