West Midlands Regional League Premier Division
Bilston Town 3 Cradley Town 0
Prior to setting off for this game I watched the unadulterated pile of crap that was MK Dons v Ipswich (and was reminded of the reason I stopped buying a Wolves season ticket all them years ago,when M McC was in charge).They should have gone to Specsavers...or,failing that,headed on down to Queen Street to watch this game.Me being an old duffer paid £3 to get in,it's a steal ! I keep saying it in lots of my blogs but I'll repeat 'you will not beat this level of football for sheer enjoyment and value for money'. High-flyers Cradley were brought down to earth with a bump by a Town side who,on the day, simply refused to be beaten.Make no mistake,Cradley are a very good side and are up there on merit but found MOTM Bilston forward Tom Piggot a real handful.He bagged himself a pair but should have had at least a hat-trick.A strong wind did little to help but of the two sides,Bilston seemed to handle the conditions much better than the visitors.
Entrance ; £3 concession
Programme ; £1
Drink ; £1
Crowd ; 75-80 est
Referee ; Good
West Midlands Regional League. Premier Division
Wolverhampton Casuals 2 Malvern Town 1
" It's a funny old game " to quote Greavsey and this certainly was.I can just imagine the conversation on the way back to Worcestershire and tonight in the pub; ' How the *********(insert your preferred expletive)hell did we lose? ' The first half was fairly evenly balanced with Casuals possibly just shading it without really threatening to score;a statement which could also be applied to Town.Both sides battled gamely against the wind which made ball control nigh on impossible and misplaced passes a certainty although not diminishing the entertainment on offer.
The second half was a different game altogether with the visitors enjoying long periods of domination with Casuals being limited to occasional breakaways.That is until the 86th minute when Town grabbed what looked like a deserved winner from their No 6 with a beautifully curved cross/shot from the left,going in off the RH corner of post and bar.The away fans jumped for joy as they saw a well earned 3 points seemingly 'in the bag'.Alas,their jubilation was to be short-lived when less than 2 minutes later Casuals were level and horror of horrors,within another minute the hosts bagged a second to lay all of Towns' second-half domination to no avail.
Domination,possession,control,call it what you will.It all counts for nothing if you dont match it with goals. So although Town can count themselves unlucky,credit must also be given Casuals for their determined defending during the second-half onslaught.Indeed,as Casuals' second went in,one away fan was heard to mutter 'bloody 'ell,we've played 'em off the park.' Yes,but they scored more goals.
All in all,a cracking afternoons entertainment.
Entrance ; £3 concession
Programme ; £1
Drink ; £1.10
Crowd ; 35-40 est
Referee ; Good
