MFL Weekend Round Up

Les James Challenge Cup (Quarter Finals)

Central Ajax 3-2 Earlswood Town

Central Ajax managed to turn around a 2-0 half time deficit to progress to the semi finals of the LJ Challenge Cup on Saturday afternoon. A brace from Adam Taylor and an effort from Shaye Eden gave the hosts the victory to be one win away from an appearance at the Bescot Stadium for the final. 

Goals from Harry Street and Joseph Drake Cervantes gave Earlswood Town a 2-0 half time lead. The Earls will be disappointed with the result and view it as a missed opportunity to progress to the semi-finals. None the less, their having a good season in division two and are capable of finishing in the top half of the table come the end of the season.

Central Ajax are comfortably in mid table and have adjusted well to step seven since being promoted from MFL Division three last season. A mid table position in the league and a successful run in the Les James Challenge cup is a real positive for the Warwickshire club.   

Fairfield Villa 1-0 Littleton

Fairfield continued their brilliant home form at Bromsgrove Road with a quality win against Littleton on Saturday afternoon to progress to the semi-finals.  A good crowd of 64 supporters turned up to watch the Swans get the win at the weekend.

Edward Quilty scored the winner for Fairfield Villa in a tight cup match against Littleton. This was Fairfield’s seventh home win of the season in both the league and LJ cup and if the club can avoid being dragged into a relegation battle it’s been a successful season for the Swans.

Littleton can now focus on trying to avoid relegation from Division Two. They have a few games in hand over the teams above them which includes Fairfield and Inkberrow. The Tonboys are currently in 15th and there’s a five-point gap between them and Fairfield with a game in hand to make up.       

Hampton 2-2 Birmingham United (Hampton win 5-4 on Penalties)

Hampton won a brilliant cup tie 5-4 on penalties to progress to the semi finals of the Les James Challenge Cup at Field Lane.

The hosts took a 2-0 lead going into half time thanks to efforts from Ciaran Lawless and Hayden Froggatt. Birmingham United showed character in the second half to get back in it and managed to find a late injury time equaliser to send the tie to penalties. Efforts from new signing Urio Hijambazapo and Ellis Vaux got the visitors back into the match in the second half.

A quality penalty shootout went to sudden death with it tied at 4-4. Conor Bashford was the shootout hero for Hampton with an excellent save to win the tie 5-4 for the hosts. Birmingham United will feel gutted as they were up 4-2 at one stage in the shootout.

The hosts were runners up of the Les James Challenge cup last season at the Bescot against Knowle and are on another good cup run this time around. Birmingham United will feel disappointed but their having a good season in the top half of the table and a top five finish would be an excellent achievement at the end of the season.     

Division Two

Cadbury Athletic 1-4 Redditch Borough

Redditch Borough continued their excellent away form in the league with a quality win against Cadbury Athletic at the Bournville Recreation Ground. An eye-catching crowd of 65 supporters turned up to watch Redditch get their seventh away win of the season.

The visitors were clinical in the box and went into the half time break with a 3-0 lead. Cadbury managed to get a goal back in the second half through substitute Arron Atkins. Redditch also managed to score another goal with the full-time result finishing 4-1 to the visitors. Redditch Borough are now five points off league leaders Knowle with four games in hand over the Robins.    

It’s shaping up to be an exciting few months of the season for Redditch Borough supporters who will be hoping of step six football next season. The title race with Knowle is going to be one of the stories of the season in division two.

Coventrians 0-2 Coventry Alvis

Coventry Alvis got a quality away win against Coventrians at the Colliery Sports Ground to move into the top half of the table. A crowd of 35 supporters turned up on Saturday to watch the visitors get their fifth away win of the season.

Second half goals from Jason Evans and Reid Kearns gave the Tankmen the three points against their local Coventry rivals. The visitors are capable of challenging for a top half finish come the end of the season if they can get a run of form going.

Despite the defeat, it’s been a good season from Coventrians overall since coming up from MFL Division three last season and they have adjusted to step seven well. They have some breathing space over the relegation places and are 10 points better off than Littleton in 15th.

Achieving safety and establishing themselves in division two would be a good season for the club.  

Inkberrow 2-1 Lane Head

Inkberrow got a huge win against Lane Head at Sands Road at the weekend to aid their chances of staying up come the end of the season. William Moore and substitute Ethan McKeown scored the goals for the Eagles to give them the three points.

The win gives Inkberrow a bit of breathing space over the relegation places with a seven-point gap over Littleton in 15th. None the less, the Tonboys have six games in hand over Inkberrow and Bolehall Swifts in 16th have seven games in hand so picking up points is crucial to avoid getting dragged into a relegation battle. 

The Worcestershire club have been getting some eye-catching results over the last month in their fight to stay up. This includes the away win against Cadbury and the 3-3 draw against Alcester Town a few weeks back.

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