Friendly game needed

EK are free for a game Sat 3rd Jan if anyone is interested.

Please email Chris or call studio@eagledesign.net 07595 023808 We have our home pitch if needed!

Ed's Christmas Review

I've stuck my neck on the block again and done a Christmas Review. I must be a sucker for punishment, not only have I enrolled as a referee but I'm bound to get some feedback for this.

Have a look and see what you think

Happy New Year

Ed

Christmas Review

Relegation and Promotion

I am frequently asked how many teams will be promoted and relegated at the end of the year. The League currently operates a three up, three down system but it rarely works that way. I cannot remember a season when there have been no changes to the make up of the League, so we usually see some kind of alterations to the make up. We saw City Church last season, despite being in the bottom three, saved from relegation due to the new clubs joining.

If we saw five new teams join us, for example, then one idea could be that we operate three divisions of twelve teams. We would have to decide how we would do this. This is done by members of the Committee and or Member Clubs submitting proposals at the Annual General Meeting in June and a vote is taken. This is one reason why we cannot add clubs after this date.

So in short: It's a three up, three down system with the possibility of some clubs being saved from relegation or extras promoted if clubs join or drop out.

Sedgley Community Church 3 St Matthew's 6

I think the majority of people who play football want to do just that: play! And with the over-indulgence weighing heavily on a good few of those involved today I trooped off to South Road to see if I could join in, as a referee mind you. My knees are past it these days and do their best to keep up with the non-combative activity that I subject them to.

Sedgley are a team that are looking to enter the League next season. They have a few old faces from the past, some of whom saw action in WMCFL's infancy. They took on St Matthew's today and gave them a decent game. It was very cold but the top pitch at South Road had dried out to such an extent that a moulded boot would have done the job.

St Matthew's took the lead after a little while but Sedgley were back into it with a penalty scored by none other than Dek Dudfield. It clipped the post as it went in. Sedgley then took the lead after St Matthew's tried to play it out of defence and then added another to make it 3-1.

The wind was blowing from one end to the other but it seemed to suit the defending team as the through balls were being held up for the attackers to run on to. St Matt's got one back after Sedgley's own defensive mix up; the keeper picking up a throw-in. They then equalised: a corner headed in and then scored another two, including a penalty. Mart Nicholls made it six with the last kick of the game.

A good run-out for the Sedgley boys. They will iron out a few creases that are better sorting now than next September and can take pride from the fact that they lead 3-1 after two-thirds of the match. St Matthew's will be pleased to have won a game and will hope to carry some momentum into their match with Dynamo next week.

All Time Top Scorers

This one does take a while to collate but I think it all adds to the experience that makes WMCFL different to other leagues and I hope you find it worthwhile.

We've had this debate many times over but I'll go through it again for the new folks on the site: I've been collating the scorers from our League matches since September 2003. Prior to this, record have been lost. When I talk about 'All Time Top Scorers' for the League, I mean from 2003 onwards. Before then there are plenty of people that have laid claim to mammoth scoring achievements. Unfortunately the evidence is anecdotal.

Nevertheless, we have what we have. Currently, we have two lads who are approaching the 100 goals barrier: In first place going into 2009, Mark Hadden has 97 and closing in quickly is Shawn Devenport with 91. Shawn has closed the gap by 18 this year and has passed Martin Nicholls, one time top scorer currently on 82.

Someone else that's worth a mention is Everton Morrison, who if he carries on in the same vein, will be joining the elite. He is already at number 8 with 44 goals. Sean Mckenna is also back in the top ten and has settled back into the groove at Elim Athletic.

I would also like to mention the few players who have managed a goal in every season that I have been counting. Out of the 713 people that have scored a League goal since September 2003, there are just 24 that have netted every year. They include: Mark Hadden, Martin Nicholls, Chris Morrison, Oliver Jones, Dan Smith, Jamie Hunter, Curtis Jordan, Jadon Silva, Jason Greene, Leon Turton, Scott Murrell, Andy Aston, Lee Ralph, Mark Southall, Nick Sprason, David Broome, James Toomey, Roger Moore, Steve McGarry, Tim Atkins, Lee Bedford, Andy Waddams, Jon Allen and last but not least John Myatt with just eight in five and a half seasons: A regular scorer for St Mary's.

Joking apart, when the most common gripe from managers is getting the same team out, week in week out, it's people like the above mentioned that keep teams going.

Well done lads.

You can find the amended listing through the Archive link from the Home page navigation bar.

Ed

Saturday Review

Division One

Rowley College 3 St Mary's 3

St Mary's winning streak comes to an end at Rowley as they are held to a 3-3 draw. The result certainly intensifies the race for the Championship as Clarendon easily won at St Thomas'.

Rowley's Pete Bennett reports: Another remarkable chapter in Alun Inett’s ‘Adventures in Retirement’ today as Rowley and St Mary’s served up their usual fayre of goals and incident. Alun, you will remember, was our longest serving player (and our best until injury struck him down in 2002) when he retired, coming out of goal to score twice against DK. This escapade had convinced him (and me) that he might have a bit more than he thought in his legs and perhaps a bit part as an outfield sub. Sadly our replacement keeper has gone AWOL and I’ve had to negotiate with Al to do a stint back in goal in exchange for whatever he wants forward later in the game. Today against an excellent St Mary’s I thought it might cost us but how wrong I was!

Since Mark Southall’s car failed to start I was lucky to have a tigerishly fit Ross Hughes back from Oxford University (no less) to fill in: he was to have an eventful game! We set up positively in a 4-3-3 and faced immediate pressure. Thankfully Andy Rowe was immense today: he literally dealt with everything. We took a while to get going but then started to play some decent football (this is the way St Mary’s also play which makes for an open game) Ross then handled on the edge of the box (he was out and his arm was in!) and referee Martin Cooke (who was excellent today) gave a penalty which was well despatched. Given we had just had our best spell of the game this was disappointing but it could have been worse when Nick Spraston delivered a near perfect corner (from a boggy patch) and their lad put a free header over.

What was great then, from our point of view was our attitude all of the way through the team. On the back of a humiliating Cup exit last time out we responded with confidence and commitment. Taking the momentum we got level when Alan Micklewright nipped in for his first goal of the season.

With Chrissy Staien struggling for fitness we were glad to see our untarnished talisman Southall coming into a midfield where Olly Staien, Warr and Harvey had been excellent. However St Mary’s then came with what looked for a time to be the game’s decisive period of pressure. Jon Jackamon hit a post, Jon Bignell was driving them forward and they have a little lad up front called Ian who is absolute class: quick, skilful and a joy to watch (our lads played him well today). Matt Stanton had gone to centre back and was outstanding and when he didn’t get it Rowe was everywhere. With Alun Inett calling for his twenty five minutes out I felt we might not have enough and was proved right then wrong. First Ian Coleman showed great pace and skill down the line to keep it in and forge into the box only for Ross to clip him for incontrovertible penalty number two. 1-2 down and Alun comes out of goal to be replaced by the more than competent Rowe with Warr going to centre back. Before we could turn around they were 3-1. Poor goal for us but a crashing half volley from 20 yards from young Coleman.

I’m not sure quite what happened after that but led by Craig Micklewright and a hard-working Hunter we turned the momentum of the game. A Hunter free kick was blocked and in the scramble that followed Inett drove in for 2-3 and followed this up with an acrobatic finish for 3-3. He also had a shot just over and a header just wide. Warr then got injured making a goal-saving challenge and Southall filled in imperiously. A good performance from both sides and by the end I suspect the right result. As for Inett, in three lots of twenty five minutes as a striker he’s scored six! Game was also played in a good spirit. Best of luck to St Mary’s in their chase for a first title and a Merry Christmas to all from the Rowley boys!

St Mary's Nick Sprason adds: Well the nine game winning run had to end at some point and I guess an away point at Rowley is certainly not the worst result in the world.

Our squad has been greatly stretched over the last few weeks. Mainly due to injury we have been without five or six first team regulars for the last couple of months and even had to drag students back from university to play for us. The last two matches we have only had one sub available. A situation that will need to change if we plan to maintain our challenge at the top.

We started brightly today and took the lead from a Jon Jackaman penalty after about twenty minutes. We dominated the next ten and wasted another couple of good chances before Rowley equalised against the run of play through Alan Micklewright. Rowley were now on top and we were pleased when half time arrived.

The break allowed us to re-group and we again started well with Jack hitting both posts before removing himself from play just before the hour mark. Ian Coleman then earnt a second penalty following some great skill down the right hand side and Jon Bignell converted the spot kick and within five minutes Ian had added a third himself and it looked like our winning run would continue.

However, we hadnt allowed for Alun Inett coming out of goal to go up front for the last twenty. Suffice to say he scored twice had a header cleared off the line and also blazed over when in on goal.

We could have had a third penalty with a big handball shout (more of a penalty than the first two!) with two minutes to go, but a defeat would have been harsh on Rowley who deserved the point. The manner of the result was a welcome reminder that the fickle finger of football fate that worked in our favour against Amblecote can come back and bite you on the backside. Still it's another tricky game played and we look forward to having six of our remanining nine league games at home.

To finish St Mary's would like to wish everyone involved with WMCFL a great Christmas and happy new year.

Clarendon 7 St Thomas' Aldridge 2

A highly convincing win for Clarendon as they put pressure on St Mary's. The boys with the medals seem to have the steadiest feet at present and they have a chap named Everton Morrison who seems to know where the net is. He has now scored four or more goals in the last four games, which surely must be a post-internet record. Clarendon may be nine points behind but they have a couple of games in hand. And if they beat St Mary's in the League and win their games to make up, the gap will be zero. To say that the game between the top two is a six-pointer is a bit of an understatement. Incidentally, Clarendon's first match in the New Year is Rowley away!

St Thomas' Rob Hill reports: When you have signed over 30 players it shouldnt be difficult to get a team out but as on so many other occasions we just managed to get 12 today. Maybe the team should be renamed St Thomas Occasionals.

Second best from start to finish to an excellent Clarendon team we did not help ourselves with numerous schoolboy errors. At 3-1 and 4-2 there was a glimmer of hope which was thrown away with childish errors: A superb strike from Nick Jones was the only bright spot. At this level we are out of our depth and when you ain't got it, and we ain't at the moment, your only hope is big hearts and a good level of fitness and we ain't got either of those qualities either. Based on the last two games we are certainties for relegation and the extinction of the club is imminent.

And Tommy Woodward adds: Earlier in the season, when we were having a few teething problems with our new signings, St Thomas' matched us in every part of the pitch. They are the only team to out play us this season and this made us Clarendon boys really up for this game. We did dominate this game but St Thomas' by no means rolled over. We had to work very hard for this victory as St Thomas' are one of the most physical sides in the WMCFL. Another five goals from Everton did kill St Thomas off but a special mention has to go to Jason Greene, who has been the work horse in attack and does a lot of the donkey work for Everton. With our strikers in this type of form, our solid midfield and our solid defence we are running high on confidence. We have a very hard January ahead of us, but with our squad I'm sure we will cope. Merry Christmas from the Clarendon lads.

King's AFC 5 Dynamo Kingswinford 1

Another club that seemed doomed to the drop are Dynamo. I haven't had any reports through but 5-1 is usually a sound defeat. With just five points and the season half over, DK need to turn over a new leaf in the New Year and win at least every other game or surely relegation is a foregone conclusion.

King's move up to third place and with this result they have probably ruled out a bottom three finish. They are just a single point behind Clarendon but I cannot see anyone breaking into the top two.

Amblecote 2 Halesowen Zion 2

A two-all draw between the teams in fourth and fifth, a result that will perhaps suit Halesowen more than Amblecote. With just four wins from twelve matches, Amblecote will need to pick up some points sharpish. I think that the lack of games played by other clubs around them is masking the fact that they are in deep trouble at the moment.

Halesowen's Dave Walters says: Very pleased with a point today due to the team hit by absences through illness, injury and post Christmas parties. We managed to scrape eleven together and with only four players in their favoured positions it was not pretty but I was delighted with our battling performance.

We did in fact take an early lead with a good passing attack which was well finished off by Spicer, but after that Amblecote put us under pressure for most of the half and eventually equalised from a corner late in the half. The second half followed the same pattern with Amblecote taking the lead courtesy of an own goal from a Silva long throw. They probably should have had more but for some gritty defending by John Williams, Barney Howe and Dave Atton and good saves from Hutch. We eventually started to threaten again, mainly through our wingers Cocky and Spicer, but it was from a whipped in free kick from Spicer which Dave 'Bhoona' Westwood glanced in with a header.

I think Amblecote should be disappointed to miss out on three points today, but at the end we may have even grabbed a win with a missed chance.

A happy Christmas to everyone.

Grant Doran adds: For the first time this season we turned up to the game with a scratch team, having seven players missing for one reason or another. Despite this we took an early lead after a good flowing move down the right flank with Spicer converting from ten yards out. From that point on we spent most of the half defending wave after wave of attacks. Amblecote got the equaliser from a corner which they deserved as they had pinned us in for half an hour. Half time and 1-1 with the team we had out was great for us, but we knew that we had a big task in front of us in the second half if we were to leave with anything.

The second half carried on from where the first half had finished with Amblecote in control and looking the most likely to get the goals to take all the points. When Barny deflected the ball passed Hutch and into the net to give Amblecote the lead with twenty-five minutes, left it looked like the pressure had finally taken it's toll and they would go on and take the points. However full credit to the Zion lads as everyone of them stepped up to the challenge as we started to get a foothold in the game and forced several good saves from the home Keeper.

The equaliser came with about ten minutes remaining with Dave Westwood glancing home a free kick from the left. With only seconds left we could have nicked it but for another great block by the keeper to deny a low drive from Tom Doran and Debeney drilled the rebound high over the bar. To be honest I think the point is more useful to Zion and with the circumstances we faced at the start of the game is happily received. Amblecote play some good football and have more than enough quality running throughout their team to comfortably survive in this Division but the table doesn't lie even if it is a bit surprising. It should be an interesting second half to the season.

City Church 2 St Matthew's 2

City's Martin Ogbourn says: This is City's third consecutive 2-2 draw against St Matt's, but you could look at this result in different ways. Either it could be seen as two points dropped (considering the opportunites and dominance we had for long periods), or one point gained as we twice battled back from going behind to sucker punches!

We have not had a game for about a month, but we still started strongly and created several one-on-one chances. These were either squandered or well saved by the St Matt's goalkeeper. After a bright start our rustiness showed as we lost our shape for a period in the first half. During this time David Broome (their man of the match) started to gain some control in midfield and Martin Nicholls took his breakaway chance clinically, after a slip by one our defenders. For City, Andy Thomas took his left footed goal well (he was as suprised as anyone that his first ever goal was with his left foot!) to leave the score 1-1 at half time.

City played much better in the second half and should have added to the one equalising goal from Daniel Atkins, which was in reponse to a St Matt's goal against the run of play (this was St Matt's first attack of the half!). Neil Solomon (our man of the match) drove City forward and had a commanding game at the back with Rob Stokes.

Overall, I cannot fault the effort and character of our players who gave everything in the second half, we just couldn't find the composed finish to win the game (numerous shots were blocked, scrambled clear or skied!). St Matt's battled hard and the game was played in good spirits throughout.

Martin Nicholls adds: Thought I should write a brief report on this one. As many people know we have been struggling for a while and today's result pays testament to the lads who turned out today. We had nine at one point on Friday night and not until Saturday morning was I assured that we had eleven needed to play - one player being our keeper - a man mountain J. Hayward 5' 7" and with a dodgy hip!

Well we knew we had to battle and be organised, four players made their first starts of the season and it was one debutant Luke Hopson that got us our second goal. Before we took the lead we had chances. Luke Hopson, who was a willing runner all afternoon, ran onto a delightful through ball and saw his shot saved smartly. A defensive slip saw Nicholls race clear of the defence to slot home to give us a 1-0 lead to see us pegged back by a soft goal before half time. We felt we deserved the 1-1 at half time and with a couple of knocks but no with subs we knew we had to grind out a second half performance.

Again, in the second half we took the lead when Luke Hopson was slotted through, dropped a shoulder to dummy the keeper and calmly rolled it in to an empty net. We had several good chances in this game with free headers glanced wide and shots off target when perhaps we deserved better. With around fifteen minutes left, a wayward City shot was deflected up in the air and their forward headed in.

A big well done has to go out today to all debutants who had great games: Ricardo Green was a monster at the back, Luke Hopson a willing runner up top and everyone who filled in out of position had good games. It would be fair to say we expected the worst going in to this one but we got a well deserved point! A few selection headaches for our next match!

Division Two

St Boniface 5 Walsall Olympic 2

A big day for Division Two and a good day for St Boniface, beating their nearest rivals for the Division Two crown (in my opinion) and seeing Wolves and Zion draw. The results just about put St Boniface in pole position in this Division to win the title, never mind promotion. Having said that, it is still very tight pointswise, even if the games played are all over the place as is often the case with football at this level.

I had a text report from a St Boniface representative but unfortunately I don't know who: St Boniface win against a good Walsall side. St B's started brightly with Paul Yeomans scoring his first of the season: a well taken free-kick. Walsall kept more possession throughout the first half without taking their chances.

An early equaliser by Walsall in the second half set things up for a good match. They maintained more possession and not making their chances count created gaps for St Boniface to counter. It paid off when Dave Mapp's header deflected off Jimmy Cutler. Dave Mapp added a third off a linking run by Obi, then Jason slotted a fourth. Walsall responded with a great individual goal and pushed forward more. A long ball beat the Walsall defence to Jimmy who finished brilliantly, catching the Walsall keeper in no mans' land.

Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 1 Zion Athletic 1

Wolves drop to second but remain above Zion Athletic by a point after their one-all draw. Jallen says: Wolves muster up a draw with ten men and could have taken all the points! Zion had most of the play, but couldn't make it count.

Tom Baugh adds: Wolves played the whole 90 minutes with ten men but fought hard to earn what could prove to be a valuable point against Zion.

Typically in the match before Christmas, we suffered a high number of dropouts due to illness and alternate plans, leaving us drastically short on numbers. However, the 10 that did take to the field worked hard to ensure the match didn’t turn into a stroll for the visitors.

There’s no point in disguising the fact that for long periods, Zion enjoyed good possession as they tried to pull our ten men across the field and out of shape. However, for all their slick passing they didn’t create many clear cut chances. In fact, it was almost out of the blue when they took the lead following a low shot from Jon Allen that squirmed away from Rich, leaving Matt Beach to tap-in. Almost straight from the restart I made a terrible mess of a rare chance, somehow contriving not to even get a shot away when clean through on goal. Half-time: W&P 0 Zion Athletic 1

We came out for the second period with a strong belief we could still pitch something from the game and so it proved after a dramatic climax. Zion were pretty much camped out in our half for the first twenty minutes, but again they had lots of possession and chances to put the ball into the box but didn’t really force Rich into a save. However, I do remember one shot skimming the top of the bar after a corner wasn’t properly cleared.

With Zion failing to convert possession into a killer second goal, Wolves started to grow in confidence and belief. However, it took a wonderful delivery from Chris and a majestic header from Mozza to make the game all square.

With my biased hat on now, I’m going to say that Wolves should have gone on to take all three points. Jas thundered a shot against the underside of the bar and there was panic in the Zion area every time the ball was sent in. Credit to their goalkeeper though, whenever the ball was near him he took it comfortably and he had a pretty faultless game.

EK Corinthia 1 Selly Oak Methodist 6

After a poor start to the season by their recent standards, Selly Oak appear to be creeping up on the rails almost unnoticed. They are just two points behind leaders St Boniface and have a game in hand over W&P and Zion.

Rob O'Neill writes: What an early Christmas present, a great 6-1 win. Our last three games read Won three scored twelve against one. The game started pretty evenly but it was clear the ground was going to cut up from the start and affect the game. It wasn’t long before Selly Oak asserted their authority on the match and started to cut through the EK defence with some great work from the midfield and some nice runs from Nathaniel and Dan upfront. The first goal came from a crisp passage of play and a great ball into the box which was met by Joel Richards who dispatched his header perfectly into the bottom right hand corner.

What I’m about to say I say with sympathy for the player concerned but it was clear from the start the EK keeper was an outfielder stand in for their usual keeper and we knew if we continued to pressure him goals were going to come, goalkeeper is a tough job! I should know despite being in goal for two clean sheets in a row recently I’ve been in goal for a few six goal drubbings.

The second goal came from another great run from Nathaniel, an EK player was overheard saying “He’s going nowhere” before Naf went round all three of them to coolly slot the ball in between the keepers legs. The third came from our now top scorer Dan Jennings to put Selly Oak firmly in control in the first half with EK having at most three chances. Our defence today was solid throughout and Josh returning in goal wasn’t troubled in the first half. I will add however in our previous encounter with EK we were 4-1 up and had to score a late equaliser to make it 5-5 at the final whistle.

The second half started with EK starting to get back into the game Chris Morrison and Paul Russell work well together and play some nice football but EK conceded a free kick about 25 yards out and Rhyan Anderson who’s never shy of the odd Xabi Alonsoesque shot despite being centre back stepped up to bend a beautiful shot into the bottom corner for 4-0. EK continued to work hard and got their reward, play seemed to stop although no decision had been made and their striker broke free to power the ball into the net. They would have the ball in the net again later in the match but it was adjudged to be offside. But I think today we were just too strong and further goals from Nathaniel and Dan put the game to bed in a game we dominated for great spells. EK certainly missed their keeper who can be very solid but I can’t take anything away from a superb Selly Oak performance.

We now sit fourth and only two points off top with a game in hand on two teams above us although Boniface and Walsall both have games in hand on ourselves we play both in January. Confidence seems to have returned to the Selly Oak camp and if January goes our way, promotion is still a very real prospect for us.

We're enjoying our football in the WMCFL and wish everyone in it a Happy Christmas and a Great New Year!

Renewal Solihull 1 West Bromwich Beacons 0

A single goal from the big man Jon Follows gives Renewal another slim victory at home. Like Division One, there are a couple of teams in this division that seem to be adrift, then a few just above that could get themselves into trouble if they don't start winning shortly. Both Solihull and West Brom could slip out of Division Two if they are not careful. Having said that, Renewal are just five points off leaders St Boniface, so a change of form in the New Year could mean relegation or promotion.

Sandwell United 1 Chawn Hill Church 7

It was lucky thirteen for Chawn Hill as they cruised to victory against a Sandwell team lacking a little conviction and clearly low on confidence. Chawn took the lead after thirteen seconds. I was running the line, so I can be that precise. And they were three up after thirteen minutes. I did think that maybe it was going to be thirteen nil they way that Chawn were scoring goals but Sandwell seemed to get themselves together and scored a nicely taken goal just before half time. Unfortunately Chawn had already made it five before the Sandwell goal.

Incredibly, Chawn managed to score thirteen seconds into the second half as well but there was to be only one more Chawn goal before the end. Sandwell are known for letting quite a few in towards the closing stages of matches but that wasn't the case today.

Division Three

Champions Church 4 Birmingham International 1

This wasn't quite the game that the result suggests. I have a couple of reports from the match, so I'll let them explain:

Firstly Inter's Richard Taylor: We started with the bear eleven and makeshift team that proved to be the better side in the first half with a hatful of chances that alluded us. I can only congratulate my team for their hard work and passion which resulted in a 1-1 score line at half time and although Champions may count me biased we were the better side.

We managed to contain their striking force which quite frankly is of the highest quality but we felt we controlled the game through the middle of the park until what can only be described as disaster! We saw Merdach sent off who had done a stirling job of man marking their striker but still managed to contain Champions but then within a space of ten minutes we were down to eight men. Any team in this League will know its impossible to defend for 15-20 minutes with eight men! Champions managed to score three goals (well we scored one for them too! o.g.) but we felt that if we could have kept eleven players on we would have spoilt their run.

And Shawn Devonport adds: After no match last week, we were a few players short which meant we were in for a battle against Inter. However, I'm sure Inter were missing players as well as is nearly every team was so close to Christmas.

The first half started with us creating the openings and we were guilty of missing a few gilt edge chances, however as the half drew to a close Birmingham were in the driving seat in what had now turned into a end to end match with both keepers making good saves. Half time came and we had created the lion's share of the chances however Birmingham looked very good on the counter.

The second half saw another even start with Inter bearing down on our goal more frequently and going close all though we also missed some good oppurtunities ourselves. It was Inter who got in front though when a great piece of skill from the impressive Nathan Atkinson saw him beat the defence hit the bar and the Amin Jam was there to convert the rebound. Going a goal down has kicked us into life many times this season and we started creating chances at will and got back level when Rion Mills had a shot saved and I had the easy task of scoring into an empty net.

Following this, Lee Ralph played a delightful ball over the top and the Inter defender was adjudged to have handled deliberately above his head. If the referee had not been so eager with his whistle, he could have allowed play to go on as I scored from resulting play. But the penalty was awarded, which I missed and the Inter player was sent off. We were now starting to think it wasn't going to be our day and Inter went close to getting back in front with a few half chances. But Inter soon had another man sent off for a second bookable offence after a tackle from behind and crazily just two minutes later they were down to eight men with another Inter lad sent off for swearing.

There was 10 minutes left and as expected the flood gates opened and we could have probably had ten with the chances we had at the end but credit to Inter they kept battleing away.

It was harsh on Inter who impressed me especially on the counter attack today but although I know Richard Taylor disagreed, I felt we were worthy winners because we created so many chances, but must say we were relieved to take the three points!

Brierley Hill next up after Christmas as we aim to wrap up the title soon!

Rockmount United 1 MBD United 1

A tight game up in Brum as MBD hold on to second place despite dropping points. MBD have had an excellent season so far, losing just two of their twelve games and are looking good for one of the top three places. Even a strong end of season run may not be enough for Rockmount.

Shiloh United 3 Elim Athletic 4

A great three points for Elim sees them make up ground on the clubs around them, most of whom dropped points. The four teams in behind Champions Church are in close contention and could be even closer once the games in hand are taken up. Elim sit in fourth ready to pounce and in great shape for the climax to the season which promises to have many twists and turns over the coming weeks.

DC Dynamos 3 Lighthouse Lions 1

DC's season goes from strength to strength with another excellent result. Mark Crouch says: A great match for DC as we make it four4 wins in five. (and the one loss was against Champions. Quite a record-Ed) Having been beaten 9-3 in a friendly by Lighthouse, DC were up for this from the start. We stroked the ball around superbly at times breaking again and again down the left wing. James Cole was at the heart of everything good from DC, playing the ball sweetly to Josh Burford who found Temo Lall nearly everytime. DC thought it wasn't going to be their day today as they hit the crossbar six times in the first half and Temo Lall hit the ball over from two yards when it looked easier to score. Lighthouse had a couple of chances but didn't make DC's keeper make a save in the first half. At the other end Lighthouse's keeper and their man of the match pulled off some quite remarkable saves keeping them in the game in the first half.

In the second half it was the same again as DC passed the ball around quite magnificently. James Cole teed up Temo Lall who took his chance with real composure 1-0 DC. Ten minutes later and DC were 2-0 up, as Temo notched his second, this time the James-Josh Temo combination was wonderful a sweet finish from a player really finding his form: 2-0 DC.

By now DC were finding space all over the park and a shell shocked Lighthouse were to be undone again from a wonderfully taken corner by Ben Russell. Dean Cole rising to crash a bullet header into the goal. 3-0 and it was nothing more than DC deserved. For my part all I can say is as a spectator it was lovely football to watch and as a manager just what we practise in training.

Lighthouse got a consolation goal back making it 3-1 but with little time left there was no way back. A glorious win from DC who have found form at the right time. Is it to late? Watch this space because I dont think promotion is out of the question. The referee had a great game allowing the game to flow and playing the advantage whenever he could. A wise head on shoulders so young.

Merry Christmas all and a very prosperous New Year to all.

Brierley Hill AOG 6 All Nations 0

I think this result has been brewing for some time. Brierley Hill are on the up after quite some time in the doldrums. I do like to remind people that they are one of just seven teams out of the thirty-one competing that have won the Division One title. For All Nations, whilst it may be a forgetable debut season, St Mary's will testify that they spent four frustrating years at the bottom end of the League before slowing rising to the current state of Double Cup holders and Championship contenders.

Keep in there lads.

New Team

Gift Moyo from the International Life Centre in Wolverhampton is interested in entering a team into the League next season. In preparation, they would like to test their skills against WMCFL clubs.

If you are interested in playing the International Life Centre, please email Gift at gift_87@hotmail.co.uk or phone or text 07815 836672

If you would like me to place an advert here for your church services or events over Christmas, please email me.

If you are a punter and don't go to church, Christmas is an ideal time to poke your head round the door.

Derek Dudfield provides 'Scripture of the Week'

MATTHEW CHAPTER 1 verse 18 The Message Bible: The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. ( It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn't know that).

Then Dek adds: I can imagine how Joseph felt and so would we if it happened in our lives. What a shock!! But then again God never does things the way we want Him to does He!
The Bible says that God is in Heaven and He does what He pleases, He brings things into being the way He wants.
Thank God He brought about the birth of Jesus His way and not as Frank would sing ' My Way '

Saturday Preview

Division One

Well this is it. In my mind, the FIrst Division title could be all but settled over this week-end. Whilst St Mary's have an eleven point lead over Clarendon, they do have two games in hand. If they beat Clarendon this Saturday, the will be fourteen points clear and I can't see them being overtaken if that happens. But if Clarendon beat St Mary's and they win their two games in hand, the gap would be down to two points and it's game on.

So to say it's a six-pointer is an understatement. I think the season hinges on this one game. It'll probably get called off, heavy rain is forecast as we speak but I can guarantee that the Pools Panel will not be sitting to adjudicate.

Next on the list of importance, if we are using the League Table as a guide is Halesowen v King's. The two clubs sit in third and fourth place and are evenly matched for points but Halesowen have a game in hand. Oddly, fifth plays sixth too as Amblecote and St Matt's clash. Both clubs are in desperate need of a win and a boost in confidence. Amblecote may have been a tad unlucky last week against St Mary's but like St Matthew's they need a win. Apparently the puddle that tackled a high profile Amblecote player has been booked.

City in seventh visit St Thomas'. Both teams could do with getting this game on or face the possibility of a fixture back-log. City have only played seven games and have thirteen to play, which may not sound like a lot but as we try to only play Saturdays their season looks like going well into April already. The last match on the card is a clash between Sheldon and Rowley. Both teams are hovering on the brink of the relegation zone and so will be eager to secure three points.

Division Two

I'd say top of the bill is the match between Selly Oak and Wolves. W&P will no doubt love to hold onto top spot but I think a win will mean more to Selly Oak inasmuch as they need it to keep tabs on the top pack in this Division. Zion Athletic face a tricky tie against Renewal. Solihull have looked strong at times but are generally better at home. If their first choice eleven turned up, I'm sure they would be a match for Zion.

St Boniface dropped down to third last week-end as they didn't play, assuming that they would have won the postponed match! They also have a difficult game away at Chawn. Four points behind the leaders and with four games in hand and currently still the favourites to secure the Division Two title are Walsall who travel to West Brom. Whilst I'd put Walsall down as my choice for a win this week-end, West Brom will not roll over and may make home advantage pay.

Lastly, the bottom two teams play each other as Sandwell travel to EK. EK, like last year started well and then dipped. Sandwell, who have done nothing but lose in the League this year, are a better team than their results suggest. They may fancy this one but I'm sure that EK will be equally as keen to get back to winning ways.

Division Three

In Division Three, Champions Churches' 100% record faces its latest trial away at Elim Athletic. Whilst Elim are playing the champions elect, a three point haul would be a boost to their promotion push and a defeat would leave them relying on others to slip up. In second place, MBD United look to hold onto that place with a routine win at home to Brierley Hill. However, the founder members have been playing well in recent weeks and may pose a threat. Brierley ran Lighthouse all the way last week.

Lighthouse, in third, play Rockmount which will be an interesting game. Rockmount have impressed quite a few this year but don't have the results to back their form. Lighthouse are in a strong position to challenge for promotion and three points on Saturday would help their cause. Inter travel across to Wolverhampton to All Nations who are looking for their first win. As success breeds success, I think that losing almost every week has the opposite effect. All Nations appear to have struggled for players at times. Maybe they'll have a change of luck this week-end?

And lastly, Shiloh take on DC Dynamos in the mid-table match. Both teams have fared much better recently. A win for Shiloh would see them overtake DC. A result in the other direction would ease DC closer to the top of the table.

Remaining Fixtures

We plan to publish the remaining fixtures, including the minor cup games during this week sometime.

Minor Cups

Division One Cup

The Division One Cup is a straight-forward knock-out. With many of the teams still in the League Cup and the extra two matches as the division has one more club in it, we felt that this format would be most appropriate.

In Round One, the fixtures are: St Mary's v Dynamo Kingswinford, Rowley College v City Church and St Matthew's v Clarendon.

In Round Two, St Mary's or Dynamo will play Halesowen Zion, Rowley College or City will play Amblecote, St Matt's or Clarendon will play King's AFC and Sheldon will play St Thomas'.

The semi-finals will play played in the order of the draw, i.e St Mary's, DK or Halesowen will play , Rowley, City or Amblecote. etc.

Semi-finals will be held at the venue of the first club drawn from the hat and the final will be played at the Pavilion, where Inter, EK and Clarendon play.

Division Two and Three Cup

This competition pits the twenty competing teams into four groups of five. The clubs will play each other once only. Each team will have two home and two away fixtures. The top club will progress to semi-finals with the winners of Groups One and Two being the home team in the semi-finals. The winners of Groups One and Three will play each other as will the winners of Groups Two and Four.

Again the final will be held at the Pavilion, Moor Lane.

The groups are:

Group One: West Bromwich Beacons, Rockmount United, Walsall Olympic, MBD United and All Nations

Group Two: Zion Athletic, Birmingham International, St Boniface, Shiloh United and Chawn Hill Church

Group Three: Sandwell United, Brierley Hill AOG, Selly Oak Methodist, Lighthouse Lions and EK Corinthia

Group Four: Renewal Solihull, DC Dynamos, Wolverhampton and Perton Churches, Elim Athletic and Champions Church

Any questions, please email Ed

Saturday Review

A bit of an odd day yesterday. A combination of a light frost and heavy rain throughout the week meant that we lost one third of our games. At some venues, I'm sure the groundsmen (or women) were protecting the playing surface from lasting damage but elsewhere the pitches were just unplayable.

Well done to All Nations and MBD who reversed the fixture to get the game on. MBD have now played All Nations away twice, although from the result I don't think they'll regret it.

Division One

Amblecote 4 St Mary's 5

An incredible match saw Amblecote capitulate again and with seven defeats in eleven matches they face the real prospect of being one of those clubs that slides down a division. Whereas for St Mary's, they can do no wrong. Winning when you deserve to lose is the form of champions and from the few reports that I have had in, that's exactly what St Mary's did here. St Mary's have won nine league games this season and that equals their best ever haul, even when they came second last year. The title race is not over yet but the reds are in a strong position, eleven points clear.

Amblecote's John Hawker takes up the tale: St Mary's must have thought that it was their lucky day today as Amblecote gave them three gift wrapped goals as Christmas presents, including one that had a bow on it in the last minute, for them to win 5-4. Amblecote were by far the best side all through the game and played some excellent football to go into a 2-0 lead through a great header from Silva and a thumping strike from Darlington. The game then turned on a strange moment when Jadon Silva went clean through on goal, rounded the keeper and then the ball got stuck in a puddle as he went to place it into an empty net?!?! As St Mary's defenders piled back onto the line, Silva did well to re-adjust but unfortunately clipped the bar with his shot. Straight from the resulting goal kick St Mary's went up the other end and scored a soft goal, and scored an identical soft goal to make it 2-2 just before half time. It could have been 3-0 at half time to Amblecote but was actually 2-2.

Amblecote then came strong early in the second half with a quick free kick from Dickinson catching the St Mary's keeper cold as he was lining up his wall. Then a great run down the right from Silva, who crossed to Darlington who made no mistake to make it 4-2. Then, immediately from the restart Amblecote hit the self destruct button, conceding a goal within 15 seconds of the kick off. Then from an Amblecote corner, St Mary's broke away and after a mix up in the Amblecote ranks, the St Mary's centre forward was left to run the ball into an empty net. (no puddle? Had Silva thrashed it to vapour?-Ed). With about 30 seconds left on the clock, Amblecote then commited professional suicide by trying to play a one-two on the edge of their own box and a St Mary's player nipped in to stroke the ball home for the winner.

As a team, Amblecote would have been quite disappointed to draw the game today after out playing the league leaders for much of the game. But to lose after being 2-0 up and 4-2 up at home is extremely hard to take. To their credit, St Mary's never ever give up and fought to stay in the game all the way through but I don't think any of their players could disagree that the win was handed to them on a plate with some very, very soft goals conceded by their opposition. Lessons have to be learnt quickly by Amblecote as a team, who can score goals for fun, but some basic errors are costing us at the moment. Hopefully, with a bit of luck we can turn things around next week and perhaps receive some Christmas presents ourself.

Simon Ashby adds: I remember watching the 1999 Champions League Final and just after Teddy Sheringham equalised for Man Utd in injury time, ITV reporter Clive Tyldesley came out with a great line that simply said....... 'Name on the trophy'. I must say that although Clarendon will run them very close, after seeing St Mary's come back from 2-0 down and 4-2 against us to score the winner in the last minute, it appears that this same line would apply to them this season. (Don't forget they scored twice in the last seven minutes in the reverse fixture).

In another game in our frustrating season we played really well against a good St Mary's team and scored some really excellent goals and I think St Mary's will admit than in truth we gifted them several of their goals which was disappointing. There were two pivotal moments in the game. Having gone 1-0 up after a great move ending in a Jadon Silva header from Hawker's cross, we then extended the lead through a cracking finish from Darlo. Then came the first turning point when Silva ran through and rounded the goalie only to be stopped by the one deep puddle on the whole pitch which gave the St Mary's defence the few seconds to get back and he couldnt put us 3-0 up. From the resulting goal kick a flick on allowed St Mary's to pull it back and they made it 2-2 before the break.

The second moment came after we had just gone 4-2 following a great start to the second half. From the resulting kick off, a hopeful kick to the winger (we all do it) caught our defence out and he lobbed the advancing keeper. I think if we had held on for five minutes at 4-2 there was no way back for the league leaders but it wasn't to be and credit to them, they never stopped pressing and working and for sheer effort deserved the win. I am sure we have enough to stay up, but with a two next two fixtures we need to start winning and soon!

And more from Jon Jackaman: A spirited performance saw us steal an unlikely three points and kept our winning run going. The squad is being severley tested at the moment with a variety of injuries (broken arm (Leigh Watts), damaged knee ligaments (Hayden Philpott), fractured ankle (Shaun Green)) compounding the loss of players to university and it showed today. We managed to get eleven out but relied on people coming back from university to help this, and had an unfit Blunt on the bench should the need arise.

We started sluggishly and pretty quickly were two down and struggling to get into the game. Moments later it should have been three, but had a lucky escape when Jadon failed to score. Straight away we went up the other end and another clinical finish from Coleman saw the defecit reduced. Moments later we were level when Coleman went through his shot was saved and I scored the rebound from a tight angle.

Into the second half and we were confident of going on to win the match, but it seemed all was lost when Amblecote went 4-2 up. Yet within five seconds of the re-start we were level. I knocked the ball to Coleman from the kick-off who chipped it over the stationary right back for Matt Bignell to lob the keeper first time and into the net. That was the boost we needed. From an Amblecote corner, the ball was cleared to me and I knocked it over the top for Coleman to get on the end of, and he duly took it round the keeper to make it 4-4. From then on there was only going to be one team that could win it and we oiled on the pressure, getting in decent positions without creating the chances we should have. Then three minutes from the end, Matt Bignell was gifted the ball and went through to complete a remarkable comeback.

Amblecote will feel hard done by, but we showed great resilience and determination to come back twice from two goals down. Although Amblecote had a fair amount of possession, our keeper only had really one save to make, whereas the Amblecote keeper seemed to be kept a lot busier but that's probably my biased view coming out there! The lead at the top is deceptive though, I seem to recall St Matt's having a similar lead last season when Clarendon had games in hand as they do have now.

It certainly makes for an interesting game next week and we can't wait for it!

King's AFC 6 St Thomas' Aldridge 2

I think it was Brian Clough that suggested a one-goal lead was easier to defend than a two-goal lead. Perhaps people switch off when they think they are two up. St Thomas' Rob Hill reports: It takes some doing to be leading 2-0 with 20 minutes to go and get stuffed 6-2 but we managed it. On a bog of a pitch we took an early lead through Andy Carter but spent the rest of the first half penned in our own half by a lively King's side who were denied by our keeper Rob Wood who made several fine saves. A magnificent goal by young Ashley Thorpe after 55 minutes should have settled it but King's had other ideas and simply tore us apart in the last 20 minutes to run out easy winners.

The win sets King's up nicely for the second half of the season but leaves St Thomas' with some work to do.

Dynamo Kingswinford 0 St Matthew's 0

Another game, another point for DK and another disappointing result for St Matthew's. DK are nailed on favourites for the drop this season. Half way through the season they have five points from ten games. If they repeat that, then they certainly will be down. So does the great escape start here or are they doomed? Solihull managed the impossible a few years back, when they lost the first nine games and still managed to stay in the division.

Jason Russell says: A another determined performance against St Mathew's. It was important for us to shake off last week's Cup exit with a performance that would allow us to improve our league position. This was delivered today with a gutsy performance and we are happy with the clean sheet with a team where a number of changes were made due to injury and absence. Special mention for David Abel who started in goal, he and the defensive four were magnificent. However we are disappointed with not winning the game that was there for the taking and rue missed opportunities. We continue to look for the cutting edge we need to improve our league positon. We have a number of positives that we will continue to build on Dave Trask in defensive, Andy Waddams with his energy and passion are just two of these. We have free week next week and are already looking foward to our last game of the year against Kings AFC.

Division Two

Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 11 Sandwell United 1

Wolves go back to the top of what is proving to be the tightest division of the three, with a double-digit tally of goals. Tom Baugh reports: Wolves crush Sandwell 11-1 thanks to a burst of second half goals from Oliver Jones and Jason Parmar. Despite the eventual cricket score, it is worth noting that it was only 1-0 at half-time and only 2-1 after an hour.

Unfortunately for Sandwell, it just always seems to be the same story. They play well and remain competitive until the game starts to get away from them and then they just fall apart like a house of cards. They’ll go down this season, but maybe they’ll enjoy their football better in Division Three and get some much needed confidence. There are some good footballers in that side, but they must learn to support each other when things take a turn for the worse and not just throw the towel in. (Check the King's and St Mary's reports-Ed) Good luck to them though, I hope they get the positive results that their perseverance deserves.

As for Wolves, we were poor in the first half and everybody knows that. We did take the lead quite early when a Sandwell player nodded into his own net after a succession of about ten corners. However, after that we offered very little as an attacking force for the remainder of the half and were lucky not to get caught out on the break. Admittedly, we always looked comfortable at the back but the ball wasn’t being moved around fast enough in the attacking third and we weren’t asking nearly enough questions.

Everyone vented their frustration at half time and it did seem to finally spur the team into action. Jason Parmar headed in at the back post to double the lead much to the relief of everyone. However, Sandwell struck back immediately when a long ball forward wasn’t dealt with and a cross come shot was turned in from close range. Fortunately, Oliver Jones produced a fine lob to restore the two goal advantage. At this point, Andy Page opted to bring on Tom and Adam French and push Olly further up the field. This is when the floodgates really started to open.

With seven goals coming so fast, its hard to remember them all. I know Jason smashed two in at the back post to complete his ‘perfect hat-trick’ and John Morris got on the end of a cross to score from close range. Olly added some smart finishes, clipping over the top of the grounded keeper for the best of the bunch. I also remember Nathan Lodge running nearly the full length of the pitch to square the ball across for Olly to tap in. I’m probably not doing Olly justice here, so just to give him the credit he deserves - HE GOT 6 GOALS!

We move on to a tough fixture away at Selly Oak next week where hopefully we can continue our rich goalscoring run.

West Bromwich Beacons 1 Zion Athletic 3

A couple of early goals set Zion Athletic on their way at Farley Park yesterday. West Brom, despite playing well were unable to undo the deficit. Paul Beagan gave West Brom hope late in the first half with a superb strike but Zion restored the two-goal lead through Dave Gutteridge.

A much needed win for Zion to restore confidence that had evaporated over the last few weeks. West Brom still remain in touch with the leaders.

Renewal Solihull 0 Selly Oak Methodist 1

A single Jamie Williams goal was enough to secure the points away at Renewal. At this time of year, if it's cloudy, it can get a bit dark on the afternoon fixtures. I reffed one of my kids games a couple of weeks ago that kicked off at 2.30. With thirty minutes each way we could have done with the floodlights on.

Next week's game against Wolves and Perton could well be a season-defining point for Selly Oak. A win would place them back in contention, a loss would leave them with a lot to do.

Division Three

Champions Church 6 DC Dynamos 3

Another match, another win for the runaway Division Three team. Once again it doesn't sound like it was all plain sailing and DC can take heart from the plucky performance they put together against the strongest team in the Division.

Shawn Devonport reports: After last week's defeat in the National Cup it was important that we bounced back today, so we arrived early to get rid of the surface water and the pitch wasn't in that bad condition so the game was given the go-ahead.

We have had a habit the last four or five weeks of starting slowly and once again we found ourselves 1-0 down after their striker appeared to handle but the referee's view was obstructed and the DC striker finished brilliantly to rifle in to the top corner. This however was a deserved lead for DC as they were out battling us all over with their left winger (Timo?-Ed) causing us problems and their two strikers holding the ball up well up front. We were soon level when Rion Mills floated a peach of a ball over for me to finish. Then soon after it was 2-1 after the very impressive Greg Thompson put a fantastic ball in with his left foot and I was there to make it 2-1. Both goals were more down to the fantastic deliveries, which made finishing them a cinch. The break came and although we had a few more chances, we were fortunate to be in front after DC had matched us all over the pitch just created less chances.

The second half started quietly with both teams creating little but by now DC were down to ten men after having a lad sent off. It was DC who got back level with a neat finish. But we regained the lead from the spot only to give it away once again! This time we got caught in possession and not all our back line had quite got out and again DC made no mistake. By now we were dominating but the DC keeper was making some very impressive stops. Steve Burford made countless last ditch blocks and didn't deserve to be on the losing team as he was immense for 90 minutes. We also had a goal disallowed and flashed numerous chances wide but then made our chances pay when three goals in the last 20 minutes sealed the win with Rion Mills scoring a screamer from 25 yards in the last few minutes to cap off a good win.

DC will feel slightly hard done by especially with the sending off but I'm sure they will agree we created numerous chances today and did deserve the win but credit to DC they are a lot stronger now than when we last met and we played almost the whole game with 10 men! I think they are slightly better than their position suggests.

Elim next up away...weather permitting but that's ten out of ten now so it's looking good for promotion!

MBD United 10 All Nations 0

The other two pitches at Dudley Wood were unplayable, so this match was hastily switched to All Nation's ground. And it was MBD who benefited. The MBD team has had plenty of work on it and as I said before, ironed out some of the creases pre-season, settling the side for when the league matches started in September. Since that time the team has gone from strength to strength and now look like a serious prospect for promotion.

Having said that, there is plenty of water to go under the bridge and MBD must keep winning as the second and third promotion places are keenly fought for this year, with four teams in close contention for the two berths. Having said that MBD are just one goal behind top scorers Champions and have a healthy goal difference with only twenty conceded. The first potential banana skin is Brierley Hill next week, who despite their lowly position in the League, should be treated with respect.

MBD's Neil Howard says: A strange day today. We spent nearly an hour clearing water off our home pitch but it was still too water-logged to play on. After a few minutes discussion, it was agreed that neither side wanted to postpone so we moved the game to All Nations' ground, where the pitches were in fantastic shape.

Because of the late KO (nearly 12 o'clock) it was agreed that the game would be two 35 minute halves so both teams lined up for kick off All Nations sadly only able to field ten men which, although I don't think would have changed the result, it may well of affected the score line. The game its self was pretty much a one sided affair today with MBD's midfield and forwards creating a hat-ful of chances within the first few minutes. The two wingers, Nick and Andy were just too much for All Nations' full backs to handle and ball after ball was being delivered into the box. MBD were 4-0 up within the first fifteen minutes. The First was created and scored by the two wingers, Andy beat his marker on the right, raced to the byline and crossed a ball over, Nick cut in from the left to rifle in a shot from the edge of the box. The second came when Rob Lee drifted in a superb ball into the box for our top scorer to head home. The third and arguably the best of the game was a solo effort from Si who recieved the ball 10 yards outside All Nations area, with his back to the goal he seem to be going nowhere but some neat footwork later he had beaten his two markers turned and unleashed a fierce shot which went sailing in.

Si soon got his second after Andy was brought down for a penalty. The first half continued in the same vein with MBD getting another three before the break, with Nick and Ryan both getting their second and Si getting his hat-trick. The second half followed on from the first with MBD creating chance after chance, scoring three more, Si getting his fourth and Rob Lee getting two, having two disallowed and most likely have scored more if everyone in the team hadn't taken it upon themselves to try and get on the score sheet. (It always happens-Ed). Credit to all Nations, they did not give up at any stage during the game no matter what the score and on the odd occassions they mounted a counter attack they did look dangerous but I'm sure they are more greatful than us that the game was twenty minutes shorter than usual.

We have All Nations in the Divisional Cup and fully expect the game to be much closer fought than today's. They are one of the friendliest teams we have played this season and I hope their run of results doesn't prevent them from continuing on next season as I believe that they bring a lot to the division and League as a whole.

It's Brierley Hill next week so lets hope that our pitch is in better shape and we can maintain our winning form against a veteran team.

Brierley Hill AOG 2 Lighthouse Lions 4

Another good three points for Lighthouse against a Brierley Hill side that I think are too used to losing. They've forgotten how to win. Perhaps they turn up every week expecting to lose? Ray Rose says: A tremendous game today, with both teams attacking from the off. After eleven minutes Brierley Hill scored from a corner and then continued to press forward.

Lighthouse then started playing the ball around and created chances with both James Clarke and James Doris going close. On 42 Minutes Adam Elcock fed James Doris a ball to equalise.

In the second half both teams went close, until on 47 minutes a free kick 20 yards out meant Steve Gosling got his first goal. On 69 minutes Justin Kearns was replaced by James Durrant. On 80 minutes a superb ball by Adam Powell found Adam Elcock in the area who slotted home our third goal. Back came Brierley Hill who made it 2-3. Another Substitution on 86 minutes when James Clarke was replaced by Lewis Matthews gave us fresh legs and on 89 minutes Steve Gosling made it 4 - 2 with his second of the game.

Another win for the Lions.

A great win for Shiloh puts them three point behind Rockmount and DC to make it a mid-table trio as Shiloh's season begins to take shape. Unfortunately, I think that that's that for Rockmount's promotion chances. Even if they win their remaining seven matches, they would have only 34 points. Well, you never know.

Kevin Kovacs

It'll be four years tomorrow since we lost our Kev. Take a quick look into the Archives if you haven't already or visit it again. Much of what we see today in our League is owed to his hard work in keeping the League going when times got tough and having the vision and forward thinking to make the League what it is.

He'd have been delighted to see the League prospering with 31 teams. Kevin was the League Secretary back in about 1990 up until his death four years ago. The League was in danger of folding when he joined us and we had just seven teams. It's easy to take what we have for granted or complain when things don't go just right but Kev was one of those people, amongst others, that give their considerable time freely to ensure we all enjoy this fantastic pasttime.

Neil Kovacs

Neil's had a new computer as the old one went kaput, as they do. His new email address is: wmcflsec@hotmail.co.uk