Nantwich earn an FA Cup replay.

                                                            ⚽FA Cup⚽

Sporting Khalsa 1 Nantwich Town 1 

This game was a real treat to watch ; two very well-matched sides giving it everything with the visitors representing the league from which Khalsa were relegated. It was soon obvious there would be few goals with each cancelling out the other, resulting in a parcity of goal attempts other than Town rattling the post early on.

10 minutes after the break a melee in the vistors area resulted in Khalsa taking the lead via Taylor⚽. They probably deserved it for an excellent first half and a good start to the second. For a while,Town were under the cosh but regained their composure and gradually imposed themselves,pushing their hosts deeper. Their break came when the referee decided the Khalsa defenders tackle was worthy of a red card.It wasn't,he got that wrong. Minutes later,from a separate incident, Town scored from the penalty spot⚽.

Such was the effort on display from both teams,it was difficult to separate them,so I suppose a draw was the correct result but it has to be repeated, we were both of the opinion the ref got the red card wrong.

Entrance ; £7 (age concession)

Drink ; £2

Referee ; 5/10

Att ; 100 est

Entertainment ; 9.5/10

Bilston Town off to a good start.

                  ⚽North West Counties League First Div South⚽

Bilston Town 2 Shawbury United 0

Fans thirsting for their first league football of the season packed into Queen Street stadium as newcomers to the NWCL, Bilston Town entertained Shawbury Utd.

On a bone-hard pitch,where an entertaining passing game was never going to happen,the visitors were first into their stride,putting early pressure on the hosts without a real goal threat. Town worked themselves into the game and as the half progressed,it was they who posed the goal threat. Players from both sides were constantly deceived by the amount of bounce ; it seemed the ball only had to hit a blade of grass and it would bounce a foot in th air.

Following the break,Shawbury began much the better but as was evident from the first half,they lacked a cutting edge up front.Bilston upped their game and it paid dividends on 63 minutes as Dixon scored⚽. A second always looked on the cards and it came just 7 minutes later when Crump only had to tap in⚽. 

There wasn't a lot to choose between these two but the major difference was up front.Town always looked threatening whereas Utd, had two great chances but were unable to take them.

Credit to both sides for putting on a decent show on a difficult pitch.

 

Entrance ; £6 (concession)

Drink ; £1 (bottled water)

Referee ; 7/10

Att ; 230

Entertainment ; 9/10 (difficult conditions)

Chasetown Reserves complete their League/Cup double.

 09/05/2026

          ⚽West Midlands Regional League⚽

                 Division 1 League Cup Final

     Bartley Reds FC 1  Chasetown Reserves 2

                                                                                                           Played at Tipton Sports Academy 

Chasetown were looking to complete a League/League Cup double with 3rd placed Reds hoping to deny them that accolade.

Chasetown had Reds under plenty of pressure for the first 15 minutes, but the well-organised Reds defence held firm. Gradually Reds were looking more like an attacking force and it was them who came closest to open the scoring but for some wayward shots. Chasetown broke the deadlock on 28 minutes with an excellent goal, the forward receiving the ball with his back to goal,withstood a tackle,turned and smacked the ball into the net. A second always looked likely and it came right before the break, the ball rebounding off the bar and belted into the far corner. The break was probably what Reds needed, to clear heads and reorganise and thats exactly what happened as they looked much more of an attacking force, taking the game to their opponents and being extremely unlucky on three efforts,two of which were down to superb saves. Things took a turn for the worst for Reds when they had a man sent off(2 yellows) but they got their just desserts on 67 minutes with a headed goal from number 5. It really was game on now with Reds looking the more threatening and to stir things up even more, Chasetown now had a man sent off(2 yellows). Both sides were denied by some great goalkeeping in the remaining minutes but Chasetown were able to complete their double.

A real cup-tie which got better as the game went on. Congrats to Chasetown Reserves on this result and of course on completing their League/League Cup double. Commiserations to Bartley Reds who more than played their part in a good contest.

                                   

   

Entrance ; £3 concession

Drink ; £2

Referee ; 7/10

Att ; 200 est

Entertainment ; 9/10

Bartley Reds net a last minute winner.

 02/05/2026

     ⚽West Midlands Regional League Div 1⚽

Old Wulfrunians 2  Bartley Reds 3

                                                                         Played at The Memorial Ground, Castlecroft.

The visitors  were quickly into their stride with Old Wulfs penned in their own half for the first ten minutes but the hosts soon got to grips with their opponents physical game,givng as good as they got.What was obvious for the whole of the first period was the lack of direct shots on goal with most efforts being high,wide and not very handsome.

Just 3 minutes into the second period,Wulfs took the lead in farcical circumstances. The ref blew for what everyone thought was a free kick for Reds but was actually for Wulfs and some quick thinking from the hosts caught the keeper way off his line and the free kick went sailing over his head into the back of the net⚽. Just over 10 minutes later Reds levelled via a penalty and added another soon after⚽ ; a superb cross from the right after good work from number 11,was met with a bullet header into the net⚽. The game was becoming very scrappy with multiple free kicks for niggling little fouls  and it was from one of these that Wulfs equalised⚽. That looked to be game over but Reds gave it one more go and from another cross the ball was scrambled  home for a winner⚽.

This was a good,physical encounter  with some superb tackling and not a sign of 'on the beach'. 

It's not often the referee is mentioned in our blog but we thought todays man in the middle was very good ; he let the physical side of the game go unhindered as long as it was within bounds which, in turn,made for a good spectacle for the neutral.

League table prior to todays match.

Entry ; Free. Last game of the season.

Drink ; from £1.30

Referee ; 9/10

Att ; 35 est

Entertainment ; 9/10

Wombourne Allstars fill their boots !

 25/04/2026

     ⚽West Midlands Regional League  Div 1⚽

Wombourne Allstars 9  Tipton Town Development 0

                                                                                                    Played at Wombourne Leisure Centre

A look at the pre-match league table was all anyone would need to figure the outcome of this meeting of teams from opposite ends of said table, a + goal difference of 66 in favour of the hosts. Before we had reached 20 minutes Wombourne were 3 goals to the good which could have been more but for some heroics from the keeper. The young bucks of Tipton did themselves no favours by constantly giving the ball away, a trait which seemed to run right through the team. As the ref blew for half-time,Allstars had added a further 4 goals to lead 7-0.

Following the break, it really was back to much more of the same although to their credit, Tipton were still chasing everything and there was no sign of heads dropping ; it was all to no avail as Allstars added another 2 goals which could have been 10  but for some wayward shooting.

An emphatic and well deserved  win for Wombourne and praise in no small measure, for the young-looking Tipton side who kept going despite taking a hammering.

Entrance ; £4 concession rate

Drink ; from £1

Referee ; 9/10

Attendance ; 40 est

entertainment ; 7/10