MFL Weekend Round Up (Divisions Two and Three)

​Division Two

Birmingham United 2-0 Central Ajax

Birmingham United got an excellent home win against Central Ajax on Saturday to cement their position in the top three. The result makes if four matches unbeaten for the Blinders and includes three wins in that run. The hosts have been strong at home throughout the season with nine wins from 14 matches and it continued here against a good Central Ajax side.

Rico Richards and Urio Hijambazapo scored the goals for Birmingham United in the win at the Trico Stadium at the weekend. Both have been excellent signings for the Blinders since joining in the middle of the season and have boosted their attacking options.

Central Ajax are still in a strong position in the league despite the result and got crucial wins against Littleton and Fairfield Villa last week to strengthen their safety hopes. There’s now a ten-point gap between them and the bottom two and they have a big match in the semi finals of the LJ cup to look forward to against Knowle this Saturday.

Bolehall Swifts 2-0 Lane Head

Bolehall got a crucial win against Lane Head on Saturday to boost their safety hopes with nine matches to go. The result leaves the Swifts just below Fairfield in 14th on goal difference with the same number of points. They have been excellent at home of late with good wins against Central Ajax, Fairfield Villa and Lane Head over the last month.

Goals in each half from Ben Lloyd and Nick Clark was enough to give Bolehall their sixth home win of the season. It’s also an impressive clean sheet for the Swifts against a quality Lane Head team that can cause problems going forward.

Lane Head are coming to the end of the season and have one more match remaining in division two. It’s been a successful season from the visitors who are comfortably in mid table and have stabilised at step seven. It’ll be interesting to see how they get on next season and if they can build on the positives of this campaign. 

Cadbury Athletic 4-0 Earlswood Town

Cadbury Athletic got a crucial win at the Bournville recreation ground at the weekend to boost their safety hopes and avoid getting dragged into a relegation battle. There’s now an eight-point gap between the chocolate men and the bottom two in what’s been a transitional season under new manager Daniel Moses.

There’s been a lot of positives for Cadbury this season and the crowds turning up for their home matches is a huge plus with 79 supporters watching their 4th home win of the season. Callum Devlin scored a brace for the hosts alongside goals from Wade Malley and Justice Campbell to get the win against Earlswood Town.

It’s been a challenging season at step seven for Earlswood Town who started it so brightly back in the first few months. They have struggled to build some momentum due to the amount of postponements caused by the weather and have twelve matches to play. There currently two points better off than the bottom two.   

Hampton 4-2 Fairfield Villa

Hampton continued their excellent form with a convincing home win against Fairfield Villa at Field Lane at the weekend. The Solihull club have been one of the form teams in division two over the last month and are unbeaten from their last six matches with four wins in that run. They have hit a good run of form at the right time of the season with the LJ challenge cup semi-final coming up this Saturday. 

They have been strong at home throughout the campaign and notched up their eighth home win at the weekend. It was a team effort in front of goal for Hampton with the goals coming from Ciaran Connaire, Cameron Seivwright and Ciaran Lawless plus an own goal by the Fairfield goalkeeper. The visitors managed to get a few goals back thanks to a brace from Josh Gilmour to make it 4-2 at the final whistle.

Fairfield are in a precarious position in the league with Bolehall picking up a good run of form below them in 15th. They got a crucial win at Cadbury Athletic on Easter Monday which should give them some hope of beating the drop. Alongside being in the semi finals of the LJ Challenge cup it’s going to be an interesting end to the season for the Swans.

Littleton 1-1 Alcester Town

Littleton managed to hold Alcester Town to a draw at Five Acres over the weekend to have an outside chance of finishing above the bottom two. It’s been a tough week for the Tonboys with the home loss against Central Ajax so it’s a good response to hold Alcester to a draw and get something from this match.

There’s a bit of a gap between Littleton and Fairfield Villa in 14th with a five-point gap. It’s looking like being a tough end to the season for the Tonboys with eight matches to go and they would do well to take it to the final few games.

Ben Cowlishaw scored the goal for Littleton with Jimmy Ward getting on the score sheet for Alcester Town to take home a point. One of the positives for the hosts it that the relegation picture can change with a few wins so it’s not over just yet.    

Alcester have gone a bit under the radar over the last few months but are on an incredible unbeaten run in the league. The Romans are on a run of eight matches unbeaten and in a good position to challenge for a top three finish.

Division Three

AFC Birmingham 2-0 Wake Green Amateur

AFC Birmingham got a crucial win against Wake Green on Saturday afternoon to boost their promotion hopes. The win moves the hosts up to 2nd in the table with seven matches remaining and puts them in a strong position to challenge for the top two alongside the likes of Feckenham and Northfield Town.

Their record at Illey Lane has been excellent this season and it continued here against Wake Green Amateur. It’s now seven wins from twelve matches and goals from Dylan Robinson and Kyle Field was enough to give AFC Birmingham the three points. 

Wake Green are still in a good position to finish in the top half of the table despite the result and are having a solid campaign in step eight.

Balsall and Berkswell 3-2 Gornal

Balsall and Berkswell got a momentum building win against Gornal at Lavendar Hall Lane at the weekend to make it three matches unbeaten in division three. They have been good at home throughout the campaign, and it continued here against Gornal.

Gornal competed well in this match but it’s another match where they have struggled to pick up points away from home. It’s now one point from eleven matches for the visitors who have fared better at the Wombourne Leisure Centre.

Birmingham Tigers 3-5 Boldmere Sports and Social Falcons

Boldmere Falcons continued their brilliant form with a win against Birmingham Tigers at the Hadley Stadium on Saturday. The result makes it five matches unbeaten for the Falcons and includes four wins in that run to propel the visitors up the table and challenge for a top half finish.

A pair of braces from Ryan McFadden and Dale Huckfield and a solo effort from Aaron Cameron gave Boldmere Falcons their sixth away win of the season. Ryan McFadden and Dale Huckfield have been brilliant additions to Boldmere since joining in the middle of the season and have boosted their attacking options.

It was another tough day for Birmingham Tigers at the weekend with another home loss. None the less, there’s positives to take such as the amount of goals scored which was one of their main issues going into this match with the lowest goals scored record in the division.

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