MFL Weekend round up (Division Two)

AFC Coventry Rangers 1-3 Earlswood Town

​The Earls continued their unbeaten start to the season with an excellent win against AFC Coventry Rangers at the Coventry Technical Sporting club to sit top of the table.

Connor Doyle gave the visitors the lead in the 7th minute, and they went into HT with a 1-0 lead. The visitors got off to a brilliant start in the second half and scored in the 47th minute through Dan Elwell to make it 2-0. A few minutes later it was 3-0 and Connor Doyle scored in the 50th minute to effectively seal the match for Earlswood.

AFC Coventry Rangers managed to get a goal back late on through substitute Curtis Cutts, but the day belonged to Earlswood Town who got a statement win against tough opposition. 

Bolehall Swifts 0-4 Coventry Alvis

Coventry Alvis beat Bolehall Swifts at Rene Road to get back on track in the division. Alvis played well throughout the match and were passing the ball around the pitch with purpose and playing incisive balls forward.

Jack Low stood out for the visitors on the right and it was an encouraging performance from the visitors. They took the lead in the first minute through a corner that was headed in by Kyle Jaynes to make it 1-0. A mistake at the back from Bolehall made it 2-0 with Coventry Alvis capitalising on the Swifts trying to play out from the back in the 23rd minute.

Despite a few encouraging signs from Bolehall in the second half they got caught on the counterattack in the 73rd minute with Tyler Douglas bringing down Jack Low for a penalty kick. Elliot Edwards stepped up and calmly finished into the bottom right corner to make it 3-0. A late strike from Jack Low in the penalty box made it 4-0 to give the visitors a momentum building win.

Central Ajax 1-4 Inkberrow

Inkberrow kickstarted their season with a huge win away at Central Ajax in one of the standout results of the weekend.
The visitors had a tough august and needed a result to get their season underway.

Inkberrow took the lead in the 26th minute through an own goal by Jared Randall at the back. Robert Barnett scored from the penalty spot for the visitors in the 40th minute to give them a 2-0 lead. The hosts responded near the end of the first half and Tom Dyke scored from a corner to give Central Ajax a foothold in the match.

Just as the first half was ending George Thomas produced an excellent strike to make it 3-1 to Inkberrow. Robert Guy scored from a corner for Inkberrow on the hour mark to seal the match and give the visitors the three points.

It’s a really positive result for Inkberrow and players such as George Thomas have impressed so far.  

Coventrians 2-3 Alcester Town

Alcester managed to win at the Colliery Sports Ground on Saturday to climb up the table. A brace from the club’s top scorer Odane Barnes and a goal from Daniel Sutton was enough to give the Romans the three points in Coventrians’ opening home game of the season.

Coventrians have competed well in their last two matches and will feel unlucky not to get anything from them. They led at HT in both of their matches against Alcester Town and Fairfield Villa and are showing signs of competing for a comfortable mid table position. The aim will be to stay up this season and they are showing signs of getting a result in the next few weeks.  

Fairfield Villa 0-1 Birmingham United

Birmingham United got a confidence building win at Fairfield Villa to push up the table and challenge the teams near the top of the division. The visitors had to battle for the win throughout and Andy Matthews scored to give the club a huge three points away from home.

Fairfield Villa looked good going forward and had numerous chances to open the scoring. It’s just a case of finding the final ball and showing a bit of composure in front of goal which will hopefully get better as the season goes on. The crowd was decent for the Swans on Saturday with 60 supporters turning up for the match.

Knowle 2-1 Hampton

Knowle continued their good start to the season with an impressive 2-1 home win at the Robins Nest against Hampton in a local Solihull Derby.

A brace from Matt Seeley was enough to give the Robins a big three points and cement their position near the top of the table. Hampton managed to pull a goal back in the middle of the second half through Cameron Seivwright scoring at the back post, but Knowle held on for the win.

Knowle made a generous donation of £222 in gate receipts after the match to help Hampton with the clubhouse fire at Field Lane in early August. The way the local non-league community has come together to support Hampton has been commendable over the last month.   

Littleton 1-3 Cadbury Athletic

Cadbury kickstarted their season with a huge win away at Littleton on Saturday. It’s been a tough start to the season for Cadbury, but the visitors showed a lot of character at Five Acres to get a result and climb up the table.

All of the visitors’ goals came in the first half. Goals from Callum Devlin, Rene Adigbo and Darren Green gave the chocolate men their first win of the season. Littleton got a goal back from an own goal by the visitors in the second half, but it was an impressive display from Cadbury. The promise the team showed in their previous matches came to fruition in this match.

Littleton’s aim for the season is staying up in a tough division. The hosts have shown their quality with a 4-1 win against Castle Vale Town in the Les James Challenge cup and could do with getting a win to build a bit of belief in the league.    

Redditch Borough 4-1 Lane Head

Redditch Borough continued their impressive start to the season with a convincing win against Lane Head at the Redditch Borough community sports and social club in front of a notable crowd of 85 supporters.

Dan Carter opened the scoring for the hosts to make it 1-0 and further goals from James Ward and a brace from Brogan Halpin gave Redditch a comfortable win. The visitors got a consolation goal through Adam Shorto. Redditch was always going to be a tough place to go for Lane Head and they have a good amount of quality in their squad to finish mid table.

John Edwards has done a good job of making Redditch solid defensively. They have conceded just two goals in five matches in division two which is the best in the division. Redditch could be dark horses for the title this season if they manage to sustain their form throughout the autumn and winter months.  

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