FA Vase (Third Round Proper) Biggleswade United 2-2 Whitchurch Alport (Whitchurch win on penalties 4-3) Whitchurch caused an upset in the FA Vase and got an excellent away win against Biggleswade United at the Verdant Stadium on Saturday afternoon. An impressive crowd of 103 supporters watched Whitchurch progress to the fourth round. With the visitors struggling in the premier division, it was an even match against a team pushing for the play offs in the Spartans South Midlands League (Premier) which speaks volumes to how well Alport played. Biggleswade opened the scoring on the half hour mark through Joe Babbage who found space in the box before heading past Jack Sheward to make it 1-1. Whitchurch showed character and responded with an equaliser in the 38th minute through Chris Aziamale. The visitors were reduced to ten men near the end of the first half with Adam Hailes receiving a red card for a high tackle. Whitchurch remarkably took the lead with ten men late on in the second half. Ben Guest played an excellent through ball that found Chris Aziamale who finished well to make it 2-1. Biggleswade got a penalty late on in the 86th minute which was taken by Jake Stronge. He showed composure from the spot to make it 2-2. The penalty shootout was an excellent watch for the neutral. Whitchurch missed a penalty early on to hand Biggleswade the advantage. The Bedfordshire side had two chances to win it, but Jack Sheward did excellently to save them. It went to sudden death and Lyndon Campbell scored for Whitchurch from the spot. Jack Sheward saved the Biggleswade penalty to see Whitchurch reach the fourth round in a thriller. The amount of resiliency shown by Alport to win this match was incredible. It’s also a statement win for manager Adam Shillcock who joined the club mid-season following a difficult start to the league campaign. Their now in the fourth round and have a home tie on the 13th of January against either Fakenham Town or Great Wakering Rovers in the last 32. Lincoln United 2-1 Congleton Town Congleton lost to United Counties League side Lincoln United at Ashby Avenue over the weekend. An excellent crowd of 216 supporters watched Lincoln progress to the fourth round where they will play either Ashville or South Liverpool away. The Whites have been excellent at home in the league with seven straight wins and continued it here against one of the top sides from the MFL Premier division. Lincoln took an early 2-0 lead in the opening 20 minutes which helped them get through to the fourth round. Matt Cotton scored in the 11th minute and Tobias Liversidge scored in the 15th minute to give the hosts a 2-0 lead. Congleton responded in the second half through a goal by Max McCarthy in the 66th minute and were searching for an equaliser late on. However, it was not to be for the Bears. The visitors can now focus on the league and getting promoted to step four. Despite the FA Vase exit, there’s still a lot to play for in the MFL and their challenging for the league title. Division Three Castle Vale Town 0-1 Continental Star Continental Star got an excellent away win at Castle Vale Town on Saturday. It’s their first win of the season and came against one of the standout teams in the division this season. Castle Vale Town are having a good season and competing in the top half of the table. Their main weakness has been their home form at CV stadium but given the league positions this result is something of an upset. The win moves the visitors up to 15th with six points from 15 matches. This feels like a big result for Continental Star as it should give them confidence going into their four league matches for the rest of December. They face a huge match at home to Birmingham Tigers on Saturday which is a good opportunity to get a result and build some momentum. It was an off day for Castle Vale on Saturday. Throughout the season teams will have the odd match where it’s not quite clicking. None the less, their in a good position in the division and are in 6th with 26 points from 16 matches. The Spitfires have four league games for the rest of December starting with Balsall away on Saturday which is a good chance to get back on track. Gornal 5-5 BNJS Gornal and BNJS played out a thrilling match at the Wombourne Leisure Centre that finished 5-5. Both teams were new additions to the MFL and joined division three over the summer. Out of the two, Gornal have been better at picking up results, but BNJS have competed well with some tough teams and caused the odd upset. The result adds to Gornal’s eye catching home record with three wins and one draw from seven matches. Goal scoring had been an issue for the club going into this one so to score five is encouraging and should give the team confidence in front of goal. The hosts have a busy festive period and are away to Silhill, Boldmere Falcons and Wake Green between the 23rd to the 30th of December. Despite BNJS struggling in the league this result should give the squad some confidence for the matches ahead. Goalscoring on the road had been an issue going into this match so to score five should help. There’s quality in the squad and they have four matches for the rest of December to cause an upset starting with Boldmere Falcons at home on Saturday. Solihull Sporting 3-2 Leamington Hibernian Solihull Sporting got a brilliant home win against Leamington Hibernian to move up the table. Their now in 10th with 17 points from 14 matches. Their record at the Tudor Grange Academy Kingshurst has been a strength with five wins from eleven matches and has propelled the club up the table. A brace from Fiifi Kwofie and a solo effort from Gabriel Harding gave Sporting the three points against Leamington Hibernian. Despite the loss, Leamington Hibernian have been playing well of late with 9 points from their last six league matches. Solihull Sporting have three away matches for the rest of December and are on the road to Meadow Park this Saturday. They are also at Balsall and Berkswell and Boldmere Falcons on the 23rd and 30th December. Leamington Hibernian have a challenging month in the league. Their up against quality teams competing at the top of the division. They start at home to AFC Solihull on Saturday and have matches against AFC Birmingham, Silhill (Away) and Feckenham between the 23rd December to the 30th December. Round up feature written by Rhys Beardmore for the Midland Football League Comments are closed.
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February 2025
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