31 March 2009

League Cup Final

We are very pleased to announce that for the tenth year running, WMCFL has secured Halesowen Town's ground the Grove as the venue for the League Cup Final. There were some doubts about whether we were able to use Halesowen again but thanks to our Chairman Graham Brazier, we've ironed out all the kinks.

The slight difference this year is that we've gone for a Saturday afternoon instead of a mid-week kick-off. So, set the date in your diaries: Saturday 9 May at 3pm. WMCFL League Cup Final.

Will it be Clarendon v St Mary's or Halesowen Zion v St Boniface, you'll have to wait and see.

31 March 2009

Players Wanted

Prospective new club for 2009/10, International Life Centre are looking for committed players to join ILC FC, as there is a bit of a dent in the commitment of a few of our players. We will be holding trials at 11am on the 11th of April at Fowlers Park, Wolverhampton. If anyone is interested they can drop me a text (07815836672) and I'll get back to them.

Gift Moyo

31 March 2009

Saturday Review

As the Competition moves into its final stages, there were some questions answered at the week-end. As previously mentioned, we do operate a three-up, three-down system in WMCFL but this forms the basis for promotion and relegation rather than a hard and fast rule.

Back in the close season in 2000, we had quite a few teams join us but we remained with two Divisions. That year six teams were promoted to Division One. So whilst we've seen some deciding matches over the last few weeks, I've held back on exuberant congratulations or commiserations as the format will not be decided until the AGM on June 19th.

Division One

Clarendon 2 Rowley College 1

As St Mary's handed the initiative last week, Clarendon nearly repeated the favour back. Pete Bennett reports: I suspect this is the kind of result that wins titles and you can only give credit to Clarendon for maintaining their focus and then being extremely gracious in victory. For us though it’s frustratingly a third consecutive defeat (following three straight wins) which rules us out of nothing aside from the top two and bottom. And this having played a full part in a full-blooded but fairly contested match in difficult conditions, only to concede a scrappy winner at the death. Shorn of half of the pretty much full strength team who played last week (two Micklewrights, Warr Harvey and Southall [he had ten minutes as sub and was substituted}) we were considerably boosted by the return of centre back Mark Turton from a work stint in Scotland (he arrived back today and played BEFORE he moved his stuff into his new flat!). Thus with eleven fit lads and three crocked subs we considered the might of Clarendon.

And how could I have worried? We were just as competitive as last week and far more effective. We were at our work all over the park and not by desperate defence but by considered response. Down the slight slope with a cross wind we were able to give as good as we got. Jamie Hunter, starting his 50th game for Rowley has rarely played better, leading the line with authority, power and responsibility. He certainly deserved his 37th goal for us, shaping to curl one into the top corner and then driving in near post. That might have been it first half but a clearance from defence held up in the wind for Everton Morrison to outpace our defence, hold it up and then crack in a beauty.

Second half was terrific as they sought the goal they needed and we maintained our commitment and threat. All of the back players were exceptional as were Rose, Staien and McIvor in midfield. An injury stretched us further and then a scramble following a free kick allowed their lad to poke in a winner. However it was too good a contest and performance to ultimately let the result spoil things.

Amblecote 1 King's AFC 3

A hat-trick from Michael Jean helps King's to a 3-1 win against Amblecote. For King's, the result is largely immaterial. They are almost certain to have secured their Division One status for next season in their penultimate game and are fighting for pride. For Amblecote, they are on the slippery slope to Division Two and must start winning games if they are to avoid that fate. They've now lost nine out of fifteen matches and have a mixture of opponents in their run-in, culminating with Clarendon away on 2 May. That could be interesting. I can see that match having several connotations.

Sheldon 0 St Matthew's 3

March was a good month for St Matthew's as they took nine points from three games and a morale boosting friendly too. I don't think that Sheldon are safe yet but another three or four points from their last five games should do the trick. St Matthew's have three matches left and after looking in danger, the three recent wins have changed that. They play Sheldon again next week and then Clarendon and on 2 May nip across the road to St Thomas' for what could be a tasty end to the season.

City Church 2 Dynamo Kingswinford 1

City knock the final nail in Dynamo's coffin and condemn them to bottom place with a 2-1 win at the Pavillion. Whilst it's been a disappointing year for DK, the statistics aren't that bad: For a team that has only mustered five points from seventeen matches, to only have conceded fifty goals (under three a game) tells a story.

City's Martin Ogbourn says: A well earned and much needed victory for City against a strong Dynamo team at Row Heath today in blustery conditions. The match started in difficult circumstances for us after we lost a key player before kick off due to a family illness (we wish her a speedy recovery), and then suffered a hamstring strain from another key player during the opening exchanges. It's at times like these when you need character and flexibility from a squad of players, and we responded well. Will Wright had a good game as a last minute stand-in goalkeeper, and several players carrying injuries played with great commitment. Andy Thomas and Torq Smith ran themselves into the ground throughout.

The first half was very tight and there was little in the match. The closest to a goal was when Daniel Atkins hit a post with a header. City played well in parts, but a level score at half time was probably fair (0-0 at half time).

The second half started poorly for City as Dynamo scored on the break after a good finish from Andy Aston. After this though City dominated for long periods with effective, if not particularly pretty football at times. Daniel Atkins hit the bar from a free kick, and was nearly denied by the woodwork for a third time after a good assist from Martin Belshah. On this occasion the ball hit the inside of the post before it nestled in the back of the net to equalise with around twenty minutes remaining. City piled on the pressure with Dynamo only showing glimpses of an attacking threat on the break.

Martin Ogbourn finally scored the winner from outside the box with a dipping, curling shot over the excellent Dynamo keeper. The joy was unconfined from City after recently squandering points (and thirteen months personal frustration with injury from the goalscorer was released!). City still had time to hit the post again from Torq Smith, and came close from a good header by Martin Belshah among other chances. Dynamo played well in parts and contributed to a close, hard fought game. For City, the season remains in our hands and it is now four unbeaten league games in a row, and we can approach the final push for safety with some momentum.

Division Two

Division Two took another twist today as Selly Oak and Walsall dropped permanently out of the top three. The title is now between W&P and St Boniface. The bottom end of the table lurched forward another week as West Brom look on nervously and EK and Chawn cling on for their Division Two lives.

Selly Oak Methodist 0 Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 1

Nat Lodge smashes home a late winner to give Wolves the three points and a hard-fought promotion back to Division One.

In a game of few clear-cut chances, Nat kept his head following a goal-mouth scramble to fire in a low drive that sparked mass celebrations from everyone in red and black. It was a tough game that both teams really needed win, Selly Oak particularly as anything other than three points signalled the end of their promotion chances.

A swirling wind gave the home side an advantage in the first half and they were certainly on top, enjoying plenty of territory without really creating any clear openings. Defensively, Wolves were rock solid the whole game, repelling everything that was thrown at them with relative ease. I thought Pag and Scott performed particularly well and both had their best games of the season, winning headers, making blocks and connecting well with clearances throughout.

The second half saw Wolves, now with the wind in their sails, offer much more as an attacking threat and force Selly Oak onto the back foot for sustained periods. To be fair, I thought they dealt with the wind better than we did, stringing some decent passing moves together and making Wolves know that they weren’t going to have it all their own way.

But eventually the warning signs started to come. Nat was getting away more down the left and causing problems, Mozza smashed a shot just wide from the edge of the box and the keeper was finding it harder and harder to get any kind of distance on his kicks. With the clock running down, Phil tossed in a long throw, Mozza forced the ball goalwards and it eventually ricocheted to Nat who powered home the decisive strike.

With only a few minutes to play and Selly Oak battling against the elements, Wolves hung on comfortably to get the job done and book their return to the top flight.

A quick mention for the ref as well. It was a terrible game to call as the combination of difficult conditions and the desire from both teams to win, left him with a lot of decisions to make. It’s worth remembering that without refs, we won’t have a game to play and we must all maintain respect for them whether we agree or not with the decisions that they make. It’s only natural to dispute a decision, particularly when you’re fired up or feel things aren’t going your way, but there’s a big difference between stating your case and showing complete disrespect.

Ed - The result leaves Selly Oak stuck in fourth place for the second season running, once again praying for a decision at the AGM. For Wolves, they are back in the top flight and need just a point against Solihull to be crowned as Champions. If they do get beaten by Solihull, they will need St Boniface to slip up in their last game against EK on 25 April. So commiserations to Selly Oak but congratulations to Wolves, Zion Athletic and St Boniface who will finish in the top three.

Walsall Olympic 3 EK Corinthia 4

A disappointing end to the season for Walsall as they miss out on promotion. After blasting out of the blocks they have been beaten back by defeats in recent weeks. For EK the great escape is still on. They are relying on firstly getting at least four points from their last two matches and also for Chawn to lose or draw their last match.

Chawn Hill Church 2 St Boniface 4

Both teams today had much to play for but for different reasons: Chawn needed the points to stay up and St Boniface were chasing promotion back to the First Division and the Division Two title.

James Gray says: We took on Chawn, a team fighting against relegation at 'the den' and we knew it was a must win game for us to keep the pressure on Wolves in hope of them slipping up.

From the first whistle it was obvious that they wanted it more than us seeming faster to the ball, harder in the tackle looking dangerous going forward. Having said that in our usual fashion in the second half of the season we were not putting chances away. After Jimmy missed a penalty, the linesman adjudged that the keeper moved off his line before the ball was struck, offered us the chance draw level. Joe stepped up and nailed it in the bottom corner. We then took the lead from a 'nigtmare' by their keeper allowing Obi to tap the ball in from a few yards out.

Half time, the usual comments went around but everyone agreed we didn't deserve to be winning and we had to raise our game.

Second half was delayed by Chawn and the tactic worked a treat as they kicked off and scored in about fifteen seconds, so much for the team talk. At 2-2, they had control of the game and nearly took the lead from a very nice free kick but our keeper pulled of a great save to push it wide at full reach. We were then awarded another penalty smartly put away from Joe and a goal from Obi killed the game off.

To say we were pleased with the win would be an understatement, especially as we played so poorly. I don't think Chawn deserve to go down as they are a good side but they just haven't had the rub of the green all season.

Final note to offer my congratulations to Wolves on winning the title as if I'm honest, I don't think Renewal will have a chance of beating Wolves.

Division Three

Champions Church 3 MBD United 1

Champions are just one match away from a historic 100% record and it's MBD that stand in their way. Post internet, we definately do not have another claim to this feat and to my knowledge no-one in the history of WMCFL has gone through a whole season winning all their league matches.

Shawn Devonport says: Today saw us come up against MBD for the first time and with them being in second with games in hand we knew we were in for a tough game.

The match started with MBD having the wind with them so we knew it would be a tough half. We created the first chance within a minute when after a good team move I shot straight at the keeper tamely. MBD for the next twenty minutes were the better team having the pressure with numerous set pieces but weren't creating chances wereas we were at times penned back but creating the chances. We took the lead when the keeper parried a shot and Greg Thompson was on hand to put it away. We thought we were 2-0 up when I hit the post and Greg was on hand again but the flag went up. MBD got level when Ryan Reynolds was fouled in the box. He made a meal of it like all good strikers do but there was contact and he made sure he got the penalty which he converted.

The game then become scrapy with neither team creating much and at half time it was 1-1.

Second half and we turned the screw a little creating chances as we raised our work rate levels too and we were now the team pressing. After it looked like it may not be our day, on sixty-five minutes I bent a free kick in from twenty-five yards to give us the lead again. We were now battling more and a few more half chances came and went our way. It was Karl Martin for MBD who just couldn't connect at the far post and then had a point blank header excellently saved by Craig Harris. We made it 3-1 late on when Josh Ball got on the score sheet and it should have been four when Mark Goule blazed over.

Very happy with the win today, Dave Oakley has been ruled out for the rest of the season which is a blow and Josh and Mark Burchell were unavailable again today and all three will be missing gain next week but we believe in the players we have available who did an excellent job agaisnt a very competitive MBD team today. Their number 19 was class in centre midfield today and their man of the match and you can see Simon Lamour is also a very good player.

We go again next week against MBD as we aim to become the first team to win every game in a season which is no mean feat as there have been some very good teams in Division Three this year. I saw DC Dynamos who have only finished mid table this year beat West Brom and Renewal last two weeks 3-1 so there ain't been too many easy matches.

We believe we can do it after today but it will another battle for 90 minutes!

All Nations 0 Birmingham International 6

Another convincing defeat for All Nations in their maiden season in WMCFL. Whilst losing all but one game is a little soul destroying, I'm sure they will come back next year improved from the experience. Division Three will look different next season. Obviously, Champions, MBD and Elim will be in DIvision Two. The big question is: who will be All Nations opponents? I have had numerous enquiries from several sources.

For Inter, they will be a little cheesed off at missing out of a top three placing. They did manage to secure fourth place though. Their record was almost identical to that of Lighthouse: Same games won, lost and draw, same goals scored but just one fewer conceded. I hope I've added that up correctly.

Friendly Games

Brierley Hill AOG 2 Rockmount United 1

A rare win for the Hill. Is this the shape of things to come next season?

DC Dynamos 3 Renewal Solihull 1

After a season in WMCFL, DC sign off 2008/9 with a spate of positive results. I think they will improve on this year's seventh place next season and be one of the better teams. Mark Crouch reports: A blustry spring morning saw DC take on Renewal Solihull: Third Division versus Second.

DC were full strength but Renewal were a few players short (they always are, except for Cup Finals-Ed) having to loan our spare keeper for 90 minutes. DC started the brighter playing the ball around well, using the wings to great effect again. After 15 minutes DC had a direct freekick from the right hand side of Renewal's 18 yard box and Dave Rich hit a wonderful curling shot that pinged into the top left hand corner of the goal. 1-0 DC.

DC could have gone two up soon after but James Cole missed when one on one with the keeper and two minutes later Dan Summerfield narrowly missed connecting to a great cross from Jon Murphy. Five minutes later though DC got their deserved second goal after some great play in and around Renewal's penalty area saw the ball drop to Richard Rudge who hit a thunderbolt of a shot into the bottom left of the goal giving their keeper (our keeper) no chance. It was greeted with whoops and hallos of joy from Rich and the lads as we all know how much it meant to him especially as he has worked tirelessly all season with little mention.

Both Rich and Steve played excellently again at the back and it is a partenership that will see us well next season without a doubt. Josh Burford ran his socks off today marshalling the left wing and filling in at left back everytime Jon Murphy pushed forward or to take corners. This is one player I will sorely miss next season as he will be unavailable as he is joining the Navy.

2-0 DC at half time

The second half saw Renewal come back into the game as the weather made it harder work for DC. Although having said this they used their heads today and kept the ball on the ground as much as possible.

Fifteen minutes into the second half Josh capped a fine performance with DC's third goal effectively sealing the game and putting it beyond Renewal. Renewal did get awarded a dubious penalty which they missed but pulled a goal back to make it 3-1 but DC played like a team today playing for each other and closing down excellently. With every match that goes by I am increasingly wounded that the season started when it did because what I am seeing on week to week basis is a team that could and should be upto the Second Division.

Gavin Priest solid in goal, Steve Rich, Jon Clint: awesome back four. Josh, Dave, James, Dan battling midfield Ryan and Rory quick and effective up front. Man of the match though Josh Burford closely followed by Dave Rich and Steve Burford.

E K Corinthia up next. Can we make it five wins on the spin?

Shiloh United 3 Pye Green Towers 1

It takes time to build a football team. Playing week-in, week-out with a settled side, where people get used to where they are supposed to stand and what they are meant to do, which foot the keeper kicks with.

There's no better preparation for a season than playing every week. Pye Green seem to be making slow but steady progress and added to that this week. They managed to score a goal at last, kept the score down and even took the lead at one point!

Dave Spencer reports: Due to an accident at work, our ref for today called in sick, so me and Roberto from Shiloh shared the refing duties. We battled hard for the first half hour with both sides having near misses, though it was in the 33rd minute Gaz Derby's shot hit off the post and Harry Pierce was able to hit home what will be known as Pye Green Tower's first ever goal (the celebration went on for some time). Maybe we became too drunk on the sudden addrenaline of being in the lead, Shiloh remained composed and hammered in two goals before half time.

Second half was evenly matched with both sides having some agonisingly close chances. Our midfielder turned goal keeper Ryan, had his umpteenth injury and had to be replaced in the nets. Not too long after, Shiloh were able to knock in a third goal. Final score 3-1. The game was a big encouragment to us, a number of players excelled.

I'm sure our first win is just round the corner. Shiloh are a really friendly bunch of blokes, the game was full of light hearted banter and every one was able to enjoy the game for what it was. It'll be a pleasure to play them again in the future. We're now free for a game on the 11th if anyone else fancies it.

West Bromwich Beacons 13 International Life Centre 0

West Brom's top scorer, Mike Davies says: The scorers today were Sammy 2, Dangerous 2, Mikey 2, Mark Allsop 2, Stu Rogers, Adam Wall, Paul Beagen, an own goal and I can't think who got the other.

We turned up ready for the game to be greeted by a pitch in perfect condition. The elements were against us as it was blowing a gale and it looked ready to rain. West Brom kick things off and went straight on the attack. Within five minutes Sammy Duckers scored with a turn an shot. Two or three minutes later Mark Allsop popped up with a powerful header and then Paul Beagen made it three soon after.

Then it was Dangerous's turn to score and not long after that there was a crackin o.g. Dangerous and Sammy soon scored another each, Sammy's was a finely placed shot. Then on came the Super Sub Mikey who smashed the ball in from 18 yards. Mark Allsop scored with with another powerfull header, HT.

The second half, International got off to a flying start, creating chances but kept loosing it in the final third. Adam Wall scored the first of the second half and Stuart Rogers sliced a volley from six yards but it still went in. Mikey powered one in from about ten yards but fair play to International, they never gave up. They are full of energy and didn't let their heads drop.

Give them a few games together and they could be a good side.

Saturday Review

After writing a preview for yesterday only to get distracted and then the Mrs closed the file down without saving it, so it had to be written. And then for the PC to suffer a catastrophic break down before I published my write up this morning, you'll forgive me for getting a little frustrated. We seem to be all back up and running now, so here goes...Let's hope I can manage to get this one uploaded before I get struck down by lightning.

Division One

Halesowen Zion 1 St Mary's 1

St Mary's stutter to another draw to hand the initiative back to Clarendon against Halesowen yesterday. After doing the hard work last week, the onus is back on Clarendon now. If they win their last five games, they will retain the Championship.

Dave Walters reports: The league table would suggest this was a good point for us but we are disappointed not to have taken all three. In the first half we played some good football and were on top for the most part going close a number of times and St Ms having to clear off their goal line on two occasions, but to my concern we were at 0-0 at half time. The second half was a lot more even with St Mary's starting well but we always looked dangerous on the counter. We took the lead after around ten minutes when we were awarded a penalty with which Jon Lea made no mistake. The same player had a glorious chance to double the lead but put his shot wide after a super build up. St Mary's started to put us under pressure in the last fifteen but without a clear chance until three minutes from time they managed to squeeze in a scrappy goal. Even after that we still could have got a winner but it was not to be. In the final assessment we should have made our dominance felt in the first half, but well done to St Mary's, it was a cracking game.

Rowley College 0 Clarendon 3

Pete Bennett says: A really good game today between two strong teams with different kinds of points to prove. Sadly the scoreline was distorted a little by two mistakes by our otherwise excellent keeper Lee Roberts. Anywhere else on the pitch these mistakes cause mild embarrassment but little else, for keepers every little slip is fatal.

The game was given a little extra interest by Matt Williams’ untimely move to Clarendon at Christmas (having not appeared for us this season) but this was in every way simply a typical Rowley Clarendon game: fast, furious, competitive and fair. Sadly it went very much as last year’s semi did with the first goal dictating the pattern of the match and then us being caught on the break looking for parity. The goal came from a nothing ball through which unfortunately slipped through our keeper’s hands leaving Everton Morrison with a tap in. To make things worse from the resulting kick off our real talisman Mark Southall injured himself and had to come off.

However for the rest of the half we were about and gave as good as we got without showing any real penetration. Our defenders were terrific as was Olly Staien and Hunter led the line with great energy. The pattern of the second half was very similar until John Warr had to leave due to a family illness just after the hour. Harvey battled on manfully as did everybody on our side but a second (good shot from the edge of the box) gave us a mountain to climb. Again we continued to press but Clarendon were offering great value on the break (a real sight to see) and from one of these Ashley struck a slightly deflected shot which Lee lost in flight giving them a surprising third. I think 3-0 was very harsh but Clarendon deserved to win today and we must come back and do it all again next week!

St Thomas' Aldridge 2 King's AFC 0

St Thomas' breathe life back into their season with a gritty performance against King's. The result means that they are still very much in line to save their Division One status and will give themselves something to play for in their last few matches.

Chris Preece says: A lovely sunny morning greeted us at Delves Green Road today. We were up against an in-form King's side who we had previously been 2-0 up against, before being hammered 6-2 by the final whistle back in December, so we anticipated a tough match as always!

The first half was pretty even, with both sides going close particularly King's, who rattled the cross bar but we held on and started to create chances. Ste Busby and Ash created a couple of opportunities with slide-rule passes. We grew in confidence as the half progressed and Matt Brady was put through with prod from Buzza, which he placed perfectly past the keeper, the ball nestling in the corner of the King's net for 1-0, ( a really tidy finish). We went in 1-0 and confident that we could get something out of the game at the at point.

The half time team talk from King's must have been a pretty effective one, because they came out with far more purpose. We really had to hang on and dig in for a good twenty minute spell, which saw many set piece chances for King's, they pretty much did everything but score. As the game reached the eighty minute mark, we had a break away and Ash slotted home from outside the box to really take the pressure of us. Some of us more "experienced" players were glad of it, as the old legs were starting to creak. King's naturally responded by committing more men forward which resulted in a flurry of chances, but still they could not find the target.

I think its fair to say that King's will feel hard done by today but on the whole we were more ruthless with our chances, which ultimately got us the valuable three points and with four more games left to play, including Rowley, City, and St Matt's, we will need more of same fighting spirit demonstated today.

A good competetive performance from two fairly physical sides, with perfect conditions....its what WMCFL is all about for me!

City Church 1 Sheldon Community Church 1

Another draw for City as they are still down in the mire. That's their sixth draw of the year, equalling last year's tally, which we all agreed was the reason they ended in so much trouble. Here's a strange statistic: City and Amblecote in eighth and ninth both have better goal differences than Sheldon and King's up nestled just behind the runaway two. I would say that sums up the Division at present: there's not a lot in it. Whilst Clarendon and St Mary's are miles ahead, they are not scoring eights and nines on a regular basis.

As for Sheldon, they seem safe from the drop. Another win from their last six will all but make sure.

Lyndon Fisher reports: A nice sunny morning for a game of football, played on a very hard but small pitch. We had the better of a first half and deservedly went ahead with a neat finish from Mark Hadden. We should have gone further ahead when a spectacular volley by Tim Atkins smashed against their bar.

In the second half City came back into the game,and grabbed an equaliser but that was more down to our sloppy performance. A point will suit us fine, whereas a battling City really needed three.

Division Two

Our Second Division has just a little more spice to it than the other two. There's only Solihull and Sandwell that have nothing left to play for. Everyone else is either battling for promotion or biting their nails waiting on results or will be playing in deciders.

Walsall Olympic 2 Zion Athletic 3

Zion complete their season and do the stuff at Walsall and leave their promotion rivals with a long-shot at promotion. Whilst Zion are sitting atop of the Division, it won't finish that way. They may finish in the top three or could end up fourth depending on what everyone else does.

James Hamilton reports: Finally, on our last game we have reached the summit of the Division Two table. But not for long! All in all we are very satisfied with our performance in the league this season. Eleven wins and four draws is a respectable showing in what has been a very competitive division this year.

Todays game was classic game of two halves. We started really well, enjoying a rare game on a decent sized pitch. There were times in the first half when our passing and movement was a joy to behold. We took the lead midway through the first half with a speculative shot from Jay Barratt which somehow squirmed underneath the goalkeeper and into the net. This was closely followed by a well taken header from a corner. 2-0 and Ethan Barnett claiming another headed goal this season.

In the second half we settled well and scored an identical goal. Yes, a header, from a corner, from Ethan Barnett. It was then that we completely took the foot off the gas and Walsall threw everything at us. They began to play some superb football and deservedly got right back in it with two well taken strikes. We were left hanging on at the end and were relieved to hear the whistle go for the end of the game and our season.

And so, frustratingly enough, we may have to wait another month until we know our fate. Although I think a win for Wolves next week will see us finish in the top three. Is Division One calling us next season? or will the three points deducted at the start of the season come back to cruelly deny us? We can only wait and see.

Sandwell United 3 Selly Oak Methodist 4

Selly Oak secure the three points and look forward to next Saturday's game against Wolves. A win would guarantee a top three placing, whereas a defeat would leave them staring at their toes and probably another fourth place finish. For Sandwell, it was another defeat but on a positive note, the result bodes well for next season. It's long since been a theory of mine, that teams that finish well, start well next year.

EK Corinthia 1 Chawn Hill Church 3

A vital three points for Chawn but it's far from over down there. Chawn have opened up a six point gap but defeats in their last two games are likely to mean a bottom three finish, unless they are both by one goal. West Brom will wait with bated breath as they are on equal points but have a very slightly poorer goal difference. Chawn's games are against St Boniface and Walsall, both of whom have their own agendas to persue.

EK are still alive but only just. Seven points from their last three games would give them a fighting chance but they would also rely on Chawn to lose their last two. Oddly, EK have to play the same clubs as Chawn: Walsall (twice) and St Boniface.

Division Three

The bottom tier is all but done, with just four games to play. The top three have been decided but there are just a couple of issues to settle: Can Champions complete their season with a 100% record and who will finish second?

MBD United 2 Brierley Hill 0

MBD look like they are favourites to secure second as avoiding defeat against Elim would pretty much guarantee a runners-up trophy. They also have the small matter of two matches against Champions and a win in either of those would probably mean second spot too.

'Nice' Neil Walters reports: Brierley Hill's final League match unfortunately ended with another defeat. Again we proved that we just don't know how to win. If we keep the same players and maybe add a couple more, next year hopefully Brierley Hill will be competing.

MBD looked nervous from the kick off today. I think the pressure to finish second is getting to them! (They weren't sure how many get promoted-Ed) They had all of the possession in the first half but failed to make a real goal scoring chance. They were playing long balls looking for the pace of their strikers but Jim wilkes and the defence were in fine form and kept them out. We had an injury and had to use our only sub early on in the game so the second half was always going to be a struggle.

MBD are a very good team and their pressure paid off when they scored two late goals. Brierley Hill created a couple of chances but couldn't hit the target. MBD are a very good team and have got some quality players so if they do get promoted I'm sure they will do well.

Birmingham International 0 Elim Athletic 2

Sean Mckenna reports: Today was another lovely day to play football with both teams looking for promotion in their debut seasons. The pitch today was probably the best we've played on all season and we like to think we're a decent passing team so it suited us down to the ground. With the first half kicked off you would never have guessed that we we're looking for promotion, as Inter started moving through the gears. They seemed to have corner after corner in the first half, which was one thing we didn't want to happen as they are a big strong team. Fortunately though, our back line dealt with everything that was thrown at them. We had more players out of position today with Michael Knowles having to play centre back for the third game running. Knowles has joined us to play upfront but needs were a must today and he put in a great shift, leading and dominating everything. The first half passed without too many clear cut chances for Inter and without a single shot on goal from ourselves. We really did stay in reverse for that half.

We made a change at half time, bringing on Michael French up front so that Dean O'leary could resume normal service at right mid. Within minutes of the restart, a long clearance from Knowles found its way over their back line. French latched onto it and duly lobbed the keeper from twelve yards. Literally minutes later we won our first corner of the day. With the breeze in our favour, Sean played an in swinging corner which crept in at the back post. Personally I felt these were sucker punches to Inter who had dominated the first half quite easily. With Inter making changes, we started moving through the gears with chances coming thick and fast. Unfortunately we didn't take any of them. Also Inter ended the game with ten men due to a late injury to their centre back. Just to add(lol), we had a stonewall penalty turned down when their defender made a flying save in the box to stop the cross coming in. The ref somehow thought it had hit his shoulder from her view of it, but fortunately it didn't make a difference anyway.

I do think that Inter will be a force to be reckoned with in seasons ahead, they have some quality players in the team that can change games.

Lighthouse Lions 2 Rockmount United 0

Ray Rose says: On a very pleasant and sunny morning, it was a pleasure to watch a game in Division Three, which was played to a high standard with some beautiful football by both teams.

Attacking both teams had good strikers and went close many times. The Lighthouse boys had chances in the first half, but found themselves offside many times. The referee allowed the game to flow. Our defence linked well with the midfielders to allow the strikers many chances up front. Rockmount have some very good players with fast pace which made it an even first half, although on forty-five minutes, our Lewis Cottrill scored from thirty yards out.

In the second half both teams still came out with attacking football. On fifty minutes we substituted Steve Gosling, who had had a really good game, with James Clarke which steadied our midfield, as Rockmount tried to press forward. On eighty-three minutes, a good run from Adam Elcock was thwarted when he was fouled in the penalty area and our Connor Hare took a perfect penalty. We were now 2-0 up.

This was a tight game and we were fortunate that we took our chances and scored twice. Rockmount as with us have had a good run this season and we look forward to next season, watching our young men grow.

Friendly Matches

DC Dynamos 3 West Bromwich Beacons 1

Mark Crouch says: A lovely sunny warm spring morning saw DC take on West Brom in a friendly that could well be a fixture next season.

DC started well and passed the ball around well linking up in midfield and utilising the wings superbly today. It was DC who took the lead after ten minutes when some great build up play through the middle saw the ball fall to Dave Rich who struck a fierce shot into the bottom right hand corner from outside the penalty area giving the keeper no chance. 1-0 DC A great tackle from Matty Gordon after fifteen mins saw him injured and had to be subbed for Josh Burford who came on and gave his usual tough tackling display. After twenty minutes DC were down to ten men as we lost a player for a mis-timed tackle with both feet off the ground. We all agree that it was a red but fair play to West Brom who said they would have been happy for him to come back on after ten minutes but the red stood and it was DC with ten men for the rest of the match. Rather than affect DC it galavanised us and made us stronger. Half time and it was DC in the lead 1-0.

Second half saw West Brom come out with something to prove but DC's defence was as good as I have seen all season. Steve Burford commanding as ever, Jon Murphy Ben Russell solid at left and right back and Rich Rudge who was outstanding and the perfect foil for Steve Burford.

Dave Rich scored his second ten minutes into the second half. Jon Murphy floated a lovely freekick from the left that went left to right and Ben Russell did well to get his foot on it and flick it back to the penalty spot and Dave whacked a fierce shot into the left hand corner of their goal: 2-0. Dave gave another excellent display in midfield alongside James Cole. These two bossed the midfield today either winning the ball in the air or getting their foot on the ball and using the wings to great effect.

West Brom did pull a goal back and I thought we were in for a nervous finish but within five minutes DC had their two goal cushion back. This time an outstanding finish from Rory Hobbs who controlled the ball well on the right hand side of their box hitting a great shot low and past their keeper: 3-1.

West Brom tried to throw everything at DC today but DC's Keeper Gavin Priest and DC's defence was solid especially man of the match Steve Burford. We played like I knew we could today and what I saw today was a team that could make real inroads into winning our league next season. Every man grafted for each other today and never stopped encouraging each other 'til the final whistle. West Brom were outplayed in every department and were happy to hear the final whistle. I also wanted to mention our new manager Ray Cole who has given the team some discipline and for instilling a never-say-die attitude (no one wants the rollicking that would come for not giving 100%).

Renewal Solihull up next I just hope we can keep this run going. Three wins on the bounce eighteen goals scored and just one conceded.

St Matthew's 8 Pye Green Towers 0

Martin Nicholls emailed a report: St Matthew's played a prospective new club in Pye Green last Saturday. We started lively when we took the lead within a few minutes of the start with Nicholls nipping between keeper and defender to open the scoring. The score was 3-0 shortly after when Nicholls added a second and then a keeping mistake gifted Nicholls his hat-trick early on. A few missed chances and a reshuffled pack followed before Stu Wilkinson bundled the ball in for a fourth before half time.

The second half saw us add to the score and try some players in different positions. Rory Taylor scored from range, Josh Williams finished neatly, Anthony Kelly scored a downward header (more like his face), Nicholls scored from a corner, then a moment of contention: Neat build up and wing play saw the ball squared for James Lawrence and he tapped in. The linesman flagged and the ref blew for full time and we are not certain the goal stood so it is either 8 or 9-0. (Sounds like eight to me-Ed).

Pye Green had a few decent players and to their credit kept battling for ninety minutes. They bought a good crowd with them and look like they will certainly be an asset to the league once they get used to playing together.

Ed - From my perspective, I hope they can get all the drubbings out of the way before the formal action starts.

David Spencer adds: Not too sure about the reported 9-0 score, according to the ref it was definately 8-0 for what difference it makes. St Matt's were a physical side and let our guys know it. We had a couple of chances but lacked what was needed to finish any of them. We're in need of a goalie and today ended up playing our injured midfield player Ryan Baldwin between the sticks. All credit to St Matt's for giving us a good run around, they play the game well. Our next free slot for a friendly is the 25th April if anyone is up for it.

email dave@pyegreen.co.uk if you are interested

Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 3 Champions Church 3

Shawn Devonport says: Just a quick report on the friendly yesterday. FIrstly thanks to Wolves and Perton for the game, very nice bunch of lads so thanks for the game and to Richard for organising it.

First half was a frustrating one for us, Wolves and Perton remind me of Stoke a little with their left back being able to arrow throws in flat and quick and without any of our bigger players, with Ralphy unavailable, Dave injured and Greg Timmington our other big guy at centre back going off, we just couldn't deal with the big throws or set pieces as Wolves had such a big team! Wolves missed a few very easy chances with headers but we were still threatening on the break with Josh Ball missing an open goal and myself putting a one on one wide. We did however take lead when a free kick bounced back of the post and this time Josh Ball made no mistake! However Perton were soon level when we failed to clear a through ball and we were soon 2-1 down when we failed to clear a corner. We did come in level at 2-2 when Joe Smith tucked away a fantastic finish just before the break. We were lucky to come in level at half time with Perton battering us with set pieces and we just were not battling as we usually do but I guess friendlies are harder to get up for.

Second half and we finally picked things up, we played with a back four with only one being a regular this season but credit to them they were fantastic second half dealing with all most everything. Perton had a few chances but not as many as first half and went 3-2 up from another long throw. However by now we were getting the ball on the deck and Perton were struggling when we went forward with our crisp passing and our pace. We forced Richard in the Perton goal into a few routine stops and missed a few other oppurtunities by not hitting the target. We got a deserved equaliser though when Mark Goule rose and Richard made a great stop but I had the easy task of tapping in the rebound.

All in all not a bad run out, we didn't play at anywhere near our best really but we are missing a few guys and to our credit put in a good second half performance against a very decent Wolves and Perton side. MBD next two weeks to conclude our season in what will be two very tough matches.

Player for Next Season

Alex Murfin is looking for a team for next season. If you can help him, please contact him on a.r.mirfin@hotmail.co.uk

Summer Five-a-Side Competition

Former Referee and Referee's Secretary Simon French is organising his annual Five-a-Side competition for the sixteenth year running.

The event takes place on Saturday 6 June at Wombourne Hockey Club near Wolverhampton.

There is a competition for children in the morning split into three age groups and adults in the afternoon, with an over 35s' grouping for old crocks like me, who've long since qualified.

If you are interested in entering a side, please contact Simon at deanerylinks@hotmail.co.uk

Application Forms

Saturday Review

What could have been the defining moment of the Division One title race turns into just another twist in the push for the tape as St Mary's and Clarendon draw 2-2 at Veysians. By my calculations, the draw suits St Mary's more but it's not over yet. St Mary's will be guaranteed the title if they win their three remaining matches (I hope that's right) but after having drawn with Rowley and more recently City, those three wins are not a foregone conclusion.

Division One

St Mary's 2 Clarendon 2

St Mary's Nick Sprason says: Well, where do we start with today's game? We knew a draw would suit us more than Clarendon, however we went the long way round to claim the point. The anticipated rain didn't materialise leaving the pitch rock hard down the centre and the strong gusty wind meant that the plan to play sexy football didn't really work out. St. Marys had the better of the first ten minutes and it was against the run of play when Mr Morrison outpaced the defence to open the scoring. Clarendon started to take control of general play without creating too much other than a few corners. It was disappointing to concede a second after half an hour or so again from a long ball not dealt with and Morrison scored his second. In truth we were relieved to get in two down and hoped to use the slope and wind in the second half.

We regrouped after the restart and Ian Coleman pulled one back on his return to start a recovery. For long spells we were camped in the Clarendon half but chances were few and far between. There was about ten minutes left when Ian burst through again following a Wiedeman through ball and Ian tucked away his second to draw the scores level. We dominated the final ten minutes and could count ourselves slightly unlucky not to have pinched a winner although that may have been harsh on Clarendon.

The nature of the result should give our young squad huge confidence. We have come from behind to get results nine times this season, winning seven of them and we never give up when behind.

Credit to the officials who controlled the game in a sensible manner.

Halesowen Zion 1 King's AFC 3

Dave Walters says: No complaints about today's result after a jaded display from us. It was disappointing that we could not continue last Saturday's form but thats football for you.

In the first half neither team could say they were in control, but King's took the lead after about fifteen minutes from a corner. The ball pinged around in the box before being shot low through a bunch of players. King's had one or two chances from some good crosses but their forwards could not connect. We never had a real clear chance.

The second half saw a Jon Lea shot well saved by the King's keeper in the first minute, but after that King's put pressure on us and got the crucial second goal from an excellent run and cross by their pink-booted number fifteen (You have to be good to wear those boots). We did reply when the King's defence stopped looking for an off side and Cocky ran twenty yards and slotted the ball in. We then had a great chance to draw level but Gouldy hit his shot just wide. A couple of minutes later King's got their third with a super goal that was undefendable. The game was now over and a real sense that we did not turn up today, I hope we can improve to give St Mary's a game next week.

Sheldon Community Church 3 Rowley College 0

Sheldon significantly improve their position in Division One with three points and three goals at home to Rowley College yesterday. Pete Bennett says: Our good little run came to an end today to a team who have become close rivals in almost every sense (neck and neck in the league and in almost every game we’ve played). Today we were not really at the races and Sheldon thoroughly deserved to win the game (3-0 was perhaps a little harsh but they were probably a goal a half better than us). A combination of being a couple of key players short and having had a couple of weeks off certainly didn’t help but this is a statement about the difficulty of being a successful team at this level, not an excuse. We also had two lads come very late, just catching the kick off and this hardly helped.

On a lovely morning the wind conspired to ruin the attempts of both teams to play football and on these days commitment is often the decider. Sheldon wanted it more than us today. They are big lads and play the game with a physical presence but this is a positive you need to match and not an indication of brutality or foul play. They have skillful players, big and small, as we do but they got their's much more involved. Despite our healthy share of possession we rarely threatened despite numerous good quality Hunter throw-ins (their giant of a goalie dealt very well with these).

Even losing a lad with a suspected break (best wishes from us) from a freak accident (he simply fell awkwardly) and by half time their goal-grabber Mark Hadden didn’t put them off. By then Hadden had scored their first, benefiting from hesitation in our defence to chip the keeper. Even the addition of supersub Inett from half time couldn’t save us. A headed goal early in the second half effectively settled it, though they added a third near the end.

Best wishes to Lyndon and his boys and much to think about for us ahead of Clarendon home and away.

Lyndon adds: Our encounters with Rowley are always close with nothing much to chose between us. We had the better of a blustery first half, which made football rather difficult. We went ahead with a neat lob over their keeper by Mark Hadden. Unfortunatley during one of there attacks our centre back Chris Clements fell awkwardly on his ankle after a challenge and broke it. A complete accident with no Rowley player to blame, we wish him a speedy recovery.

We started the second half very compact and solid in defence in which Nick Bate and Nathan Atkins were superb our midfield were getting in some strong tackles. We went further ahead with a neat header by Chris Davies and by this time we were really in control. A stong run by Josh Lea almost produced a third. Rowley had their moments but never really created many chances. Finally a solo run down the right by Craig Fletcher produced a clinical finish for our third.

A really solid squad performance from us today with a strong bench. It was good to meet Pete again and a Rowley team who were competative but fair. Good luck for the rest of the season

St Matthew's 3 Amblecote 1

A very valuable three points for St Matthew's against Amblecote yesterday, saw their chances of beating the drop improve somewhat. I still think that they have work to do but with nineteen points in the bag, a couple of wins from their last two matches should be sufficient, or possibly just one.

Like Fernando Torres got up for the Real game in mid-week, I think the added incentive of beating a club with a link to previous pastures may have spurred on the hat-trick grabbing Martin Nicholls. He says that he led the line this week, rather than playing in a supporting role and had the ball played to his feet. Whilst St Matthew's had another bare twelve yesterday, those twelve are playing as a team which is always a bonus.

As for Amblecote, they are back in trouble. John Hawker says: Injuries, Injuries and more Injuries!

Due an unprecedented amount of injuries suffered by our squad in the last week, we struggled to field eleven match fit players for this important game. With our goalkeeper injured, and the usual sub goalkeeper also getting injured a major reshuffle lead to our right back playing in goal and us starting the game with ten fit players, an injured centre half and a substitute who was so injured he could hardly walk properly, let alone run!

The slope of the pitch and the strong wind meant that we were under continual pressure in the first half and eventually a defensive mix up lead to St Matthew's taking the lead through a scrappy goal that could have easily been avoided. Our cause was then not helped when midway through the first half, our leading scorer Lee Darlington also got injured and would have normally been taken off – unfortunately for him, his injury was deemed less restricting than the injured substitute and he had to soldier on for an hour barely being able to run.

In the second half, we started strongly and equalised quickly from a good team move and an excellent finish from Jon Doman. We had a dominating 15 minute period of the game where unfortunately we couldn’t force the second goal that could have made all the difference. Then, a stray pass from Amblecote led to its defence being caught out by a long punt down field and Martin Nicholls made no mistake with a good finish. As we pushed forward in the last ten minutes to try and salvage a point, St Matthew's broke away again and Martin completed his hat trick with another cool finish.

As a team, we were disappointed with the result in such a big game. In the end we were out battled by St Matthew's, and all credit to them for taking full advantage of being able to bring on a substitute and playing against a severely weakened team. The game was a close run affair until the result was put beyond doubt in the last couple of minutes. Credit to our lads who battled on despite being far below full strength and did well to stay in the game for so long. We now have a severe battle ahead of us to stay in this league – but fortunately we have a week and a half to get a few of our many injured players fit again. Should be an interesting last six games of the season where we need to battle harder, show more determination and finish the many chances we create.

St Thomas' Aldridge 3 City Church 3

St Thomas' Chris Preece says: Another dramatic game this week for us: We entered this tie in the knowledge that a defeat would see us pretty much relegated. We started against a fairly strong wind and City utilised the elements fairly well, with numerous punts forward that we found difficult to deal with at times. We had a couple of really good chances following some good build up play, but it was City who had the upper hand for the majority of the half. This manifested itself in a goal directly from a corner. This was a really sloppy goal from our point of view as it was down to a mix up between defender and keeper. We still felt we were good value though at that point. Unfortunatley this was followed by another schoolboy error: The ball totally misjudged from a wind-assisted goal kick, culminating Dave Louden poking past the oncoming keeper for a second goal.

Half time score 2-0 City.

The second half started with some decent exchanges by both sides. It was fairly early on that Ash earned a penalty after being clattered by the replacement keeper (It was almost Schumacher-esque) (Harald not Michael-Ed) (You are showing your age Chris, that was 1982!), but Ash dusted himself off (and collected his teeth-Ed) and Chaz converted the spot kick with a cool side foot right into the corner.

Just when we thought we were back in the game, defensive sloppiness struck again, and Dave Louden held off two of our defenders to finish neatly. At the risk of sound repetative we came back with great character AGAIN. Matt Chalinor (who was man of the match for me), arrowed in superb cross for Rich Taylor to head into the corner (nice finish Rev). 3-2 to City, The final minutes of the game was like something out of Escape to Victory. We pushed on and fortunately for us City buckled under the pressure, with Ash nodding the ball over the line, following a calamitous goalmouth scramble.

If only we could start games, as we are ending them. We seem to have a liking for going two or three down before we actually start playing! Something we will have to address if we are to stand any hope of staying up. Another good battle from both sides, hopefully next week, I'll be able to write that it was a comfortable win for us, with a dull finish. But against King's I very much doubt it! Still a glimmer of hope though! Keep going lads!

Martin Ogbourn adds: The game today was played in sunshine on a great playing surface, but in blustery conditions which didn't help the flow of the match. There were several scrappy goals as both teams seemed to lack confidence. The pick of the goals was a good finish from the returning David Louden after a lovely run and through ball from substitute Paul Snelgrove. This made the game 3-1 to City midway through the second half and seemed to have secured a much needed win for City, but as often occurs in our league, goals came in a cluster in the last five minutes, and the late brace from St Thomas ensured the draw.

The draw doesn't help either team very much, although City remain in touch with several teams above them due to the games in hand. However City need to show the same determination as St Thomas who drove forward until the end, and start turning draws into wins. This was our second 3-3 league draw in a row, but the emotions at the end of this game were very different to the St Mary's match. However a point away from home is still a point gained!

Division Two

Zion Athletic 3 EK Corinthia 0

Zion stake their claim to a promotion place with a 3-0 win against relegation threatened EK. I think that Zion will need to follow this win up with another result if they are to gain an automatic promotion spot. But their match is against Walsall Olympic away, so three points will be a double bonus. By my calculation this would mean that Zion would finish above Walsall.

As for EK, time is running out. They have just four matches left to save their Division Two place. Whilst no-one likes being relegated, I think Division Three will be easier that Division Two next season and a spell in the bottom tier may be more enjoyable. However, they may be able to capitalise on Walsall's poor form; they play them twice in the run-in.

West Bromwich Beacons 1 St Boniface 2

A narrow victory for St Boniface away at West Brom keeps them in the top three and right in the running for the Division Two title. They have two 'easier' games to complete their season, boths matches are against clubs in the bottom three. However, whenever has Chawn Hill away been an easy game? And their last match will be against EK, who may need three points themselves.

The season ends for West Brom with a defeat and a nail-biting wait to see if Chawn or EK can pick up enough points to leap-frog them.

Walsall Olympic 6 Sandwell United 3

Sandwell United's goals against column just hit three digits with a 6-3 defeat to Walsall Olympic last Saturday. The score lineis an improvement on some of their results this year. I'm predicting a much better year next season.

For Walsall, the dream is still alive after stuttering through the last few weeks. They can still win the title but I think they will have to take twelve points from their final four games. Zion next week, then Chawn and EK home and away.

Division Three

Brierley Hill AOG 1 Shiloh United 2

Shiloh guarantee eighth spot with a win over Brierley Hill in their last match of the season. Despite finishing low down in the division, they can be proud of their achievements this year. They only conceded 47 goals in their 18 games, which is just over two and a half a game: very respectable. Definately something to build on. They also are widely regarded as the 'nice guys' of the division, if not the league; another welcome addition to the League. I'm sure they'll improve on their five wins next season, especially if they can find a regular goal scorer.

Friendlies

I tend not to read to much into friendly games, as quite often managers use these matches as testing grounds to blood fresh faces, or perhaps give someone a run-out that has been a regular bench warmer. But nevertheless, once the matches begin you would think that it was the FA Cup Final.

Chawn Hill Church 1 Champions Church 3

Shawn Devonport reports: Just a quick report on the firendly today, firstly thanks to Chawn for the game, nice bunch of lads who never stop battling.

Today gave us the opportunity to field the guys who haven't had much of a run out all season and testimony to their fantastic attitudes all year round, never complaining once. They were rewarded with 90 minutes. We were missing numerous key players, Dave Oakley looks like he may be out for the season which is a blow and the very impressive of late Josh Ball missing the game also but we still fielded a team capable of winning the game.

We started by knocking the ball around well but were lacking that fight after last week's quarter-final against Clarendon and were at times out battled by Chawn. We missed a few good chances early on but we took the lead through Greg Thompson after Rion Mills got on the end of a through ball and squared it for Greg to put the ball into an empty net. We then took our foot of the gas a little and Chawn out fought us and were soon level with a deflected finish. We were still knocking the ball around well though and got back in front when a peach of a ball from Rion Mills put me through on goal to make it 2-1.

Second half was much more comfortable but only had the one goal to show for it, we had two shots cleared of the line and debutant Joe Smith going close from range, we were playing some really nice stuff with that killer pass just being missing. Rion Mills was pulling the strings again with an energetic display in centre midfield and he got our third with a fantasticly placed finish following another superb through ball from Mark Goule. Chawn didn't create much in the second half but forced a good save from our keeper in the dying minutes.

A good run out with Luvayo on his first start winning man of the match and I was very happy with how we knocked the ball about today playing some good football. Another free week next week so we play Division Two leaders Wolves and Perton at Aldersley Stadium. Once again thanks to Chawn for the match.

DC Dynamos 11 International Life Centre 0

Mark Crouch reports on another warm up for ILC and warm down for DC: Another glorious spring morning saw DC take on Int Life Centre. A match of new vs nearly new saw this match kick off 15 minutes late as ILC had to catch the bus from Wolverhampton, something they will need to sort out next season otherwise it will cost them money in late start fines.

I made the unfortunate mistake of telling my guys I was looking for a cricket score (well it was cricket weather-Ed) today and they started far too casually thinking it would be easy. The first 20 minutes we found it hard to get anything going as ILC passed the ball around with no end product, all their best work being done by their number 10. After 20 mins we brought on James Cole who quickly made the difference getting his foot on the ball and spraying the ball around creating numerous chances. The wind didn't help today as it seemed to add an extra yard to every pass and made the game awful to watch in the first half. DC picked up the first goal with a great pass by Richard Rudge that Ryan Mcauley ran onto and slotted past the keeper. I am at a loss to know who scored the next but know we went in at half time 2-0 up.

Second half was a rout DC scoring another nine goals to make it 11-0 at full time. Steve Burford got his hat-trick. James Cole got two, one of which was a wonderful solo effort. Dean Cole picked up two and Temo Lall got one with another superb solo effort. Jon Murphy got fed up firing in wonderful corners that weren't converted so scored one direct from the corner himself and Josh Burford got the other. The second half was a great team display but quite honestly this game should have finished at least 20-0. James Cole was our man of the match closely followed by Steve Burford and their man of the match was their number 10 who I feel they will find it hard to keep hold of.

The match was again reffed by Mel Lewis who is undoubtedly the best ref by miles in this league. No nonsense reffing made all the better by the way he sets his stall out before the match as he leaves you in no doubt as to what he will and won't tolerate throughout the match. A lot could be learnt by watching him ref.

Lighthouse Lions 12 Pye Green Towers 0

Dave Spencer from the Towers says: Today we were forced to field a slightly exhausted and unfit starting eleven which I think only added to our slaughtering this morning. Lions had some top class strikers, which meant we resorted to some old school rugby play to try and keep the score line down. Fortunately they're a sound bunch and tolerated us well. One of our men, Ryan Baldwin eventually had to leave in an ambulance after what was a good game for him, this meant the game was finished a little short. Being the man that I am, I'll happily accept the 12-0 defeat which was lost to a team with some very disciplined players. I have nothing but respect for Ray Rose and Daren Cartwright who obviously run the team in a way that only brings credit to the league and what it stands for. Lions were by far the best team we've played to date. I am still very keen to play anyone who fancies giving us a run around one Saturday in the future.

Ed-I think the above result and comments serve only to endorse the high standard of football that has been played in Division Three this season. Whenever there is an influx of teams into a league, it takes a few years for the cream to rise to the top. Ray and Darren have a nicely balanced side with some strong players that will surely grace the First Division given time.

Ray Rose: Please add we are praying for their player who went down with an injury near the end of the game.

Saturday Preview

I am constantly amazed by the amount of sway my opinion seems to carry by those who reads these columns. I was recently asked when the weather would turn and we could get some games on. Far from being the Genius of the Weather or even the Guru of WMCFL, nevertheless there does seem to be plenty of interest, so here we go:

The WMCFL season is begining to reach its climax with some key games this week-end. I think easily the biggest game is the long-awaited tie between St Mary's and Clarendon. It promises to be a barn-stormer. These two sides are neck and neck at the moment with Clarendon taking the League titles and St Mary's double Cup winners. Both teams are hot favourites in both competitions but a win for either club would mean a massive step towards the title. Remember: The last time a club won the Double was Walsall Olympic in 1994, fifteen years ago!

The St Mary's vs Clarendon tie does overshadow the rest of the procedings but there are other key games going on too, mainly towards the bottom of the division. City Church travel to St Thomas' and could do with a win. St Thomas' would climb above them with a win, although a win for City would open a gap of five points with the South Birmingham team having played two fewer games.

It's another six-pointer as St Matthew's host Amblecote. Amblecote can hoist themselves to a much safer place if they score more than St Matt's but a win for Mart's boys would be a much needed boost and they'll be bhoyed by their dramatic finale last week. Neither side can boast any degree of form and are highly unpredictable. St Matthew's beat Clarendon earlier in the year.

The remaining games feature the clubs that are placed in mid-table and are all but safe.

Division Two sees some key games scheduled too. Wolves and Perton will take a step closer to the Division Two title should they win their fixture away at Solihull in the afternoon. But Renewal have been playing the spoilers over the last few weeks with an upsurge in form of late. I think that they are pretty much safe as it is but three points would put their minds at rest and automatic promotion is impossible. The match will be WMCFL's last standard afternoon kick-off. We used to have plenty of teams playing their home games in the afternoon but a.m. kick-offs have been more popular of late.

The other three games are between teams in the running for the title and those aiming to escape relegation. Sandwell's fate is decided: they'll finish last but sometimes with the pressure off, a team can play better. Walsall need a win for sure.

The other two games will be fiercely contested. West Brom desperately need a win but even then they will be biting their nails until Chawn and EK have completed their games. St Boniface will be right back in the running if they can beat the Beacons. After looking doomed, EK could be closer to pulling off a shock survival should they beat Zion Athletic. Zion themselves have been Champions elect one week and relegation fodder the next, so we will see.

A minor battle is set to be played out in Division Three, again it's pride that's at stake as Brierley Hill and Shiloh clash. Shiloh are another club completing their fixtures this week-end. Lastly, DC and Lighthouse entertain hopefully two clubs planning to apply to join us next season: International Life Centre and the newly named Pye Green Towers.

Good luck everybody. Enjoy it, however it turns out.

Ed

Saturday Preview

League Cup Quarter-Finals

A beautiful spring day welcomed us to the parks and pitches yesterday with near-perfect conditions. Certainly the pitch that I refereed on was in excellent shape bar one small patch.

Halesowen Zion 3 Amblecote 1

Grant Doran reports: Having already been written off before we had kicked a ball, the lads felt that we had something to prove.We started the game well and never really felt overly stretched. Several chances went begging before we finally converted to take the lead. Ben delivered a great ball into the front post where Noony beat his marker and steered the ball into the far corner of the net.

Amblecote responded with pretty much their first real sight of goal. They won a free kick out on the right hand touch line and after Zion had only managed to half clear the ball, Silva found himself half a yard of space in the box and rifled a super shot into the net despite Hutch getting a hand to the ball. Despite the set-back we still felt that we had the game there to win and we pushed forward again. Just as before though, we had several great openings to get back in front but again we failed to convert. The breakthrough came after another good ball into the box from one of Cocky's long throws. Dave Atton got the flick and Ben arrived at the back post beating the keeper to the ball to bundle it over the line.

The second half started with Ambelcote looking to get back in the match and they pressed us much higher up the pitch but as in the first half they never really got through to Hutch in Halesowen's goal. With the speed of our front players we always had an option and it was through a good ball down the wing that Tom was sent through on goal. We thought the keeper had fouled Tom after he pushed the ball round him but the ref waved away the appeals and the chance went begging. Clearly aggrieved by the decision Tom made certain when he found himself through on goal moments later. After beating the back line for pace he slammed the ball into the roof of the net from just inside the box. That pretty much sealed the win as after that neither keeper was really asked to do anything of any real importance. Overall we felt that we had deserved the win and the semi-final spot.

Dave Walters adds: A really solid performance from us today, it was good to have more or less our first team out with a strong bench for once. Was it for Cup glory, or due to early nights, whatever it was I would like to see more.

The first half saw us kicking down the slope with the wind behind us but the advantage was not obvious as Amblecote had some good possession, but without really troubling us. As the half continued we started to press on with Cocky hitting the inside of the post only for the keeper to hang onto the rebound. We had more good moves and eventually scored through Ben Doran. Amblecote came back with an excellent goal from Jadon who struck a powerful shot to equalise. We took the lead again near to half time when Chris Noon headed in from a good free kick.

In the second half with the conditions in favour of Amblecote, the next goal would be critical. We were pressurised but our back four were superb denying their forwards any chances and we managed to score a counter attack goal when Tom Doran latched onto a long clearance and fired home for 3-1. We were more or less in control after that and can only remember our keeper having one save to make at the end.

A thank you to Liam (Amblecote Secretary) for organising the pitch for us after our goalposts went missing at Dudley Wood.

Many thanks to Grant and Dave for the reports and Neil Hambly for the photos - Ed

Clarendon 2 Champions Church 0

I think today was the day that we realised that Champions are now a force to be reckoned with in WMCFL. It's one thing to win Division Three at a canter but quite another to push Clarendon all the way. Here's a couple of reports:

Clarendon's Ashley Innis says: Ed, right you were about the scoreline but it wasn't an easy victory. Champions worked hard from the beginning (well actually after the first fifteen seconds, by which time we were one up!) In a game billed as the 'big shootout' for the League's top scorers, it was Jason Greene who stole the show with two well taken goals, the second from about 30 yards out. This was however one of our toughest games this season and whilst I don't usually praise other teams, they were in the game for the most part. The scoreline is probably a fair reflection as we took our chances but they're certainly a team to watch out for! Champions are an extremely hard working team and when they arrive in Division One, they will certainly be a top four side if they can keep this bunch of lads together.

Shawn Devonport adds: I have mixed emotions about today's game. We're into March and it's our first defeat and it's against the best team in the League but I'm gutted in one sense because the defeat was very harsh on us.

We had a game plan but instantly after we kicked off, we gave them the ball after an error and they scored. Against the best team you can't really gift them a lead. Clarendon then had their best spell, knocking the ball around well but we had an answer for everything and apart from a goal mouth scramble and a Roger Moore chance we restricted them and caused Clarendon trouble with some very well delivered set pieces, Dave Oakley going close with one in particular. We were then rocked by Dave having to go off and when we new we were in a battle that was not good and it was a further blow. The half drew to a close with Clarendon being the better team but we were still competing well and created a few openings.

The second half came and this is where I'm so impressed with our guys. For thirty minutes we restricted Clarendon to one long range effort and we were the better team knocking the ball around well with Rion doing very well in the centre of midfield. Although we created little, we were on the front foot with a few half chances. Then came the killer second: A pot-shot from forty yards was left by our keeper because he thought it was going wide; so another silly error made it 2-0. We chased the game for the last ten minutes but to no avail. Clarendon to their credit were superb at the back with Roger and Matt superb for the entire match and we struggled to create much at all with their backline totally making our pace look rather slow! But a big shout out to Greg Timmington on our team who was man of the match keeping Eveton Morrison so quiet, taking the ball off him nearly every time, which is no easy feat as he has terrorised Division One teams all season.

Not a game of many chances and were gutted to have lost because the goals were so avoidable but against the best you can't make those errors because you will be punished. But we now know we can compete with the best and the lads battled so well so hopefully if we get another promotion next year, I'm very confident we will not struggle in Division One with the lads we have now. The exciting thing is we're such a young team that are going to man up abit and just keep getting better with games. The biggest compliment had to be their guys on the sideline and a few of their lads saying it was their hardest match of their season. So that is a big plus to take from the game and we move on and look to wrap up our last two league games. It's a friendly against Chawn next week.

St Mary's 1 Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 0

Without plagiarising Shawn's report, Wolves Tom Baugh writes similarly: I must admit, I felt a number of contrasting emotions when the final whistle went in this match, signaling the end of our Cup run.

Pride, because against a very strong and well organised St Mary's side we’d held our own and given them a real run for their money. Sure, they dominated for long periods, particularly in the second half and the neutral spectator would probably say they were always the most likely to get the goal. But we fought and scrapped for everything and on a different day, it might have been us who registered the single decisive strike.

So I was also disappointed, because after such a close contest, I can’t help but feel we missed a real opportunity to cause an upset. We had some chances and it took an absolute towering header from Luke Wiedeman five minutes from time to beat Uncle Rich, who I have to say was inspired in the Wolves' goal. The defence also performed admirably, fighting hard to repel numerous incisive passing moves from the Division One leaders.

I have to admit I was also a little surprised by how well we’d actually played. Kev Preece pulled out from the starting eleven with a knee injury and I really thought he’d be a big loss for us in such an important match. Frenchie was also missing from our three man midfield and Jas was somewhere in the Caribbean (lucky swine), so we really had to make do. We gave a debut to Gaz in the midfield who was only denied the man of the match champagne by the imperious performance of Uncle Rich between the sticks. I also played my first ever match on the right of midfield, leaving Chris to toil up front on his own. So even though we had eleven capable footballers on the pitch, how we performed as a unit was impressive to say the least.

Finally, I was impressed with St Mary's. They kept chipping away at us the whole match and on the balance of play in the second half, probably deserved to win it. They showed resilience and a desire to get the result and that is certainly an attribute of champions. If Clarendon don’t pip them to it, they’ll be worthy title winners. Good luck to them.

As for us, if we play as well as this in our final two league games, we will ourselves have something to celebrate.

St Boniface 3 City Church 0

St Boniface reach their second ever League Cup semi-final, the last one being over a decade ago. So it was fitting that one of the longest-standing players and I think founder members scored for them: Simon Adams. Like so many teams in the League, St Boniface started life well back in 1998 winning Division two but the impetus had petered out a decade later to leave the side with just three wins from twenty-two games last season. What we see today is St Boniface mark two, with the side challenging for the Division Two title again and in the semi-finals of the Cup. Yesterday, former professional footballer Ogochukwu Obiakor scored his nineteenth goal of the season; his goals have made a big difference to this side.

As for City, it was perhaps a day to forget. They can now concentrate on fighting for their place in Division One. Martin Ogbourn adds: A bad day at the office and a game to forget for City today. St Boniface fully deserved their victory, and we wish them all the best for the rest of the season.

Division One

Sheldon 3 St Thomas' Aldridge 2

St Thomas' Chris Preece reports: We went into this game hoping to correct the faults that led to last weeks 5-1 mauling by Amblecote. We began the first half with the wind and sun on our backs, so we knew we had to take advantage of the elements. The early chances fell to Sheldon, although no real clear cut chances, they were more potent through the field. We then started to pepper their defence with some long balls, to feed our bigs lads up front: Lister and Brady, this gave them a few problems but again no real clear cut chances.

A fairly physical game ensued, and Sheldon were awarded a slighty dubious free kick, which in turn was curled into the box. Our veteran keeper Rob Wood made an uncharacteristic spill, that was poked home well by the Sheldon forward. (Rob has been a rock this season, so unlucky mate!) We headed into the break 1-0 down, but still confident we could pull it back, as we were well in the game.

Unfortunately we started the second half as we had finished the first and made some basic errors which led to two similar goals and of course Mr Hadden punished us for one of them. (I've now played with and against Mark and I, like so many other centre backs, find that it's much better playing on the same side as him). At 3-0 down, it would have been easy for us to capitulate and on many occasions we have done but the lads showed great character today. Although it came a little late, it shows that we have strong will to battle to the final whistle. Joe Lister neatly slotted home in front of goal for 3-1 following a great delivery form Matt Challinor and then a few minutes later, my centre back partner Danny Simmonds fired another into the roof of the net just moments from time. We were afforded one more late free-kick opportunity, which proved to be our final chance of the game, which unfortunately fell to me of all people and in true centre back style, swung a leg at it, at which point the ball fired of my shin harmlessly away from the goal.

Lastly, well done to both sides today for a good battling game. Sheldon are a good bunch of lads and we wish them well for the rest of season. I truly believe we can still stay up based on today's perfomance, although we need to have that battling spirit from the first minute instead of the sixtieth.

Lyndon Fisher adds: Both sides played their part in a physical but fairly fought game. We edged the first half and deserved to go in one nil up. A further two goals in the second half seemed to put the game safe but St Thomas' came back with two more goals fair play to them. A hard but well earned three points for us today.


St Matthew's 4 Dynamo Kingswinford 3

An amazing last ten minutes sees St Matthew's score three and secure all three points in this one. With the match approaching its conclusion, Dynamo were leading 3-1 and perhaps put an interesting twist to the run in but St Matthew's were having none of it. Back they came and it looks like pretty much hammering all but the last few nails in DK's coffin.

Division Two

Zion Athletic 2 Renewal Solihull 2

Renewal continue to frustrate the leading bunch of Division Two with another soul-sapping result against this time Zion Athletic.

Zion's James Hamilton reports: Let me first say well done to Solihull for not giving in on this game. Once again, we have let vital points slip at the death. For 85 minutes we were in full control of this game having played some fantastic football on the smallest pitch I have ever played on. With five minutes left we were running down the clock with a comfortable 2-0 lead with two well taken goals from Jon Taylor. Then we went to sleep at the back and let Solihull's left back sneak in to score a lucky deflected goal at the second attempt. Then the moment that seems to sum up our season: A through ball in the dying moments, found Jon Follows (who both teams would agree) was standing about three or four yards offside. The flag never went up as the defence froze and he broke through with just the keeper (me) to beat. As he slipped the ball past me I completely up-ended him. Penalty. And how I got away with only a booking I will never know. Dennis Bailey stepped up to put the ball into the net and it was game over.

Solihull will be delighted (as will the teams around us) that they got themselves out of jail. We are left to lick our wounds and look back on a season that seems to have constantly gone against us. Still, you've got to love this game and this league.

West Bromwich Beacons 4 Walsall Olympic 4

Sorry to harp on about this but as the weeks go on, what seemed like a runaway championship campaign is turning into a disappointment for Walsall. Upon reflection though, they are still in with a big shout for promotion and overall they are still having a much improved season. Walsall can still win the title but the odds grow longer every week and unless things dramatically improve, promotion may slip out of their grasp.

For the Beacons, the point may be crucial. They desperately need to take all three in their last game. Twenty-two points should be enough to keep them up in a ten team division but it may not.

EK Corinthia 5 Sandwell United 0

A healthy and much needed victory for EK in a match that they controlled from start to finish. That puts EK on thirteen points with five matches left and drags them back into the fighting zone from cast adrift. It's in their own hands now.

Division Three

Lighthouse Lions 0 Elim Athletic 3

A beautiful day for football at Norman Chamberlain playing fields. Lighthouse have a great set up there: A nice flat pitch, with plenty of short grass and a new, spacious and clean changing room block with ample car-parking space outside. So the scene was set and the two teams did not disappoint. The scoreline suggests that Elim ran away with this match but that was far from what actually happened. The sides were very evenly matched as I suggested in my preview but the sole difference was that Elim took their chances, Lighthouse did not.

It was a lively game throughout with both sides creating several chances in the first half. It was that man Sean Mckenna that broke free and slotted the ball into the corner to open the scoring. James Doris had a similar chance for Lighthouse but his on-target effort was well saved.

The Elim goal led a charmed life throughout the second half with Doris again heading just wide and Adam Elcock having a speculative lob cleared off the line by Michael Knowles, who saved his team in similar circumstances later on. On seventy-five minutes, the ball fizzed across the Elim goal just a couple of yards away from the line, with no Lighthouse player there to tap it in and no Elim defender daring to touch it, I concluded that it just wasn't Lighthouse's day. By that time Walter Mapako had made it two.

As the game was drawing to a close, Lighthouse conceded a free-kick wide on the left. The ball was floated over, with Mckenna breaking the off-side trap, he calmly placed the ball into the near corner. 3-0, game over.

Both teams were new into WMCFL this season, although Elim have quite a few players that have already played in the League. People keep asking me if the expansion of the League was a good thing. I have to say that in my opinion it's a resounding 'yes'. Both clubs are a credit to the League. They are both well run teams and the lads involved should be very thankful to the people who organise their teams.

There were plenty of talented players on show but for me I felt Marcus McLaren was man of the match. At one point in the first half his nose connected with the back of an opponent's head, but he returned a few minutes later undeterred despite plenty of blood being spilt.

Sean Mckenna adds: Well it was a lovely day to play football, with both teams eager to get promotion in their debut seasons. The game started quite open with both teams looking to attack as quickly as possible. Lighthouse won a few early corners which put us under a bit of pressure but we dealt with it well. We had our centre forward in Michael Knowles playing as a stand in centre back, with which he did very well, steadying the back line for our second clean sheet of the season(woo).

It was about the 30th minute before the deadlock was broken, when Dean played me in on goal which I put in the far corner to make it 1-0. Dean also having to play out of position upfront, he's normally our right winger. I think Lighthouse did get a couple of one on ones against us late in the second half but our keeper Buzz stood up really well to deny them. The second half started very similar to the first, with both teams looking to attack from the off. Elim played some good passing football today which led to Walter Mapako being played in on goal. On getting there he was still undecided so he just thumped it into the roof of the net.

I thought our captain Chris Mansell had a solid game at left back having to defend against their right mid (Marcus McLaren), who looked like their most threatening player. Chris was another player having to play in a new position. We had A fair few chances in the second half to put the game to bed. It wasn't till late on that we got a freekick on the half way line, when Woolly floated in a nice pass that I managed to bring down and put in the net. On the 84th minute our coach John Earp came on upfront and made a real impact(lol). Flying into tackles left, right and centre he was, I think just to get the kit dirty. All in all a well contested game. I think the scoreline flatters us a little as we did clear two off the line and Buzz stopping two decent chances, this could have easily ended 4-6 I think.

Friendly Match

DC Dynamos 4 Pye Green 0

Another fine Saturday morning saw DC take on Pye Green in a friendly. Pye Green are looking to join the WMCFL next season and starting their pre season early. As DC's season has finished we are just grateful to play.

DC used this to blood some new youngsters we have signed and it was one of these Ryan McCauley who scored with some lovely control after six minutes. It was a very stop start game as both side took advantage of the friendly to use rolling subs. Temo Lall was on top form today putting DC 2-0 nil up after fifteen minutes. We played the ball around really well today, although granted we were given alot more time and space than we have become used to in the League. Steve Burford was his usual consistent self, winning everything in the air but the real difference today was Dave Rich who once he came on seemed to give DC that extra something that was missing for the first twenty minutes. He put his foot on the ball looked up and passed the ball around at every opportunity today. DC could have been about 5-0 up ten minutes before half time but some woeful finishing put paid to that notion. James Cole did add a third a few minutes before half time with a cannonball of a shot which seemed to be getting faster as it hit the back of the net. A real screamer from thirty yards.

Pye Green for their part toiled well but with little composure seemed to be running rings round themselves. 3-0 half time

The second half saw DC threaten on numerous occasions but again the finishing was poor. With a natural goalscorer today the scoreline could have been well into the double figures but as it was DC managed only one more with another great finish from Ryan. Pye Green had one chance today which was magnificently saved by Andrew Garvey who with very little to do all morning stayed alert enough to finger tip the ball over from close range. Final score 4-0 DC.

Pye Green will have to get used to the zero tolerence rule we have but they are a great bunch of lads who just want to play football. We thank them for the friendly and it was great that they came down the pub with us after and picked our brains on how we went about joining our league. Hopefully we gave them useful advice?

Man of match today was Dave Rich closely followed by Ryan and Steve B.

Pye Green's David Spencer adds: Just to say that that DC were a sound bunch of blokes and gave us a good run about. Please can you let the clubs know that if they have a free week, we are keen to continue playing friendlies. Please email dave@pyegreen.co.uk

Saturday Review

What that's February gone. It only seems five minutes since we were ushering nine new clubs into the League and now it's March. At least the weather is picking up. Let's hope that's it for cancelled games for the rest of the season.

Whilst we are drawing towards the end of the season with just nine matches left in Division Three, we still have quite a bit to get through. We have the League Cup Quarter-Finals next week-end and by my calculation, thirty-four Division One games with Division Two somewhere inbetween.

All three divisions took a twist yesterday. I'm sure there'll be more to come. Despite Champions Church sealing the Division Three title, there's still so much to play for. A healthy position for the Competition.

Division One

St Mary's 3 City Church 3

St Mary's slip up at home to City Church in a pulsating game of football up at Veysians Aldridge (a Google Whack!). If St Mary's win all their remaining games, they will win Division One by at least four points. If Clarendon win the match with St Mary's, then it'll be out of St Mary's hands. But if both clubs win all their other games, Clarendon will retain the title by a point.

So, the game: Firstly, Martin Ogbourn reports: St Marys v City was certainly a game of 'two halves'. It was heartening to see that we are not the only team in the League who play on a lop-sided pitch which significantly affects games! In the first half, City created the majority of the chances down the hill and had some effective attacking play. City scored two well-taken goals by Simon Taylor and the returning David Louden (after a long absence) but still managed to find themselves on equal terms at half time after two own goals and several City squandered chances. St Marys were relying on long throws and set-plays for any real attacking threat, although it was apparent that they had some good players on the ball, who if allowed space would cause damage.

The second half was very different and St Mary's carried the greater offensive threat through a combination of high balls into the penalty area and good inter-play from their quick forwards. However despite City struggling to clear their lines and to keep the ball for any sustained period of time there was only one penalty for each side from the half.

The result does not really help either club for different reasons. City need to start turning draws and narrow defeats into victories but after a dispiriting performance last week, City at least showed character, solidity in defence and better attacking play in phases. Martin Belshah, part of another different back four combination (the fifth in five games!) and Ed Uff were excellent and James McCallister was secure under 'heavy artillery' in the second half, in the City goal.

Louis Quaintaince adds: Resigned to being on the sidelines for the rest of the season and beyond, I surveyed a cracker down at Aldridge. City took the lead almost from the off: A flowing move involving the outstanding Ed Uff presented Simon Taylor with a shot from close range which he fired home. St Mary's then responded after catching City asleep from a corner and then the home side then struck again to take the lead but City fought back and showed the battle that has characterised their improvement this year. This was epitomised by Martin Belshaw who was a different class at right back today. Dave Louden found the equaliser with a typically clinical finish to leave it 2-2 at half time.

The game was very even for the first twenty minutes of the second half with City lucky to escape what looked to be a goal for St Mary's only for it to be chalked off for a foul on the keeper. City then won a rather dubious penalty which Atkins routinely slotted away. On came the onslaught from the League leaders and sadly for City they succumbed after one of the City lads got rather carried away after having watched the rugby last night only to find he had given a penalty away for handball. The penalty was belted home to leave twenty minutes for City to hang on. Somehow they managed to escape with a point after some horrendous misses from the opposition. Had City concentrated more in the first half in defence they may have had more of a lead to cling to in the final stages but St Mary's superior fitness ensured they came away with something.

Sheldon Community Church 0 Clarendon 3

Clarendon make no mistake and take the points against Sheldon with goals from Craige Birmingham, the man Roger Moore and Everton Morrison of course. Sheldon's Lyndon Fisher says: Although we had a weakened midfield out today, I still think we would have struggled against a Clarendon side, who were in complete control from start to finish.

St Matthew's 0 King's AFC 1

A single goal from Mykel Phipps secures a slim win for King's that sees them rise back up to third place in the table. The news is not so good for St Matthew's: With just three wins out of fourteen is relegation form and St Matt's must begin to pick up points if they are going to avoid a bottom three finish. Ironically, one of those wins was back in the first week of October against Clarendon.

Halesowen Zion 3 Dynamo Kingswinford 0

Dave Walters says: A good team and workman like performance rather than great football from us today but it was our first win for several weeks so I was pleased. The first half was a scrappy affair with hardly a clear chance for either team. DK had one good shot which was pushed over by our keeper. As half time was approaching, Chris Bennett did well to lose his marker and get to the by-line but scuffed his cross which hit their keeper and found its way into the net.

We quickly doubled our lead at the start of the second half after we won a penalty through a hand ball, converted by Mark Boyle. DK kept pressing for a reply and were unlucky when they hit the bar and should have put away the rebound but we scrambled it away. We eventually got our third after a cross was missed at the near post to leave Tom Doran the simple chance of tapping home. After that it was game over and I thought we good for our win.

Grant Doran adds: The game started off a little scrappy with both teams having to put together somewhat of a makeshift team meaning that not many chances were being forged by either team. Our first goal was somewhat fortunate with a good break down our right flank. Chris Bennett (who played well up until his head injury forced him to go off) evaded a couple of challenges from the DK defence to whip in a cross which everyone felt the keeper would gather cleanly at the near post. However, fortunately for us it bounced up and went in off the keeper's chest sending us in at half time with a 1-0 lead.

The second half started similarly until a lucky bounce went off a DK defender in the box resulting in a penalty that was expertly dispatched by Boyley to give us a 2-0 advantage. DK kicked in to life at this point and hit our crossbar which we managed to scramble to safety. Our final and deserved third came after a good break and cross from Cocky down the right hand side that managed evade several players in the middle, only to find an unmarked Tom Doran at the back post to tap in his 10th of the season. A good sign as we were starting to wonder if he knew where the goal was after his heroics of last season! All in all a good performance and nice to keep a clean sheet!

St Thomas' Aldridge 1 Amblecote 5

Amblecote look a lot safer after their 5-1 win against St Thomas' yesterday, a result that leaves St Thomas' still in the bottom three. A win would have elevated them to eighth. Still a poor season by both clubs' standards but with seven games left each, there's plenty of water to go under the bridge. Simon Ashby says: Finally, after ten weeks off, we got back on the pitch and produced one of our better performances of the season to beat St Thomas 5-1. We were relieved that having missed so many games, the teams around us hadn't really taken advantage, which meant a win yesterday would pull us away from the bottom four even if we would still be far from escaping danger just yet.

The game started like we hadn't played for a while as we were a bit rusty and we fell behind to an early header which was well executed from the St Thomas midfielder. In truth, we were quite comfortable for the rest of the half but didn't create much the other end, but then right on the stroke of half-time from a corner, Stu Lester picked up the loose ball and smashed in off the underside of the bar.

The second half was a different story and we played a much more fluent game hitting four unanswered goals. The first two from expert poacher Lee Darlington who twice pounced inside the six yard box to put us 3-1 up. Darlo then turned provider for Jon Doman who managed to stretch out a leg to make it 4-1 before the returning Tim Fellows finished the scoring in his first game since the opening day of the season with a nice run and finish.

We knew we had to win half of our remaining games and were hopeful we could get revenge on St Thomas for a 1-0 reverse earlier this year so 5-1 will hopefully now see us climb the table in the coming weeks.

Rob Hill adds: Down to earth with a bump today. We got off to a great start with Ash Thorpe scoring early on with a superb header but a very strong Amblecote side dominated proceedings and equalised on the stroke of half time. We held on for the first twenty minutes of the second half but faded badly and Amblecote ran out easy winners.

Division Two

My favourite old boss used to say: There's many a slip betwixt cup and lip. Some weeks back, W&P rose to the top of Division Two; I thought it would last for a week or two but there they've stayed. The Division two title is now in their hands: If they win their last two games, then I'm pretty sure that they will receive their first ever first place trophy.

Renewal Solihull 3 St Boniface 3

A rare report from Mr Follows: A quality see-saw game: St Boniface took the lead from the penalty spot. Renewal equalised direct from a Martin Glasspole corner, then took the lead with a stunning header by Dennis Bailey from another Martin Glasspole corner.

St Boniface equalised with another good header from a corner early sceond half. St Boniface were then awarded another penalty but a great save from Tim Payne kept us level. When Martin Glasspole squeezed the ball right in the corner from a good cross with time running out, the points looked Renewal's but a speculative volley from long range defeated a back-pedalling Tim Payne.

A great game and a draw was a fair result. (Cheers Brian-Ed).

Sandwell United 2 Walsall Olympic 2

The Division Two title did look like a foregone conclusion in late autumn but Walsall's good form seems to have deserted them recently. A late surge will plunge Walsall back into the top three. For Sandwell, things are looking better. Their last three games have been a win, a loss and a draw. Something I've noticed over the years, is that quite often teams that end a season well, begin the next well and vice versa. So perhaps an improved start to 2009/10?

 

Division Three

With the Division Three title done and dusted, we turn our focus to the other promotion places. We operate a three-up, three-down system at present, however that rule is rarely stuck to as we almost always lose and or gain teams. I've taken a number of enquiries, so there's achance that more than three will progress.

Birmingham International 0 MBD United 3

MBD took a step closer to finishing the season in second place with a solid looking result against fellow promotion hopefuls, Inter yesterday. MBD now sit in second with a two point lead and have two games in hand on third and fourth. However, they have to play Champions twice. Whilst the title is theirs, they have the target of winning all eighteen. Interesting games.

Neil Howard says: An interesting game was on the cards today with Birmingham International sitting in second and coming off the back of a good win against Rockmount but with MBD having several games in hand and playing some of their best football at the moment.

The game kicked off and for the first 25 minutes MBD were looking comfortable. The midfield and forwards were linking up well as usual and we were creating chances and playing good football. Ryan Reynolds soon got MBD off the mark with a well taken finish after he latched onto a lovely through ball from Gary Jordan. MBD could have made it two soon after with a lovely finish from Karl Martin only for it to be ruled offside. The last 20 minutes of the half saw the game turn though and Birmingham were piling on the pressure and only some heroic defending from captain Lee McGahan and poor finishing in front of goal keeping it at 1-0.

A few words at half time though saw us come out the same way we started the first and we took control of the game again. We soon had our second when Gary Jordan lobbed the keeper and the ball dropped in just under the bar. This goal opened up Birmingham as they had to attack, allowing our midfield more space to create chances and thats what they were doing. Karl Martin saw a header go narrowly over from a corner and both he and Ryan had one on one chances with the keeper. The third and best goal of the game came when Nicks George's persistance saw him beat two men on the left and swing a great ball in from the left for Rob Lee to head past the keeper. MBD continued to create chances and although Birmingham mounted a revived attack in the last ten minutes they came away comfortable winners.

It was another great team performance today but special mention to Lee McGahan who was captaining the side and played most of the 90 minutes with an injury but also Gary, Nick, Rob Lee for one of the best second half performances I have seen from them. Sadly the game saw us pick up a few injuries including a nasty looking ankle injury to Si Larmour. He will certainly be missed so let's hope it doesn't see him out for too long.

Elim, Brierley Hill and champions twice now and we are well on our way to securing second and promotion. They will all be tough games but the way we are playing at the moment we have confidence we will finish our first season on a high!

DC Dynamos 1 Elim Athletic 3

Jon Earp reports: Elim produced some great football in the first 35 minutes of this game knocking the ball around with ease, some of the best we have produced so far. We took the lead after a lovely passage of play down the right and a cut back from Sean Mckenna found the superb Walter Mapako to finish from 9 yards. Michael Knowles then netted twice only for the goals to be disallowed for being offside. We then got a free kick which Sean Mckenna dispatched into the top corner of the net. DC got themselves back into the game after a penalty was awarded for a push in the back. The half finished 2-1 with Elim deserving the lead.

DC Dynamos came out the stronger with Elim not producing the same level we did in the first half. DC pressured us for most of the half with Elim breaking out on the counter. Chris Smith came on to make an impact and after beating the defence he drilled the ball across the box only to be knocked in by the DC defender to make it 3-1 to Elim and that sealed a much needed win.

After the season we have had with injuries and illnesses it was good to see Scott Kellegher back on the side line which is great news. Scott was seriously injured at the start of the season badly damaging his kidney in a collision. Scott has now been told that his kidney has repaired and will be going in for surgery to remove the stent they had put in to bypass the kidney and after that he should be able to return to football once he is full fit. Also Tracey is recovering well from her stroke and is nearly back to her best, so all in all things are looking good for Elim.

Mark Crouch adds: Another fine morning saw DC take on Elim in our final match of the season. We were looking for a great finish to the season but it didn't quite work out that way. Elim took the lead in the first fifteen minutes after a mix up in defence between our left back and keeper saw the ball loose in front of goal for their attacker to simply side foot into an open goal. 1-0 Elim.

A few minutes later Elim were 2-0 up as DC gave away a free-kick outside and centre of our area. Sean Mckenna strolled up and struck a thunderbolt of a freekick into the roof of our net. On another day our keeper would have done better but thats football and it was a great goal.

Elim were playing the better football. Passing the ball around really well through midfield continually finding their number nine who held the ball up really well for the advancing Walter to run onto. I was impressed with Elim and thought they would run away with it but we started to find our feet and make some advances down our right. Clinton Dudson running his socks off all afternoon.

A corner ten minutes before half time saw their defender climbing all over the back of Steve Burford and the ref awarded a penalty. Steve took it himself and smashed it in and gave us some hope before half time. We had woken up now and it seem to kickstart us into life: 2-1 half time.

DC started the better and attack after attack came to nothing as we were left cursing our inability to finish. Had we been able to finish we could have run away with this tie in the second half but it was Elim who scored again after one of their attacks saw Dave Rich score a really unfortunate own goal. Made more unfortunate by the fact he was DC's best player giving another commanding performance in defence backed up by Kit McMurrgh whos agility belied his age (52 and still going strong).

I obviously do'nt enjoy losing but I did enjoy watching this game . I thought Elim played some wonderful football in the first half. I thought we came back in the second half well and were unlucky not to get somethng out of the game but it was nice to see this game played in a really good spirit. It was also great to see Tracey up and about and looking like her usuall smiling self.

I hope Elim see the season well and get promoted as they are a good side with a great bunch of lads. Man of the match for them their number nine and Dave Rich for us but other players of note Ben Russell, Clinton Dudson and James Cole all working tirelessly for the team.

Can't believe our season is finshed by the end of February but this will give us an age to play friendlies do lots of fitness training and get ready for next season when we can mount a realistic challenge for the league. A great season with more highs than lows.

A mention to the ref MEL LEWIS who is by far the most professional ref we have had this season. Other efs could learn alo by watching him ref. No nonsense but consistent refereeing.

Champions Church 4 Brierley Hill AOG 1

Shawn Devonport reports: Today saw us come up against a hard working Brierley Hill side who were determined to stop us playing and for periods they managed to do just that but our quality eventually shone through.

The first half saw us frustrated for 25 minutes until Matt Welch in the Brierley Hill goal commited himself to a challenge he had to but ended up fouling Rob Moody. I scored the resulting penalty even though Matt came close to keeping it out. Brierley Hill were soon level when a well delivered free kick from Robby Cox was put into his own net by Lee Ralph attempting to clear it. We continued to be frustrated at times but we got 2-1 up when a fantastic through ball from Josh Ball found its way to the lively Rob Moody who scored at the near post with a composed finish. We started to take a strangle hold of the game by now and were unlucky not to make it 3-1 when Josh Ball missed a one on one and Greg Thompson hit the post. 2-1 half time.

The second half saw us take control with Rion and Dave in the centre of midfield bossing everything and after some sustained pressure we made it 3-1 when I got my second of the game. It was soon 4-1 when Greg Thompson converted a quality Lee Ralph ball. We really should have added alot more goals towards the end with myself, Rion and Dave mising some sitters and had a few more half chances.

It was a good performance on the whole with Brierley Hill only having three chances and us creating many more. Brierley Hill battled really well but I'm sure they can have no complaints with the end result.

Clarendon next week, will be really tough and we will have to be on top of our game to have any chance but we will enjoy testing ourselves against the best!

Friendlies

With some clubs nearing completion of their fixtures (DC played their last League game yesterday, well done Mark!) and other still with many to go, the friendly matches are begining to appear as new teams test themselves and existing clubs keep match fit. There's a well tested theory that suggests that we just want to play and it matters not whether it's a title decider, people seem to play with the same passion com what may.

Chawn Hill Church 4 Wolves and Perton 3

Chawn's Paul Taylor says: With yet another week away from the stresses and tribulations of the dog fight Chawn Hill are involved in the league, today they entertained the current league leaders W&P in a friendly at South Road. Firstly Chawn would like to say thank you to the W&P squad member who took on thankless task of ref.

Chawn Hill are in a rich vein of form of late winning their last two games comprehensibly and were keen to use this friendly for a marker stick to see how they would cope with one of the more stronger sides of the league. Chawn started well and had numerous chances to take the lead and eventually did through yet another contender for goal of the season by Jamie Sutton. He received the ball 25yrds out on the left side of the box and unleashed an outside-of-the-left boot shot into the top corner. They could have extended their lead if not for some good saves and missed chances. These came back to haunt them as a uncharacteristic mistake by Chawn's new influential goalkeeper gave W&P the equaliser. Just before the break W&P showed why they are title contenders with a well worked goal giving them a 2-1 lead at half time.

Both teams made changes during the break and this was apparent when the W&P goalkeeper misjudged the bounce handing Greg Jones the simplest of tap-ins to equalise. This was quickly followed by Chawn being awarded a penalty and Beddow powered the ball into the back of the net. It stayed 3-2 deep into the second half and then W&P capitalised on a tiring Chawn defence to equalise. Chawn would have been disappointed with the draw as the performance deserved the win. With the end of the game nearing Greg Jones found himself one on one with the goalkeeper and lifted the ball over the keeper into the back of the net.

A really enjoyable game to watch which both teams played their parts. A positive note to end on was the performance of newly signed Scott 'Boris Becker' for Chawn Hill who gave a sterling second half performance in the middle of the park. Chawn Hill really believe that a corner has been turned and the priority is to stay up this season and build next year to rightly take their place back in the top flight.

All Nations 7 International Life Centre (Wolverhampton) 1

Gift Moyo's International Life Centre played their first ever game against All Nations yesterday. We hope that they apply to join the League in May, ready for the start of the season in September. In the meantime, Gift is looking for teams to play against. Please give a call if you are interested on 07815 836 672. But bear in mind that Neil Kovacs is still trying to put a secondary cup competition together.