MFL Weekend round up (Division Three)

​Birmingham Tigers 0-6 AFC Solihull

AFC Solihull continued their title charge with a convincing away win at the Hadley Stadium over Birmingham Tigers on Saturday afternoon. The win leaves them in 1st with 48 points and creates a six-point gap between them and Northfield Town in 3rd who drew with BNJS at Shenley Lane.

Jahvan Howell was excellent in this match and scored four goals for the visitors. Further goals by Dylan Daniels and Abdo Said gave AFC Solihull their ninth away win of the season. A key strength has been how consistent they have been on the road, and this continued here against Birmingham Tigers.

This was always going to be a tough match for Birmingham Tigers. They have struggled at home this season with seven consecutive losses at the Hadley Stadium and are currently bottom of the table. None the less, they have a game at home against BNJS on Saturday which is a good opportunity to pick up some points.   

Castle Vale Town 4-2 DSC United

Castle Vale Town got a momentum building win against DSC United at CV Stadium on Saturday to cement their position in the top six. It’s the Spitfires third home win of the season and they are now in 5th with 36 points.

This time last year they were in 11th with 4 points. It’s been an excellent turnaround from the club in the space of a year.

Tarus Zaman was the standout player in this match and scored a hat-trick for the Spitfires to give them the three points. Josh Pitters also had a good game for Castle Vale and scored a goal as well as contributing an assist for the hosts.

DSC United scored from an own goal and capitalised on a defensive mix up at the back to make it 2-2 going into half time but Castle Vale pushed on in the second half.    

Despite the defeat, DSC United are still in a good position to compete for a top half finish come the end of the season and they are currently in 8th with 21 points.

Gornal 1-3 Feckenham

Feckenham continued their excellent run of form with a convincing away win against Gornal on Saturday at the Wombourne Leisure Centre. The win cements the Millers’ position in the top two and they now have a three-point gap over Northfield in 3rd who have a game in hand. The Worcester side also have a superior goal difference to Northfield which could be pivotal come the end of the season.

Goals from Ashley Bunn, Ben Cox and William Skelton gave Feckenham their sixth away win of the season. Similar to league leaders AFC Solihull, they have been consistent away from home with six wins from nine matches which has put them in the top two.

Gornal competed well against a quality side and have been tough to beat at home despite their league position with just four losses from eight matches. The club is adjusting to step eight and have shown moments of quality this season such as when they beat division two Inkberrow in the LJ Challenge cup back in August.      

Meadow Park 2-2 Leamington Hibernian

Meadow Park and Leamington Hibernian played out an entertaining 2-2 draw on Saturday afternoon.

Both teams are comfortably in mid table and are above the teams that are either transitioning to the level or struggling in the table.

Samuel Ajayi and Luke Woolley scored the goals for the visitors with Meadow Park getting two goals thanks to a brace from Dan Jarvis in the second half to take home a point.   

Northfield Town 2-2 BNJS

BNJS got a statement result against Northfield Town at Shenley Lane on Saturday to dent their hopes of a top two finish. This was arguably one of the surprise results of the weekend alongside the 2-2 draw involving Silhill and Boldmere Falcons and shows the strength of the division. 

A crowd of 43 supporters turned up on Saturday to watch Northfield get their first home draw of the season. The hosts scored two goals thanks to a brace from prolific forward Patrick Behan who has been excellent in front of goal this season with 17 goals in all competitions.

To the visitor’s credit they have been competitive on the road with four draws so far in division three. Like Gornal, there another club adjusting to step eight but results like this should give them encouragement to compete at this level.

It’s all about building for BNJS and they have genuine quality up front with the likes of James Reid and Josh Sarmento.  

Solihull Sporting 6-2 Balsall and Berkswell

Solihull Sporting got an excellent home win at Tudor Grange Academy Kingshurst against Balsall and Berkswell on Saturday. Their home form has been one of their strengths with six wins from twelves matches in the league alongside having the ability to score goals.

Fiifi Kwofie was the standout player for the hosts with a hat-trick in this match. Further goals from Gabriel Harding, Lewis Shaw and substitute Brodi Kennedy gave Sporting the three points in an entertaining game. Balsall and Berkswell scored thanks to efforts from Luke Tildesley and Lucas Van Spelde to give Hornets supporters something to cheer at the weekend.

Both teams are comfortably in mid table and have a lot of quality players that can go under the radar in a competitive division.   

Wake Green Amateur 1-2 AFC Birmingham

AFC Birmingham continued their push for a top two finish with a crucial win against Wake Green Amateur at the Holloway on Saturday. The visitors are currently in 4th with 40 points and have a five-point gap to make up over Feckenham in 2nd with a game in hand over the Millers.

Wake Green went into half time with a 1-0 lead thanks to a goal from Ashley Smith who has been prolific in front of goal at this level over the last few seasons.

The visitors responded in the second half thanks to goals from Armani Bennett and David Emiloju to take home the three points and get their ninth away win of the season.  

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