⚽West Midlands Regional League Premier Division⚽
Tividale 5 Bilston Town Community 1
As I write this weeks' blog following todays' game at The Beeches,I think back to all the mind-numbingly boring PL games I've endured in the past.Watching that dross,you may well see intricate passing,lots of little tricks and all the White-board tactics imaginable but what you will not see is a game like this.It was brilliant. Had everything you could ask for in a game;plenty of goals,bone-crunching(but fair)tackles,penalties(one converted,one saved) and no little amount of skill.What you wont see is any play-acting or players rolling around trying to get other players booked. In my years writing this blog, I've oft repeated ,those that don't watch this level of football are missing a treat.
Ten minutes in and the visitors are awarded a penalty following a needless tackle just inside the box;duly converted and it looks like we have an interesting game ahead. Tivi showed why they are vying for top-spot with some nice football which eventually paid off in the 17th minute with an equalizer. From then on it was really a case of the hosts applying maximum pressure and the visitors refusing to cave in.....well,almost;Tivis' pressure had to lead to something sooner or later and it did with further goals and a penalty brilliantly saved by the visiting keeper.
All things considered, on a bitterly cold day this was a really good game to almost make you forget the cold ! Well done to both sides for putting on such a good show.
Special Mentions ;
Tividale ; Number 9
BTC ; Number 6
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| One converted penalty... |
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| ...one saved penalty |
Entrance ; £3 concession
Programme ; £1.50
Drink ; £1
Crowd ; 50est
Referee ; 8/10
Entertainment value ; 9/10
Non league dogs ; 1 Staffy
West Midlands Regional League Premier Division. Brinsford Stadium,Coven Heath.
Wolverhampton Casuals 6 Smethwick 0
Following their 10-0 demolition of Willenhall Town, the goal scoring machine that is Wolves Casuals continued their phenomenal scoring streak with 6 more against unfortunate Smethwick. Casuals got off to a flier with Holdcroft(8 minutes) and Cunningham(11 minutes)putting them firmly in the driving seat and it seemed the floodgates would open. All credit to the visitors who slowly but surely grew into the game having plenty of possession but no end result,Casual's defence denying them time and space at every turn.
On 56 minutes Hughes cut in from the right and from a seemingly impossible angle,netted a superb third for the hosts,adding his second on 72 minutes and completing his hat-trick and Casual's fifth 5 minutes later. Casuals added a sixth on 84 minutes(didn't get the scorer's name unfortunately).
You had to feel for the visitors;they certainly weren't steam-rollered but they lacked a cutting edge up front.On the other hand,all credit to the hosts who put on a first-class display.
SPECIAL MENTIONS;
Casuals ; Number 4
Smethwick ; Number 10
Entrance ; £3 concession
Programme ; £1
Drink ; £1.10 **** FOR THE COFFEE!
Crowd ; 35 est
Referee ; 8/10
Entertainment value ; 8/10
Non league dogs ; 0
THE BUILDBASE FA VASE 1st ROUND CKW Stadium
AFC Wulfrunians 1 Leicester Nirvana 1
The visitors from the United Counties League,Premier Division arrived here with an impressive record of 12 games unbeaten. Wulfrunians on the other hand,endured a recent sticky patch following a highly productive September.
It was easy to see why the visitors had such an impressive recent record with some extremely talented individuals playing a possession-based game,60/40 in their favour;but it seemed to us,they wanted to do an Arsenal and walk the ball into the net.We counted several occasions where the 'put your laces through the ball' option was required instead of dancing around the opponents. This course of action came back to bite them as Wulfrunians took the lead through McDonald late in the half.
The second half was somewhat different as the visitors,chasing an equaliser,began to change their game;as and when required,an element of 'route one' was used and it yielded results.McDonald,the fist-half hero was dispossessed,the ball was passed to Nelson who then proceeded to dance around the keeper and wouldn't you know it,'walk the ball into the net'.😜
The hosts went looking for a winner but as the game wore on,it was the visitors who were on top but fair play to Wulfrunians who were in no mood to capitulate.We had to leave at full-time but thankfully didn't miss any more goals in extra time. This was a highly entertaining game played in an excellent spirit(apart from the meaningless little skirmish at full time)
Replay at Hamilton Park,Sandhills Avenue,Leicester Tuesday 24th October.
Special Mentions:
Wulfrunians....Number 8
Nirvana....Number 8
Entrance ; £5 concession
Programme ; £1.50
Drink ; £1 Coffee ****
Crowd ; 60 est
Referee ; 8/10
Entertainment value ; 9/10
Non-League dogs ; 1(thanks to Mr D)
West Midlands Regional League Premier Division
Shifnal Town 3 Smethwick 2 (click on each team for their Wickipedia page)
Shifnal took their chance to climb the table with this result.With a 2-0 half-time lead,it seemed Town were destined for three points but this game was anything but clear-cut.Granted, Town just about deserved to be in front at the break but the neutral(includes us) could take the other view and say the visitors didn't deserve to be losing.Indeed,for long periods of the first half Smethwick were in the ascendency but lacked the killer touch.
Whatever was said in the visitors dressing-room at half-time....it worked ! Smethwick seemed to take the game by the scruff of the neck and before too long they were level albeit due to two goalkeeping errors but it was no less than they deserved for their efforts.That appeared to be it until a delicious cross was controlled and lobbed over the visiting keeper.
This was a tremendous game for the neutral.Prior to this match,I watched the Liverpool/ManU game which was absolute dross so we say thank you to both teams for entertaining us.
Entrance ; £1 concession
Programme ; £1
Drink ; £1 Coffee ****
Crowd ; 40 est
Referee ; 7/10
Entertainment value ; 9/10
Non League dogs ; Didn't see any
West Midlands Regional League Division 1
The Cottage Ground,Wednesfield
Willenhall Town 0 Tipton Town 3 (click on each team for their Wikipedia page)
Following a few hiccups of late,the visitors got themselves back into winning ways with this emphatic victory over their near neighbours. The hosts got off to a bright enough start but Tipton were soon into their stride and on 12 minutes,took the lead with a simple tap-in. Willenhall saw plenty of the ball but their game seemed hurried and urgent and they created hardly any worthwhile chances whereas the visitors,with their measured passing game saw numerous efforts either saved or fizzed wide.As the match progressed it became more evident there was only going to be one result and the visitors confirmed this by adding two more goals.
Willenhall could not be faulted on effort but on the day Tipton were the better team.
Special Mentions :
Willenhall Town ; Number 5
Tipton Town ; Number 10
The catering lady ; believe it or not we were asked if we wanted croutons on our soup ! Hows that for superior service ?
Entrance ; £1 concession
Programme ; N/a
Drink ; £1. Coffee ***
Crowd ; 40 est
Referee ; 8/10
Entertainment value ; 8/10
