Bilston TC & Hereford LC serve up a treat

         ⚽West Midlands Regional League Premier Div⚽

Bilston Town Community 2 Hereford Lads Club 2

On a cold wintry feel of a day(in September !) this was just the game to make you forget the weather.Two teams going at it hammer & tong with no quarter asked and certainly none given.It was great stuff. 

Things looked decidedly ominous for the home side(who have a humongous goals against tally) when,on seven minutes,the visitors took the lead.But the hosts rolled up their sleeves,tore into the visitors and to be honest,a neutral would not have guessed which side was in the depths of the division.Their graft was rewarded with a fabulous goal on 26 minutes and it was no more than their efforts deserved.Half-time found the teams level but to be fair it was the hosts that had been running the show for the bulk of the half.

The visitors started the second half on the front foot and on 65 minutes regained the lead with a brilliantly taken headed goal from a superb cross from the right.From that point the hosts were virtually pitched up in the visitors' half and were desperately unlucky on numerous occasions but lady luck eventually smiled on them on 85 minutes with the best goal of the afternoon.

MOTM  BTC; Number 7
MOTM HLC ; Number 6 

Sincere apologies for the poor quality of pics

Entrance ; £3 concession
Programme ; £1
Drink ; £1
Referee ; 5/10
Non-league dogs ; 1 with a coat on !
Entertainment value ; 9/10

Romulus through to next round of Buildbase FA Vase.

            ⚽Buildbase FA Vase 2nd Qualifying Round⚽

Wolverhampton Casuals 0 Romulus 1

Casuals entertained their Total Motion Midland Football League Premier Div opponents at Brinsford Lane stadium this afternoon and what a fantastic game it was. In a busy first half the visitors were keen to show their higher league status and were that yard quicker but Casuals were in no mood to be over-run by their opponents and although there were some signs of league difference the hosts more than made up for it with guts and effort. The visitors took the lead with a headed goal from a pinpoint cross from the right and you sensed maybe they could go on to score more.

The second half was much more even with Casuals having a much greater say in matters and with a little luck and a little less wayward shooting they would have been level; It certainly wasn't for lack of effort. That said, the visitors could also have increased their lead,it was that sort of game - end to end with both keepers pulling out some wonder saves.

A real good game for neutral and partisan supporter alike.

One of the highlights of the second half was a clearance from the visitors' defence which knocked my mates' soup out of his hand which splashed all over my bloody jacket and camera! Hey ho,the travails of a ground-hopper.

MOTM Casuals ; No 14
MOTM Romulus ; No 10

The ball's in the onion bag !

Entrance ; £3concession
Programme ; £1
Drink ; £1 - £1.20
Referee ; 9/10
Crowd ; 55
Non league dogs ; Didn't see any
Entertainment value ; 9/10

Tividale win a hard fought battle.

      ⚽West Midlands regional League Premier Division⚽

Tividale 3 Hereford Lads Club 1

Tividale won a hard-fought victory against a stubborn Hereford Lads Club(HLC)side,although not without a small amount of controversy.The first half was mainly one-way traffic with the hosts dominating and the visitors mostly restricted to sporadic forward forays.It wasn't a matter of if,but when the hosts would score and sure enough a goal arrived just before the half-hour. Within minutes Tivi were awarded a penalty which was brilliantly stopped by the keeper.

Tivi came flying out of the blocks after half-time and were soon another goal to the good and seemingly heading for an easy 3 points. HLC had other ideas and within 5 minutes had reduced the arrears and looking good value for a second goal but it never came despite a spirited second-half showing.

The controversy came at the end of the game when the hosts were awarded a free kick which was duly lobbed over the keeper without anyone hearing the refs' whistle which led to the ref being mobbed and the HLC trainer being sent off.

Ignoring the incident at the end,this was a tremendous game for the neutral spectator;a hard but fair game. With their game in hand Tividale are in an excellent position.

MOTM Tividale ; Joint ; No 5 & No 3
MOTM HLC ; No 9

Entrance ; £3 concession
Programme ; £1.50
Drink ; £1 - £1.20
Referee ; 7/10
Non-league dogs ; 1
Entertainment value ; 8/10

AFC Bentley goal-fest

           ⚽West Midlands Regional League Division 2⚽

AFC Bentley 7 Hawkins Sports 4

Talk about things turning out for the better ! Our original destination was the Darlaston(1874) game but we took a right turn instead of a left and got 11 goals.
This was the hosts first league game and they were up against the league leaders; possibly not the best way to start your league season. 

The first half was really 'even steven' with the hosts taking the lead in the 11th minute with the visitors levelling in the 25th only for Bentley to regain the advantage 3 minutes later ; but Hawkins were having none of it and back they came in the 40th,2-2 game on.

The second half started with a bang with Jakeman  bagging his second to restore the hosts' lead and Clarke increasing it still further. The home side really turned the screw now and further goals were added by Westwood (?) on 72, Jakeman completing his hat-trick on 80 and Clarke completing the rout with his 2nd and Bentleys' 7th on 85 minutes.Hawkins showed why they were league table toppers by scoring twice in the final two minutes.

This was a brilliant game for the neutral(us !) played in a fantastic spirit by both sets of players. Fair play to Hawkins for never giving up but all the plaudits must go to the hosts who have some real speed-merchants in their side and it was this aspect ,rather than being totally outplayed, which the visitors found hard to deal with.


MOTM AFC Bentley ; No9
MOTM Hawkins Sports ; No 7

Entrance ; £1.50concession
Programme ; n/a
Drink ; £1
Crowd ; 30-35est
Referee ; 8/10
Non league dogs ; Didn't see any !
Entertainment value ; 8/10