Paget Rangers V Bilston Town (Division One)

​Paget were looking to bounce back from their 7-1 loss against Kirby Muxloe at the weekend. It’s been a challenging start for the Bears with one win from twelve matches going into yesterday. None the less, they got a 3-1 away win against Wednesfield last week which should give the squad some confidence and belief.

Bilston Town were one of the form teams in division one coming into this match. The Steelmen have been excellent over the last few weeks and were coming off six consecutive wins to leave them in the play off positions. There’s a lot of continuity in the squad from last season and manager Mike Dunn is building something at the club.

The atmosphere around CV stadium was friendly prior to kick off. Bilston bought a good following along who made the trip to Castle Vale to get behind their team. The main stand looked close to full which is encouraging for step six football. 

​Starting line ups

The starting line up for Paget Rangers included Callum Cooke starting in goal and Jordan Ambris captaining the team from central defence. The formation looked like a 5-3-2 with Luke Shearer and Ashawne Tucker playing up front and being supported by Matt Richardson from attacking midfield.

There were six changes from the team that started against Kirby Muxloe with Jonathan Baka coming into the team and playing in holding midfield alongside Jordan Ambris.

Bilston’s starting line up featured Dominic Cooper starting in goal and Lewis Wall captaining the team from central defence. The formation looked like a 4-2-3-1 with Chris Bladen playing up front and being supported by Adam Nazir and Jake Short on the wings.

There were no changes from the team that started against Chelmsley Town at the weekend from Mike Dunn.   

​First Half

Bilston got off to a positive start and were on the front foot early on. The visitors were committing a lot of players forward in search of the opening goal. They looked like a side in form and were linking up well in the final third.

The most encouraging thing for the Steelmen yesterday was how they were creating good chances in front of goal. Eesa Sawyers made a good run into the box before having an effort well saved by Callum Cooke inside the opening few minutes.

Paget were looking to catch Bilston out on the counterattack with the pace of Luke Shearer up front. They were looking to see out the early pressure from the visitors and gradually grow into the match with the hope of causing an upset.  

Adam Nazir had a guilt edged chance when he was free in the box before having a shot go wide of the right-hand post in the 11th minute.

The pressure from the visitors eventually told and they took the lead to make it 1-0. They built up the play well down the right-hand side before Eesa Sawyers played an inviting ball into the box that found Tarique Hunter who finished well into the net.

The Steelmen were playing well yesterday, and it was all clicking up front. They made a lot of good runs off the shoulder to stretch the Paget defence and open up the space in the final third.

A quality passing move saw Joe Scriven play a brilliant through ball that opened the Paget defence and found Eesa Sawyers on the right. He played a low ball into the box that found Chris Bladen who finished into the right corner to make it 2-0 in the 26th minute.

Despite the scoreline Paget were working hard off the ball to stop some of the Bilston momentum. Jonathan Baka had a good game from holding midfield and was constantly breaking up the play and winning the ball back to give Paget a foothold in the match.

The main problem for Paget was up front and they struggled to create chances in front of goal throughout the first half. Most of this was down to how Bilston were set up with Jordan Spragg impressing at the back and winning a lot of headers to stop Paget getting on the ball.

Bilston had a control of the match going into half time, but Paget had a chance at 2-0 down going into the break.

Second Half

The pattern of the first half continued in the early stages of the second and Bilston stuck to their attacking philosophy to make it 3-0. Substitute Shaquille McDonald made a good run into the box before producing a composed finish into the bottom right corner.

The visitors made it 4-0 in the middle of the second half and an inviting cross from the left-hand side found Shaquile McDonald who produced a quality finish from the right-hand side of the box.  

Paget had a good fifteen-minute spell in front of goal in the latter stages of the second half and were threatening the Bilston goal. Substitute Lateef Giwa delivered a good free kick from the right that caused a bit of havoc in the Bilston box before going wide of the far post.

Dominic Ellington had an underrated game for Paget yesterday and was playing well on the right of a back three. He was breaking up the play and clearing the ball away from danger to take some of the pressure off the Bears in the second half.

Paget were given a late penalty for a foul in the box by Lewis Wall. Luke Shearer stepped up and took a composed penalty into the right corner to make it 4-1 a few minutes before full time.

Bilston Town responded and got another goal to make it 5-1 at full time. Lewis Taylor-Boyce got into a threatening position in the box before unleashing a quality finish across Callum Cooke into the top left corner for the Steelmen’s fifth.

Not long after the referee blew for the full-time whistle with Bilston getting their seventh consecutive win in division one to move into 3rd.

Full time

Paget competed well with Bilston despite the scoreline. The Bears were undone by moments of quality from the visitors rather than any glaring mistakes at the back. It’s a tough schedule coming up with away matches against Heather St John’s and Coton Green in the league. They also play UCL side Rugby Borough in the FA Vase on Saturday who are top of the Premier Division South.

Bilston impressed yesterday and looked like a side who are going to be up there in division one. The Steelmen have built on the positives of last season and kept hold of key players such as Eesa Sawyers to make a run for the play offs.

One of the most encouraging things for the visitors was the strength in depth with Shaquile McDonald and Lewis Taylor-Boyce impressing off the bench and offering an attacking threat in the final third.

Joe Scriven also played well from midfield for the visitors and offered them that composure on the ball to build attacks.

They have a tough looking schedule coming up with games against Ingles, Coton Green and Kirby Muxloe. None the less, the Steelmen are in a position to challenge at step six this season.       

FT score: Paget Rangers 1-5 Bilston Town

Man of the match: Eesa Sawyers (Bilston Town)

Match report written by Rhys Beardmore for the Midland Football League