Smethwick Rangers V Wednesfield (Division One)

​Smethwick were looking to build on their 3-1 win against Bilston Town on Easter Monday with a result against play off chasing Wednesfield yesterday. There’s been signs of progress since the managerial appointment of Sam Heath and Francino Francis back in the autumn with a notable uptick in home form. The hosts are looking to finish the season strongly and get a high enough points tally for a potential reprieve.

It's been an excellent season for Wednesfield who have built on last season’s 15th place finish in division one and are in the hunt for the play offs. John Griffiths has done a under the radar job in building a squad that is challenging near the top of the table. Even if they fall short of the play offs, it’s been an encouraging campaign from the visitors.

The atmosphere around the Trevor Brown Memorial Ground was positive and upbeat prior to kick off with both sets of supporters looking forward to the match. Wednesfield brought a decent number of away supporters yesterday. The link with the Boldmere St Michaels U21s helps Smethwick bring in a good number of supporters when the Mikes first team are away. 

​Starting Line Ups

The starting line up for Smethwick Rangers included Harold Edjangue starting in goal and Charlie Aston captaining the team from central defence. The formation looked like a 3-5-2 with a front two of Kamil Solecki and Jamie Biddle being supported by Romehl Critchlow in the attacking midfield role.

There were three changes from the team that started against Bilston Town on Easter Monday with Red Simmons coming into the team and playing in the centre of midfield.

Wednesfield’s starting line up featured Craig Pain starting in goal and Nathan Walker captaining the team from holding midfield. The formation appeared to be a 4-2-3-1 with Craig Tuckley leading the line up front and being supported by Mitch Bradford and Reagan Wardle on the wings.

There were three changes from the team that started against Cradley Town in mid-week with Jake Lloyd coming into the team and starting in central defence alongside Jordan Uppal. 

​First Half

The opening 15 minutes of the match were fairly scrappy with both teams settling into it and looking to work each out and where to find the space to build attacks. Wednesfield started the better of the two and were looking to take the game to Smethwick early on. The visitors were looking to attack down the wings and work balls into the box for Craig Tuckley to get on to.

Mitch Bradford was playing well down the right wing for Wednesfield and regularly taking on his man to make things happen in the final third. A lot of the build up play from the visitors was good and they liked to play a possession-based style to work the ball into the final third. The only thing that was missing was that final ball and bit of composure in the box to create clear cut chances.

Smethwick were well set up off the ball to deal with the Wednesfield pressure in the first half and gradually grew into the match as it went on. They were set up to break on the counter attack and draw Wednesfield on to them so they could utilise the space available. They have done this well before and it worked to excellent effect in the home win over Droitwich in December.

They took the lead on the half hour mark through a corner delivered into the box. Dylan Green took an excellent corner that went to the back post and found Jake Lamb who diverted the ball onto Jamie Biddle who finished well to make it 1-0 to Smethwick.

The hosts were building some momentum in the middle of the first half and were playing well to create chances in front of goal. Kamil Solecki was doing well to hold the ball up and brought players into it to help support promising attacks in the final third. Jake Lamb was having an excellent game at the back and was regularly clearing and blocking dangerous balls into the box.

The first real notable chance for the visitors fell to Craig Tuckley who had a shot tipped over the bar by Harold Edjangue in the 38th minute. Wednesfield managed to find an equaliser near the end of the first half and an excellent ball into the box found Craig Tuckley who produced an instinctive finish into the bottom left corner to make it 1-1.  The match was finely balanced going into half time and was set up well for the second half.

Second Half

The second half was similar to the first with Wednesfield looking to break down a well organised Smethwick defence and the hosts looking to break on the counterattack and press high up the pitch to put pressure on the visitors. Romehl Critchlow had a good chance on the edge of the box for Smethwick in the early stages of the second half which he fired wide.

Jake Lloyd was playing well at the back for the visitors and reading the game well from central defence to limit the Smethwick chances in front of goal. Wednesfield had a good chance to take the lead on the hour mark when substitute Jake Webb accelerated into the box before firing wide. It was the clearest chance they had of taking the lead up to that point.

The visitors were reduced to ten men in the final stages of the second half. Jake Griffiths got involved with an incident off the ball and was sent off for Wednesfield on the 70-minute mark. This set up an interesting finish to the match with the emphasis on Smethwick to see if they could find a winner against the ten men.   

There were not that many chances up until the final few minutes where the match came into life. Dominic Latham had an excellent chance to win it for Wednesfield late on and had a shot well saved by Harold Edjangue in the Smethwick goal.

The match looked like it was heading for a draw before a moment of inspiration gave Smethwick their 5th home win of the season. Substitute Kyle Burke came off the bench and produced an excellent finish from the edge of the box that sailed into the bottom left corner for the late winner.

Full Time

Yesterday was huge for Smethwick Rangers and their prospects for the end of the season. The priority for their remaining matches will be to finish above AFC Bridgnorth and get a high enough points tally for a potential reprieve to stay at step six. Since making the move to Boldmere St Michaels it feels like there going in the right direction and have been competitive at home in division one.

It’s a team effort from Smethwick and they play well on and off the ball to cause teams problems. Romehl Critchlow was excellent in the attacking midfield role yesterday and had that composure on the ball to build attacks. Dylan Green also had a good game from the attacking wing back role and was linking up the play well.

Wednesfield will be disappointed with the result yesterday and view it as a missed opportunity to put pressure on the likes of OJM and Droitwich for the play offs. None the less, they have played three matches in six days in what’s been a hectic schedule due to the amount of postponements which would impact any team.

They did not play too badly yesterday and were passing the ball around well. It’s mainly that final ball in the box but apart from that they looked good on the ball and like to play a nice brand of football. It was a tight match yesterday and there was not much separating the two teams.

FT score: Smethwick Rangers 2-1 Wednesfield

Attendance: 42

Man of the match: Kamil Solecki (Smethwick Rangers)

Match report written by Rhys Beardmore for the Midland Football League