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Meetings: Committee 20 April - League 11 June AGM
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Meetings: Committee 20 April - League 11 June AGM |
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30
March 2010 |
Saturday Preview Originally we pencilled in Easter week-end as a free date, or a date teams could opt out of if requested without counting as an official Saturday off. But with the severe weather we encountered, we've ended up with twenty-four sides in action and a couple of sides actually opting to play on Monday! Division One Top side St Mary's are the latest team to take on Wolves and Perton at Aldersley and will have taken note of last week's result. Wolves beat City 2-1. St Mary's appear to be back in form with their 6-0 demolition of Amblecote last week, so it should be a good game. I fancy St Mary's to win. With just one month left in the season, both our top teams have seven matches left. This Saturday Clarendon take on Zion Athletic. Clarendon have already played Zion twice and won both times but on both occasions the score was only 2-1. I think that with their sights set firmly on the league title, Clarendon will win this one but as they have proven, Zion are a good side when they put their minds to it. They have suffered from a lack of troops a bit this year but whichever eleven they have put out have stubbornly resisted most opposition. They do seem to be back to their old goal-shy way having not netted in their last two matches. Further down the table, Amblecote take on bottom side Sheldon. Whilst it looks as if both sides' season is over, I think Saturday's game will be a full blooded affair. Sheldon have very much adopted a 'we're not down until we're down' approach and will see this fixture as an opportunity to continue their great escape. And Amblecote have won all seven of their last matches and really, on paper, there are no weaker sides in the division. Having said that, Sheldon's recent form is better. I'm going for an Amblecote win. Lastly in Division One, St Matthew's visit St Boniface needing three points or face slipping down the table another place. Both teams can play but recent form has deserted them; both have lost four of the last five matches. A hard one to call but perhaps a St Matthew's win? Division Two With Walsall dropping out, Division Two teams only get twenty competitve matches this season, so I think only about thirteen matches left in this division, three of which are scheduled this week-end. Renewal and Rowley will complete their seasons; I have a few contacts of new clubs looking for games, so let me know if you are interested chaps. Selly Oak will keep their dimming dream of the title alive if they beat Renewal this week-end. But if Solihull win, Champions Church will secure the Division Two crown. Renewal have looked better recently and gave Rowley a game last week but I think Selly Oak will take the three points. Rowley could possibly rise to third, which is amazing considering they would have struggled to beat an egg in the first half of the season. They are easily the most improved team in the Division, if not the league. I'd say that they will win this Saturday. Should Bournbrook beat Lighthouse, they will be guaranteed ninth place or above. They've looked better too, as Lighthouse have taken a turn for the worse, losing their last three by three goals in each game. So the form book says Bournbrook. Division Three With Junction Ten resting, DC make up one of their games in hand with a home tie to All Nations. DC desperately need three points from this one and will be wary on two counts: Firstly, it's All Nations' last match, so they'll be eager to finish the season on a high. And secondly, All Nations beat Junction Ten. I'm told that DC were jaded last week but I'm sure they'll be back raring to go. You'd have to fancy a DC win; they beat All Nations 12-0 in the Cup. There's a fourth versus fifth place clash as Common Ground visit St John's. Whoever wins will go third. Both teams' form is a little mixed but both teams deserve to be where they are in the league. Could be a close one. And it's sixth versus seventh in Brierley Hill's match with Rockmount. Now here's a stat you'll love: DC have lost two games this season; to Rockmount and Brierley Hill. Brierley will be pumped by last week's win and Rockmount have taken just one point from their last sixteen available: So a Rockmount win? Sandwell are back in action this week against another club that have suffered a dip in form of late: Zion City. After going on a superb run around Christmas, where they lost just one match in nine, form has deserted them with just one point from their last four. Zion City will sign off on Saturday too with their last match and will want to do it in style. But I'm backing a Sandwell win this week. And lastly, two of our teams that have not had it all their way this year clash down at Coseley Leisure: After suffering many a defeat, both sides go into this fixture on the back of wins and in Living Hope's case, a four match unbeaten run. Both sides have been welcome additions to the league this year and I hope have both enjoyed participating, however difficult it's been at times. Living Hope carry just a little more momentum into this game and I think that may stand them in good stead. The corresponding fixture ended 1-1 and maybe this one will be close too. Not too much football left for some of us this season. Make the most of it chaps. I hope you all have a good game this Saturday. Ed. |
28
March 2010 |
Fair Play Award At the AGM last year we announced that we'd be running a Fair Play award for the season 2009/10. We haven't been providing regular updates as plans changed throughout the year. Ideally we'd have liked to have provided more information but perhaps we can sort it for next year. Details of the award are: The team that records the least disciplinary points for season 2009/10 will benefit by having ALL their league fees paid for season 2010/11 by WMCFL The team that records the second lowest disciplinary points for season 2009/10 will benefit by having half their league fees paid for season 2010/11 by WMCFL The disciplinary points procedure, which will be utilised in compiling the ongoing records for the season, are as below
1st
& 2nd offences (each) 1 point DISMISSALS 7
days suspension confirmed by BCFA 2 points For each subsequent dismissal after a player’s first dismissal, an extra point will be added to the relevant awarded points. Where a player has already been cautioned twice, for each dismissal thereafter, an extra point will be added to the relevant awarded points. Where a player has already been dismissed, for each caution after and including a second caution, an extra point will be added to the relevant awarded points. In the event of two or more teams having obtained equal points the “Fair Play” award will be given to the team who has the least number of cautions. In the event of two or more teams having obtained equal points, and equal number of cautions, the “Fair Play” award will be given to the team who has achieved the least number of players being dismissed. In the event of two or more teams having obtained equal points, equal number of cautions, and equal number of dismissals, the “Fair Play” award will be given to the team who has recorded the least number of players being cautioned or dismissed in total. In the event of two or more teams having obtained equal points, equal number of cautions and dismissals, the “Fair Play” award will be given to the team who has recorded the greatest length in time between first and second cautions regardless of who the players concerned are. In the event of two or more teams having obtained equal points, equal number of cautions, equal number of dismissals, equal number of players being cautioned and dismissed, and equal time between cautions one and two, the decision as to the recipient/s of the “Fair Play” award for the forthcoming season, will be made by the management committee and shall be final. The standings as at 21 March are as follows: 1=
Brierley Hill A.O.G. 3 |
28
March 2010 |
| Saturday Review For a little while WMCFL's old firm, St Mary's and Clarendon's dominance of WMCL has come under attack from various quarters, namely City Church over the past few weeks. It seemed as though we were about to see a shift in who's the boss. Champions Church will almost certainly be in Division One next season and City have knocked them both out of the Cup, albeit on penalties. Halesowen are up with the big boys too and could mount a late surge as they play all three teams around them at the top. But the old order fought back yesterday with particularly dominant displays. It also seemed as though there was a collective hangover from the semi-finals as three of the four contestants failed to win. It proves my point that the League and Cup Double is a very difficult achievement. In all their pomp and dominance, Clarendon only managed to win the Cup last year in eight years of trying. St Mary's have either won one or the other over the past three seasons of being at the top and fell flat in last year's Cup final. The last time it was won was in 1994 by Walsall Olympic and compared to today, there were only a handful of teams in the league with about a dozen teams competing. After yesterday's results, it does look like Division Two is coming to a conclusion. Champions just need to win their last game against Lighthouse to secure the title. Even if they don't, Selly Oak would have to win all five of their remaining matches to overtake them. As Division Two is coming to a close, the other two divisions look set for a show-down finale. City look like they're out of the battle for the Championship, although they will be pleased with this season's improvement on last: They've already surpassed last year's points haul having played four fewer matches and then there's the Cup final. But the other three are closely bunched. Clarendon and St Mary's will catch up a game in hand next week and could move away from their persuer. Division Three is looking tasty with DC slipping up yesterday. But it's only what Junction Ten did the other week, a season is a long time in football and so it has proved. These two teams play each other on 10 April in what will probably be the title decider, which is a great way to end a season. Division One St Mary's 6 Amblecote 0 John
Myatt says: A great performance by a young St Mary's team once
we got going. (I was third oldest at 24 with most 21 or under, which bodes
well for the future...). First half we were up the slope and against the
wind and sat too deep giving Amblecote time to play some nice football.
They still rarely got behind us and we were dangerous going forwards.
We finally broke the deadlock when they overplayed at the back and Toby
nicked the ball, beat a man and placed it past the keeper. Tink then added
a second beating at least one man on the left and drilling it into the
top corner via the keeper's parry. Amblecote kept playing their football
but couldn't break us down and we started putting them under pressure
playing some good football of our own. Ed adds: For Amblecote they've now slipped down to the top of the bottom clubs and on goal difference at that. They are now seventeen points off the lead of the division that they led for so long at the start of the season. Clarendon 7 King's AFC 0 No semi-final hangover for Clarendon as they state their intent: They want the league. Both the top sides have seven matches left but Clarendon have a three point deficit to make up and a twenty-two goal disadvantage which is worth a point at this stage. Mr Morrison was back to his devastating best as Clarendon romped away to complete an emphatic double over their city rivals. St Boniface 1 Halesowen Zion 3 Halesowen keep very much in touch with a 3-1 win over St Boniface with goals from Dan Carver, Steve Cockcroft and Tom Doran. Before the season started I suggested that Halesowen were dark horses and that prediction seems to still be on the table. However, I don't think their run in could be more difficult: It starts on 10 April with a derby game against Zion Athletic, then matches against City for third place, St Mary's needing a win for the league, Amblecote and lastly Clarendon. Wolves and Perton 2 City Church 1 Martin Ogbourn reports: Well City certainly came back down to earth with a bang this week. Firstly congratulations to Wolves and Perton who are a good all round team and not the type of opposition you want after a cup semi final epic! However, things did not go our way today starting when half of the team got lost trying to find the venue and turned up just before kick off. Overall in the match I counted at least eight clear cut chances in the penalty area which were not taken today. This was combined with an increased negativity and the conceding of two sloppy goals which all cost us dear. Despite this we started well and played some good passing football and created early opportunities. Daniel Atkins put us ahead from short range after a good move and it looked like we were the better team. However within five minutes or so we had switced off and lost the lead. Wolves' first goal came from a long throw-in which no-one touched except it flicked off our keeper's fist and went in. The second goal was conceded from a headed back pass which their forward slotted past the keeper to give them the advantage. During the rest of the first half we continued to create openings and passed the ball well at times without the finish, and the defence settled down after its uncharacteristic shaky start (the defence has been superb recently!). During the second half City had all the offensive play and chances, but were unable to break down an organised, stubborn defence. On another day we could have won comfortably and we probably had more clear chances today than in the previous three games put together, but that is football and we need to improve and learn from it. On the positive side Rob Stokes, J Garwood and Matthew Blount played well and used the ball intelligently. It is only two defeats in 15 games, and today we created enough opportunities to win and defended well in the second half. In the league we just need to hope that other results go our way and show character by getting back to winning ways v St Thomas in two weeks time. Happy Easter! The Apostle Paul says, "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter and then to the twelve." (1Corithians ch 15 v 3-5) Tom Baugh adds: I think it’s a great compliment to City, how pleased we are to have completed a double over them this season. We rode our luck at times in both matches, but defended well, took our chances when they came our way and stayed organised when it would have been easy to wilt under the pressure. They were desperate to win this match, you could tell right from the outset. But we quickly got stuck in, competed all over the pitch and in my opinion, enjoyed the better of the play in the first half. In saying that, there were a few spells where City controlled the game and got balls into the box, most notably when a shot from distance was parried by Uncle Rich only to be tapped in at the far post to give them the lead. We continued to plug away though and cause City problems with a more direct approach. Phil’s long throw was again paramount, creating havoc throughout the first 45 and culminating in their keeper punching one into his own net. One all. A few minutes later a long punt down the pitch was flicked on and Jase did superbly to get a toe on the ball and poke it passed the onrushing keeper and into the far corner. Two one. The second half was all about whether City could break us down. But when you’re absolutely desperate to score, shots tend to agonisingly roll past the far post, get deflected wide or bounce up awkwardly on the pitch when a clear opening presents itself. That’s exactly what happened. They peppered our goal for long periods in the second half, but the defence held strong and when we needed a bit of luck, we got it. Needless to say, the shrill of the referee’s final whistle has never sounded so good. Good luck to City for the remainder of the season, particularly in the cup final. We continue our horrendous run-in next week with the visit of St. Marys, before heading over to St. Matt’s two days later. Would we get fined for fielding a second string on the Saturday? St Thomas Aldridge 2 St Matthew's 1 Alex
Russon reports: Don't adjust your sets but we extended our unbeaten
streak to two matches with a hard fought victory over a typically tenacious
St Matt's, and in so doing staved off relegation for another week at least.
We've played well recently without getting much reward but sniffer Hadden
turned our fortunes around by scoring midway through each half; a cool
one-on-one finish for his first and a close range header parried back
to him to prod home his second. The last ten minutes were made interesting
when some goalmouth ping pong ended with Ricky deflecting the ball over
Rob Wood into his own net but only a slice of bad luck was going to beat
Wood today, he was top quality. Mentions must also go to Buller who ran
himself into the ground and Dan Cashmore who was our MOTM on a day when
there were many candidates.
Division Two Dynamo Kingswinford 3 Champions Church 11 This sounds like a pasting for Champions but I think it took a little while for them to get the ball from under their feet: Jim Wilkes says: A great win today! The team played very well, Shawn (Man of the match) was lethal, but that was down to players winning battles, and providing the space and service for the lads upfront to exploit. However, I take responsibilty for the goals against, being the old man in the side, I decided to use my old head and devised a crazy Plan A!! "Man mark a player and leave the other to score" when losing 2-3, we threw it out of the window. To Plan B just "JUST DO YOUR JOB!!" We won 11-3!! Shawn
Devonport adds: Today was all about three points and boy did
we put in a performance to go with them. This really had the potential
to be a tricky test for us but in the end it was a fantastic performance
and a win. Selly Oak Methodist 2 EK Corinthia 2 EK put the brakes on Selly Oak's run and puts a stick in the spokes of their Championship aspirations. Whilst yesterday was a disappointment on top of losing the semi, I thinks so long as they get promoted they will look back as a successful season and their best so far. For EK, they've had a troublesome few weeks from a results point of view at least but appear to be settling back down too. A draw against Selly Oak is a good result; they have just one match left now and thirty-five points from twenty games will be a very reasonable haul. Rowley College 1 Renewal Solihull 0 Christie McKenzie responded in the best way to last week’s unfortunate red card with a man of the match performance today. And he did it all from an unfamiliar position on the right hand side of midfield as Mark experimented with the side’s shape to accommodate those who served us so well last time out, particularly Craig who took up the gloves and kept a clean sheet. Solihull is never an easy game but our football in the first half was at times slick and attractive. What we lacked was a goal, with their keeper making a couple of good saves and us sometimes lacking the final ball. I felt that if we scored we’d go on and win. As it turned out we did, albeit narrowly. Christie finished it from a fiendishly flat ball whipped across by Wayne. Mark, who’d once again been the fulcrum of our efforts, had to come off at half time as a precaution to be replaced by Nathan Hylton returning from injury. Nathan was straight into the action weaving this way and that and we again looked dangerous but always seemed to need a little too much time in front of goal, though Craig forced a good save from their keeper after Christie’s pass split the Solihull defence, who were otherwise doing well. Failing to get the second led to us running out of steam and Solihull started to sense they were in for something. Without Mark’s presence in the centre Solihull made more progress and when Matt Stanton got the wrong side of Jon Follows the ref (who was excellent today) awarded a penalty. Thankfully Lee Roberts saved it with his feet to protect our points. We then went closest to adding to our score when a well worked free kick involving Christie, Craig and Wayne led to a thunderous shot against the bar. All the best to Brian and his lads who played the game in a good spirit. Birmingham International 2 Bournbrook Athletic 3 Jon Earp says: A great result for us today and signs of the team starting to recover from a really ruff time for all involved with the club this season. We got off to a really bad start conceding a goal within five minutes. We soon got back in it, Richard Nolan smashing home with his left foot off a Nathan 'Tubz' Pugh corner. We then went 2-1 up with a smart finish from Adam Wooldridge inside the box after a Tully pulled the ball back across the box. Michael French played as the stand in keeper today as Lee Rhodes broke his wrist mid week. Mike pulled off a world class save to keep it 2-1. The Half finished 2-1 to us but we were guilty of missing five one on ones, fears of a repeat of the EK game were crossing my mind. B'ham Int made it 2-2 off a low drilled shot inside the box. The game was pretty open at this time with both teams pushing for the win. With minutes left of the game super sub Stuart Webley scored an overhead kick to make it 3-2 off a Tully corner, Job done and another vital three points. The season is ending at the wrong time for us as we are now only just starting to find our feet. My man of the match for us was Richard Nolan who worked his socks off and got himself a goal. Chawn Hill Church 1 MBD United 3 A victory that leaves MBD mid table and Chawn in a spot of bother down at the bottom. Chawn have one match left, against DK. The fact that these two play each other means that only one of them can finish above Bournbrook which should see them safe. We do run a three up, three down system but as I keep saying it rarely works out that way. With clubs joining and leaving, we usually see a bit of a shake up.
Division Three Rockmount United 3 Junction Ten Village 8 I did think that DC had this division sewn up but as I said previously, a season is a long time in football. We've seen some to-ing and fro-ing and J10 looked like they'd faded recently, losing matches that you'd have expected them to cruise and when they were winning, they were winning by close margins. But from the result yesterday, Junction Ten have it back on the island. DC now have two cup finals. Brierley Hill AOG 4 DC Dynamos 1 Jon
Bennett says: Brierley Hill went into today's game as complete
underdogs We were missing a couple of key players so under the management
of Neil A Mourinho Walters we decided to pack the middle with five players
and then try to support our lone Kevin Doyle style striker of Mike Tyler. Common Ground United 0 Sporting Zion 4 Sporting appear to be very much in the ascendancy, scoring another four goals and sneaking into third place. This side took a little while to settle at the start of the season but it's as if someone just let the handbrake off. That's five wins on the bounce and thirty goals in five games with just four in reply. The next two games are against St John's and DC and in this form they will fancy their chances. For CGU, they've had a good season. If they lose their last two matches then they will still have won eleven of their twenty-two, which is something to be proud of. But I think they will need to win both remaining games to stand a chance of third but a minimum of fifth is in the bag. Pye Green Towers 3 Zion City 2 I
weakly predicted a PGT victory in this match and they proved me right.
The win means that Pye Green have all but mathematically avoided the wooden
spoon. Wins have been a rare sight in their neck of the woods, so I'm
sure they enjoyed their morning's football. |
25
March 2010 |
| Saturday Preview Division Two Despite their thirteen point lead at the top of Division Two, Champions may need to win their last two. Selly Oak are fifteen points behind with five games in hand, partly due to their Cup exploits. So if both sides win all their remaining games, it'll come down to goal difference. Champions' form has looked a little off colour of late, with just a point last week against strugglers Bournbrook. This week they face Dynamo who have seen a significant improvement in form this side of Christmas, taking ten points from a possible eighteen. They are still bottom though. Champions are without some influential players and may struggle against DK. They should win it though but the result is not cut and dried. Selly Oak will usurp second place from EK should they beat them on Saturday. The EK wagon came off the rails after Christmas, losing five on the bounce, dumping them out of the race for the Division Two title. After losing out in their semi-fianl, Selly Oak will be back fully focussed on the league. I think they'll win easily. A few weeks ago Rowley versus Solihull would have been a relegation battle. But they have both turned their seasons around and will almost certainly finish mid-table. Rowley's season is pretty much split in two: Six points from their first nine matches and nineteen from their back nine. They will be sad that the season is ending, they were unfortunate to lose the two that they did but can take solace from the face that they were against Division Two's top two. Solihull's form is similar, taking thirteen points from their last fifteen; so it should be a tidy scrap. I fancy Rowley for the win though. And lastly in Division Two, Bournbrook trek to Inter in search of three points. I think they need to take seven points from their last four games to escape the bottom three. Division Three Junction Ten, despite being currently top will need to take nine points from their last three games to stand any chance of winning Division Three. They start on Saturday with a trip to Rockmount, who can be a stubborn side at times. They are the one side that have managed to beat DC this year. I think that J10 will win narrowly though. DC, having secured a historic berth in the Cup final, can keep the pressure on J10 with an away win at Brierley Hill. The Hill have a knack of upsetting the odds from time to time but are expected to lose this one by all accounts. Sometimes teams can suffer from the come-down from a big game but DC are not like that and should run out easy winners of this match. We then have a key fixture in the battle for the third, fourth and fifth spot as Common Ground entertain Sporting Zion. Both sides have been showing some excellent form going into the game, CGU taking 26 points from 33 and Sporting scoring 26 goals in their last four. It should be a close game, maybe 3-3? Last but not least the out of form Zion City travel to Cannock for their match with Pye Green. I think Pye Green may fancy the chance of taking their points tally to ten this Saturday; they could do with the tonic as they have won just one match, the fewest in the league. |
24
March 2010 |
| Saturday Preview Division One With just the final to look forward to, the focus spins back round to the league as we begin to clear games at an increased rapidity. Let's hope it's just April showers and not the deluge. There are ten Division One teams in action, with the top four all playing teams from the lower reaches. St Mary's have been beaten twice in the league this year and one of the those defeats came at the hands of this week's opponents: Amblecote. Amblecote seem to have plunged into a trough of form at present, although they aren't getting mauled. They've only been beaten by more than one goal twice and one of those was to Clarendon. Saturday was perhaps their worst result as they conceded five. Ironically, Amblecote's last win was to St Mary's. What better way to turn it around than to beat the league leaders? Can they do it? I think not; I think they are in for a hiding. Clarendon are up against King's again, who they beat 5-1 the other week. They will have to raise themselves after last Saturday's disappointment. They are either going to fall flat or go out there and paste King's. I think they'll win again; they want some silver. Wolves are visited by City, who like Clarendon may find themselves on a come down from last week-end. City are not out of the title race yet but I think they will need to win all their matches to stand a chance. They should beat Wolves but you never know. Total long-shotters for the title, Halesowen take on St Boniface. Interestingly, City, Clarendon and St Mary's all have to play Halesowen, so the table would look a little different should they win all three games. But this week they face St Boniface, a gritty side on the wrong end of results of late. I think Halesowen will win. With just three games left and eight points from safety, St Thomas will be a certainty for a bottom three spot if they do not beat St Matthew's this Saturday. Neither of these near neighbours have been in the best of form but it's St Matthew's that have the better results; twice as many points from four fewer games. I think St Matt's will win. |
21
March 2010 |
| Friendly Please Living Hope Church are looking for a friendly match this Saturday. If you are interested, please contact Steve Farley at sfarley1960@hotmail.co.uk |
21
March 2010 |
Saturday Review League Cup Congratulations to DC Dynamos and City Church. We have two new Cup Finalists and a new name on the Cup for 2010. Nineteen different teams have won our Cup, so one of these sides will be the twentieth. For once I was spot on with my predictions: I suggested that there was nothing between the clubs involved in the semi-finals and so it proved. DC went through 1-0 and City knocked out last year's winners Clarendon on penalties. DC Dynamos 1 Selly Oak Methodist 0 Mark
Crouch says: Two teams on massive winning streaks met today to
contest the Semis and what an occasion it proved to be as DC Dynamos make
it to the final and write another chapter in their Roy of the Rovers rise
to potentially big things. (I think a Cup Final appearance is big things-Ed). Back to the League next week which has always been our priority and our hunt for the next three points. Rob
O'Neill adds:
I don't mind losing when I think we've given a good account of ourselves,
I left the field today almost wanting to play another match just to prove
that we wern't as awful as we played today. Fair play to DC, they obviously
had a plan which was to score a goal, defend it by sitting deep and pump
long balls forward to their lively front two which today unfortunately
for us worked. City
Church 1 Clarendon 1 Martin Ogbourn says: First of all we give thanks, honour and praise to God. It was God who sustained us when we lost half of our promoted team and had to rebuild three years ago (many clubs would have folded!), and it is God who deserves the praise now he has seen us through to better times. Players such as Andy Thomas, Joe Melia and Rob Stokes have seen all the ups and downs and will appreciate the meaning of what we have started to acheive. Well City have got through to the Cup Final for the first time in their history after a third titanic battle with Clarendon this season. The game of few chances ended 1-1 after extra time. We have certainly done things the hard way against the League Champions in the Quarter Final, and Cup holders in today's semi in 240 minutes of tight, tense football. In both games we have only conceded from two set plays, dominated long periods and we have fully deserved our place in the final. The game itself was very narrow and attritional. City played their best football in the first half and deservedly took the lead through another cup goal from Stephen Bailey. The movement of Daniel Atkins and Bailey, drive of Cooper and Grogin and distribution of 'always a threat' Garwood helped City create openings, and caused their back four lots of problems. Clarendon rarely threatened the City goal and were playing long balls for their quick forwards and looking most dangerous from set plays. I remember only one clear chance which our keeper, Chris Chattaway saved well with his legs. Half time 1-0. The game was physical and niggly rather than very dirty, but this meant that the second half saw even less goal mouth action! (The middle third of the pitch must be a mown field by now!) Clarendon equalised from a goal mouth scramble early in the second half after the ball got stuck in a puddle when a short corner caught us napping! Clarendon started to get more possession as we started to get deeper, but this did not lead to openings. City had a goal disallowed after probably the move of the game, and had a shot cleared off the line in extra time, but apart from the odd panic at corners from both teams there was nothing to separate the teams at full time, or after 30 minutes of extra time. This led to penalties again and fair play to everyone who had the bottle to take a penalty in these circumstances! Both sides scored two and missed two before the final two penalties. Chris Chattaway then slotted home City's fifth penalty before he got up (again) to see the final penalty pass the wrong side of his right post to leave it 3-2 to City and a Cup Final to look forward to in May! Chattaway is fast becoming our penalty king and again almost single-handedly won the shoot-out! Cooper and Thomas were immense in the middle, and the back four of Blount (and a cameo from the 'old man', Melia!), Colvin, Stokes and Sheppard (seven days after being knocked out cold at Row Heath!) didn't give the quality Clarendon forwards a sniff all game. All fourteen players played their part and showed great battling qualities and character. It is also worth noting the five other players who supported and played their part today and all season. It is difficult to single out players, but I would like to particularly recognise David Grogin and Martin Colvin who have fought their way into the team through great commitment, and attitude in training (and in games) and have taken their chances well. They both had excellent games. This season we have demonstrated our strength in depth in the squad which has not always been the case. We know we have not won anything yet and a team who have beaten Amblecote and only lost once all season need to be respected and will be a difficult side to beat in the final. Tommy Woodward adds: Another hard battle against our friends at City; today sadly didn't go our way. The pitch was bobbly and pretty football was never on the cards. First half City we're all over us and we were lucky to only be 1-0 down at half time. We had one real chance in the first half which we should have buried but a crackin save from the City keeper kept us out. Second half I would say we were the better side with our strikers making the City defence earn their money. Our goal came from a goal line scramble which our new boy James Bird blasted into the back of the net. City were then camped in their own half but were playing some dangerous counter attacking football. Extra time was even, which led to the penalty shoot out. City came out on top despite missing two spot kicks themselves. Good
luck to City, anyone who can knock ourselves and St Mary's out deserves
a place in the final. I have to mention Jason Garwood who ran himself
into the ground and was a constant thorn in our side. Also Ashley Innis
for us who played his best game I've seen him in a Clarendon shirt. Division One St Mary's 4 St Matthew's 1 Whilst City and Clarendon were toiling away at each other in the Cup, St Mary's were cruising to another comfortable league win. Despite it being late March and other teams in the league having very few games left, there's a long way to go in Division One. But St Mary's checked off this fixture and bagged the three points. It's still very tight at the top. Halesowen Zion 5 Sheldon 1 Dave Walters says: A decent result for us today without being one of our best performances. The first half was very close, we took an early lead when Dan Carver charged down a clearance and managed to get on the ball to score, the second coming from a powerful header from Tom after getting on the end of a long throw from Cocky. Sheldon were reduced to ten men but you would hardly notice as they battled for everything but we were 2-0 up at the break. Sheldon pulled an early goal back in the second half from a set piece and were pushing us until we got our third when Cocky's shot was parried by Sheldon's keeper and their defender could only help the ball over the line. Sheldon's keeper later got injured after a collision with his own player and had to be taken off with a suspected discolated shoulder. We were in control of the remainder of the game and added a couple of goals from substitute Badger Lea and a second for Dan Carver to see us comfortable winners. Best wishes go to Sheldons keeper from all of us at Halesowen Zion for a speedy recovery. Lyndon Fisher adds: Not a good morning for us down to 10 men after about 15 mins, we battled well against a lively Halesowen team, we created chances indeed our ten men were superb but it ended 2-0 at half time to them. We pulled it back to 2-1 just after half time deserverdly so, but the heavy conditions and the extra man started to take its toll, and an injury to our keeper which was confirmed later as discolated finished us off. Halesowen are a good side, but we really battled second half and made them fight for their victory. Grant Doran also says: With the league approaching the business end we have no choice but to keep winning and hope that one or two results go our way. We played some good stuff today on a small pitch as our normal pitch was water logged. The game's first talking point came only 10 minutes in when Sheldon were reduced to 10 men for swearing. With the extra man we looked to play the ball on the deck and make Sheldon work as hard as possible and we created several half chances by moving the ball quickly around the pitch. The first goal came however through nothing more than hard work as first Tom pressured the defender into playing the ball back to the keeper and then Dan charged down the attempted clearance and rolled the ball into the empty net. We grabbed a second goal after a long throw from Cocky was headed home by Ben who now has three in two. We created several good chances to get the third goal and really wrap the game up by half time but a combination of lazy finishing and good keeping meant that we went in at half time 2-0 up. We
spoke at half time about the need to start the second half quickly and
get the goal that would finish the match. So as is normal for us we started
like we had never seen each other before, and got penned into our own
box. We couldn't pass the ball five yards and after another sloppy piece
of play gave a free kick away Just outside the box. With two free men
at the back post any decent ball in would have given them a great chance
to score and potentially get back into the match. The ball in landed perfectly
for the free man and although Todd made a great point blank save from
the initial shot the ball fell to the second man and this time he made
no mistake rolling the ball into the net. St Boniface 1 Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 5 Wolves are back up to fifth with a win over struggling St Boniface with an emphatic 5-1 scoreline. Wolves are now top of the bottom clubs and are elevated to fifth in Division One with that result. With twenty-four points I'd say that they're safe and can go on and enjoy the rest of the season playing for pride. Tom Baugh reports: Wolves eventually ran out convincing winners in this one, but it should be noted that all five of our goals came in the last twenty minutes to swing the result so emphatically in our favour. Two depleted sides, a boggy pitch and a delayed kick-off were early warning sides that this wasn’t going to be a classic, and so it proved. A fairly even first half, saw both sides create chances but neither able to break the deadlock. Just after half-time, Jimmy Cutler broke the offside trap, sprinted clear and slotted home to give St. B’s the lead. Unfortunately for them, that turned out to be the wake-up call Wolves needed and from there on out, it was pretty much all us. An own goal leveled things up, a scuffed second from yours truly gave us the lead before Nathan Lodge tied up the win with the third. A late header from Paggy made it four, before the St. B’s goalie got caught out in possession and hauled Jason Parmar to the ground; Phil Webster stroking home the resulting penalty. The final score was harsh on St. B’s given how tight the game was right up until the closing stages. Good luck to them for the remainder of the campaign. I hear this season might be their last, which would be a great shame as we’ve shared some exciting contests in recent years. As for us, we probably can’t win the league ourselves, but with St. Mary’s to play twice as well as home games against City Church and Clarendon, we’ll probably have a strong say over where the title ends up. That’s something to play for! Amblecote 3 King's AFC 5 Amblecote slip to another defeat, their sixth on the bounce. They last won on 7 November, ironically against St Mary's who they play next week. Willis Mullin says: A deserved win for King's, fighting back from 2-0 down after twenty minutes. St Thomas 0 Zion Athletic 0 Jallen says: Fantastic goalkeeping from St Thomas keeps Zion from taking the points in a frustrating match for us. We thought we'd had the ball over the line and we squandered many chance after chance to leave us with just a point from a match that we felt we should have won. We needed to win this game and only have ourselves to blame once again. Some credit has to go to St Thomas as they defended resiliently and deserved their point. Rob Hill adds: Another point at long last thanks to some heroic defending and a superb display from our keeper 46 year old Rob Wood who has such enthusiasm for the game and insists on playing with a badly damaged finger. Good luck to Zion who have some really good players, we wish them well.
Division Two Bournbrook Athletic 2 Champions Church 2 Shawn
Devonport says: To make the title safe we needed to win all our
three remaining matches, so a draw today was a very disappointing result
that allows Selly Oak back in with a shout. We turned up with a bare eleven,
Lee Ralph and Dave Oakley still out, Nathan at the Villa game, Josh Ball
unavailable and Gouley in South Africa so we were really down to the bones.
Jon Earp adds: A great result today and a great performance. Last week was hard to take because the performance deserved a result. This week we carried the performance over into the game today and got a well deserved point. We took the lead after Richard Nolan drilled the ball across the box for Dean McDonnell to tap in. Champs then equalised from a corner, exploiting lax marking at the back post. We then took the lead again through a neat finish by Dean McDonnell from distance for his second goal of the game. Champs then pulled it level again; 2-2. The game opened up with both teams looking for the win but neither was able to find that final ball. I have to give a special mention to the backline today who were immense. Standout performance from David Long at centre back today who man-marked Shawn Devonport out of the game, one of the best defensive displays I have seen in a while. Well done lads. Rowley College 3 Lighthouse Lions 0 Pete Bennett says: Lighthouse ironically turned our season around by beating us 10-0 (As Yazz said “The Only Way is Up!). At that point we had lost eight of our first ten games and conceded 43 goals. Since then we have lost two in nine, conceding 14. Enough said. Today missing our keeper and going down to 10 men after 25 minutes (to an unlucky red card) we had to draw on all of our resources and resilience to beat a good Lighthouse side 3-0. They were never out of the game but equally we never gave them room to play and every one of our lads was heroic today: 13 men of the match. Craig Micklewright took the gloves and fully deserved his clean sheet. Chris McIvor deputised at right back with distinction alongside three regular and faultless defenders: Chrissy Staien, Matt Stanton and Scotty. Midfield was once again the business led everywhere by Mark. Wayne Dyer looks classier by the week. Sammy Nelson grafted tirelessly up front after Christie’s early bath. The key today was scoring at the right times and then preventing Lighthouse playing their slick football. The first came early: Stew Harvey’s long, long throw, flicked on by Southall and in off their defender. The rest of the first half we were very good but didn’t extend our lead until the very last minute when Wayne played Sammy in for a smart finish. They were much better in the second half and we had to work tirelessly. Then Sammy went onto one over the top collided with their keeper and when the ball fell to Stew Harvey 35 yards out he belted it into the unprotected goal. Mark then held things together at the back, though there was still time for us to threaten. Wayne played an exquisite reverse pass for the tireless Nathan Wilkins who seemed destined to outstrip the Lighthouse defence but his famous pace deserted him! Lighthouse are a good bunch of lads who play football the right way and I wish them well. Renewal Solihull 0 Dynamo Kingswinford 0 It is getting mighty tight down at the bottom of Division Two. A win yesterday for Dynamo would still have left them bottom but on goal difference rather than two points adrift. Strictly speaking it's three up and three down but as Walsall dropped out early on, they will count as one relegated team. It's then left to the whims of the AGM in reconstituting the format should clubs join and leave. Dynamo seemed to have sealed their own fate some time ago but of late have run into better form and may still escape. I have to say that should Dynamo or Chawn for that matter slip into Division Three, it would look something akin to a boy in short trousers at senior school. However, the table doesn't lie and if a club finishes in the bottom three, then they finish in the bottom three and must face the consequences. Jason
Russell adds:
Today's game came on the back of a fantastic result for us last week against
MBD United. We knew that Renewal would be a tough opponent with our best
eleven but as with all teams at some stage of the season, we found ourselves
with the bare eleven and a hastily arranged new signing to travel away
in our last away game of this season. With seven of our more seasoned
players like Scott "Sandman" Bradley, James "Who needs
glasses" Symons, Chris "The one from up north" Sweetmore,
Chris "Next time I don't think I'll dive on a brick and rip my knee
to pieces" Platts, Ross "Gary Neville" Hodgkins, Ian "Hoppo"
Hopson, and Gary "I've got three Cup Winners Medals" Lamsdale
(only three Gaz?-Ed) (Gary has since confirmed that he has six Cup Winner's
medal, three league titles, four replacement knees and two left feet)
away either injured, away or at work or starting line-up was somewhat
creative to say the least. Division Three Junction Ten Village 3 Sandwell United 1 Despite retaking the lead of Division Three, I cannot at this time see beyond DC for the title. For some reason J10 don't seem to be the rampaging bull that they were earlier on. However, they reached the enviable total of 100 league goals scored and still have three matches remaining. Should they win those three games, then they have done what they can to secure the title and will rely on a DC slip, which is not beyond the realms of possibility. The potential banana skins are J10, Sporting Zion, who seem to have hit a rich vein of form and then Living Hope who've now gone four games unbeaten. St John's Church 9 Zion City 0 St John's place a firm grip on third place with a highly convincing win at home to Zion City. They are in a three-way fight for the bronze medal (if we gave them out) with CGU and Sporting, with Sporting looking menacing. It may come down to their match scheduled for 10 April. Common Ground United 6 Brierley Hill AOG 2 CGU cruised to their eleventh league win of the year as David Walker nets another couple of goals to see his side hang on to fourth. CGU have lost just one match in the last eleven and that was a slimmish 4-2 reverse to the romping-away DC. CG have three matches left and face a tough run-in: They can spoil a few parties as they play J10, Sporting and St John's. If they win those three, they'll end the season third. Sporting Zion 5 Pye Green Towers 1 Another high-scoring win for Sporting. That's twenty-five goals in the last four matches. Not the most potent opposition I admit, but the best in this league have struggled against some of those sides. As with CGU, they have a difficult four matches to complete their card: CGU, St John's, DC and Sandwell. Living Hope Church 2 All Nations 1 Steve
Farley reports: LHC came out of the blocks flying and in the
first minute we were one up. Captain Deano 'Delap' Russell launched a
long throw into the box, All Nation's failed to clear and the ball fell
to Josh Steventon on the edge of the area who finished well. 1-0 to LHC.
|
17
March 2010 |
Saturday Preview I'm a little short of time this week working down in London and busy on other nights, but I thought I'd be letting you down if I didn't post something on these pages about the forthcoming semi-finals. They are two intriguing matches and perhaps as tight a pair of games as I've seen at this phase of the competition. I normally cast an eye over the week-end's games and suggest who I think will win. But in each case I don't think you could get a fag paper between the teams. All four teams are in good shape going into the matches, showing excellent form. None of them have had particularly easy passages into the last four. DC Dynamos DC had a bye into Round Two, where they faced All Nations. DC went into this game a little worried as half of their squad were off on a stag week-end. And so their team was severely depleted. Without wanting to sound disrespectful to All Nations, DC would have been embarrassed to lose such an important game to one of WMCFL's bottom sides. In the end they flew though 12-0 with Ryan McCauley scoring six, eclipsing a Chris Gee hat-trick. DC then went on into the Third Round where they met top of the league high-fliers Amblecote. So rather than expecting to win, I think the money would have been on Amblecote. Adam Bradshaw was the hero that day as he scored both DC's goals in a 2-1 win. In the quarter-finals DC were pitted against Common Ground to make it an all Division Three tie. They were swept aside 5-2 on one of the very few snow and frost free Saturdays of 2010 with Steve Burford scoring twice; not bad for a centre-half. Selly Oak Methodist Selly Oak escaped Round One as well but also met one of WMCFL's struggling teams, Sandwell Utd in the Second Round. Having said that, Sandwell have gone on to better things this season but nevertheless an easy fixture. Carl Jones scored a hat-trick as Selly Oak made no mistake. Round Three was a little tougher but King's were also easily beaten 6-1. Whilst King's were relegated after a long spell in Division One, they soon returned to the top flight and have held their own. For Selly Oak to make such easy meat of a regular Division One side spelt out Selly Oak's intentions. They have been a little unlucky to miss out on promotion, finishing fourth twice but as Pete Bennett from rowley says, it's a sign that WMCFL is going through changes: We'll see a new order establish in the 2010s. The quarters saw Selly Oak take on St Boniface: Whilst St Boniface are not top of the league, they can be a handful when they put their minds to it. St Boniface have beaten Clarendon this season: Enough said. But once again, Selly Oak saw off their opponents and thoroughly deserve their semi-final place having beaten two Division One teams. DC v Selly Oak So what's it going to be? I really don't know. DC's form is staggering, almost on a par with Champions' last season. They drew with CGU in September and lost a mad match to Rockmount in October. Since then they've bagged three points every week. Selly Oak's record is not dissimilar: Unbeaten since 3 October, with the one slip being a two-all draw with Bournbrook, which is their local derby. If someone said I had to choose, I'd probably toss a coin. City Church City's route to the semis started with a bye in Round One. Only eight of our thirty-six sides were unlucky enough to be forced into Cup activity in September. But they were dropped into the bottom end of the draw, the 'tough' end. Ten of the twelve First Division sides were put in the same half, including Clarendon and St Mary's, universally acknowledged as the best two sides in WMCFL during the last two or three seasons. The Second Round saw City pitched against new club Pye Green Towers. Whilst Pye Green had spent the previous six months playing mainly friendly matches, they were no match for City who have been at it for four or five years. Steve Bailey and Matt Atkins grabbed two each with Dan Atkins and Dave Cooper knocking in the other two. Round Three is where it began to get interesting. City were up against an EK team on fire in Division Two but came out on top with Steve Bailey scoring three this time. But it was in the quarters that City faced their sternest test: St Mary's. I believe it was nil-nil at full time and penalties were needed as both sides scored in extra time. I have to say that sometimes sides meander through Cups avoiding tough opposition: It's the beauty of this style of competition but it's certainly not the case for City. If they beat Clarendon and St Mary's on their way through, no-one can deny they deserve their place in the Final. Clarendon Out of the four sides in the semis, Clarendon are the only team to have been drawn out of the hat for a Round One match. And it was certainly the tie of the round. Clarendon had looked a little unconvincing in early season, having had a bit of a change in personnel and Champions were strutting their stuff. But the young pretenders were put in their place as Clarendon answered the question asked of them in emphatic style: 5-0 with Everton Morrison scoring four times. In Round Two, Clarendon were tested by Division One new boys Zion Athletic but once again Clarendon were too strong. But it was a tighter affair with Clarendon running out winners by a slender 2-1 scoreline. In Round Three they met their old adversaries Dynamo Kingswinford. Clarendon entered the league with DK back in 2002 and battled all the way with them for the Division Two title. They came out on top here too with a 3-1 win with Jason Green and Leon Turton on the scoresheet. In the quarters they faced a Halesowen side that had given them one heck of a test in the league earlier in the season. Clarendon seemed to up their game and came away with a convincing-looking 3-0 win. City Church v Clarendon Once again I am finding it very difficult to pick a winner with this one. In some ways this match is a real test of City's ability to mix it with the big boys. The question is 'Can City break into the top two monopoly that we've seen established by Clarendon and St Mary's?'. There aren't quite enough trophies to go round, with the 'top three' chasing the League and Cup. Whoever wins this one though will be installed as favourites to take the Cup. |
14
March 2010 |
Saturday Review I think spring is here: Double digit temperatures, sunshine and the birds in my garden are fluttering around with twigs in their beaks; oh and another thing: a full set of fixtures played yesterday. Division One Halesowen Zion 3 St Mary's 2 The top four in Division One got compressed to a gap of just four points as Halesowen squeezed out St Mary's. The lads at City and Clarendon will be rubbing their hands at the prospect of being allowed back into the fight but I think that's the nature of the division this year; it's more open. At the start of the year I said that Halesowen were dark horses for the title and they remain so with this win. But they still sit in the 'can beat anyone on their day but lack consistency' bracket. I still think that St Mary's are favourites but they have to play Clarendon, City and Halesowen before the end of the year. None of their remaining matches are against the bottom three. Grant Doran says: A big game today that we knew we had to perform in if we were to get anything from it, and everyone did just that!! From the first whistle we closed down, tracked, tackled and contested every header and made life very difficult for St Mary's to get started. We
took the lead after some neat play through the midfield with Spicer getting
hold of the ball and from just outside the box smashing a half volley
into the far corner of the net to give us a deserved lead. We then made
life hard for ourselves as St Mary's equalised after a lobbed shot found
it way over Simon in our goal. However we pushed hard to get back in front
and we were playing some good football, creating several great chances
to restore our lead. Spicer sent a couple of shots whistling just past
the post and Cocky had a great chance from six yards out with a free goal
to hit but somehow managed to lift the ball over the bar. We finally got
infront after yet more good play down the flank forced a corner. Ben Doran
arrived unmarked centre of the box and made no mistake with the header,
powering the ball into the roof of the net. Ben then doubled his tally
for the day, timing his run well from midfield and applying the finish
to a great team goal. St Mary's though are a good team and if you allow
them to play they will hurt you and after some tidy football down their
left wing Josh Blunt found space on the edge of the box to steer the ball
into corner of the net to get his second of the game. King's AFC 1 Clarendon 5 The text said 'Roger Moore 3'. Surely that meant he scored in the third minute? But no, it's true; three headed goals as well, not bad from a centre half. Whatever Myatt can do, I can do better. The result brings Clarendon level on points with St Mary's having played an extra game. The pressure is cranked up a few notches as the 'new' Clarendon side seems to be settling into the groove. City Church 4 St Boniface 1 Martin Ogbourn reports: City won comfortably in the end today with a superb second half performance after a tight, goalless first half. A fine volley from Stephen Bailey after good build up play, and a sublime, dipping wonderstrike from 30 yards out by Jason Garwood turned the game our way at the start of the second period. Further well-taken goals from David Cooper and Daniel Atkins followed in an action-packed second half which was marred by injuries to two of our players. We wish both players a speedy recovery. Jonathon Sheppard was knocked unconscious in a fifty / fifty challenge. The game was delayed for several minutes before the ambulance arrived and he could be moved, but he was later given the all clear by the A and E at Selly Oak Hospital (where some of our players have spent many hours!). The game was competitive throughout, but not dirty and St Boniface contributed to a good game with some passing football of their own and got one goal back late on. However, City deserved the three points and look forward with confidence to the Cup semi final next Saturday in good form. St Matthew's 2 Amblecote 1 St Matthew's put a different complexion on their season and league position with a 2-1 win over an Amblecote side in a pit of form. It was a much needed win for St Matt's as they were in a spot of bother themselves but the way it's going with Amblecote, they'll be the ones in difficulty if they can't turn it around. They have lost five games on the trot now. Martin
Nicholls says:
A game of two halves which saw us pick up a much needed win. The first
half saw us go in 1-0 down after a defensive error. We simply didn't get
going first half and I think Amblecote will be disappointed not to have
killed us off. Our centre halves today though were outstanding and Rory
Taylor and Ant Smith need to take a lot of credit for the score staying
at 1-0. The half ended on a sour note when an Amblecote midfielder landed
awkwardly after jumping to control the ball. An ambulance was called and
it seemed a quite serious injury we obviously as a club wish him a speedy
recovery. St Thomas 0 Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 1 Alex Russon says: Our annus horribilis continued with a 1-0 defeat, a highly respectable performance once again yielding nothing. Wood and Hadden went close after we'd gone behind on 20 minutes before our best chance of the match came in the final seconds when the ball broke ten yards from goal, begging to be swept home. It fell to Preece, who had lumbered up from the back for our last hurrah, and he refused the invitation of last minute glory by grubbing an ugly left footer out towards the corner flag. Pretty it wasn't. The only goal of the game was a header from a corner with St T's rolling out a red carpet at the backpost instead of attacking the ball. Special mention to Cashmore today for a superb performance and to the whole team for undoubted effort. Good luck to Wolves as they push for a Europa League place and thanks for a good game. Tom Baugh adds: Much better from Wolves today, but a ludicrous number of missed chances ensured our win was significantly less emphatic than it should have been. Having completely and utterly dominated the first half, we only had a single goal to show for our efforts; Nathan Lodge rising highest to head home at the far post. Goal-line clearances, the woodwork and a few smart saves from the St. T’s keeper kept the deficit to one, which meant the home side were still very much in the game. The second half was a more even affair, but it was Wolves who continued to be in the ascendancy, carving out chances but again being far too profligate in front of goal. St. T’s could easily have drawn level, wasting a few opportunities themselves as the game became stretched and more open, particularly towards the end. But we held on and were more than deserving winners. Good luck to St. Thomas for the remainder of the season. Looking at the table, I think they’re consigned to relegation, but if they can keep the nucleus of their side together, bouncing back at the first attempt is a distinct possibility. Division Two Champions Church 4 Rowley College 1 Shawn
Devonport says: Big game today, Rowley have been the form team
since Christmas and they didnt disappoint. For us no Lee Ralph today,
he joins Dave Oakley and is out for the season on crutches with ankle
ligament damage. Rob Moody was absent taking his theory test (fancy missing
football for that :-). Pete Bennett adds: This was a great game. On a big flat pitch both teams tried and largely succeeded in playing football. For our part I feel we fully lived up to Ed’s billing and gave Champions a real test today. It’s just particularly disappointing for us that two late goals when we were chasing the game made the score unreflective of the close contest. In the end we came up just a little short, partly from being a couple of players short, which was not significant in terms of what our first eleven offered but became crucial when our depleted bench wasn’t quite able to resupply a tiring team. This is to take nothing away from Champions. They have three or four exceptional young footballers, a great team work ethic, a top quality goalkeeper and an old favourite in Jim Wilkes who was as ever impeccable. I knew from the first whistle that with their front two we would be allowed no peace for 90 minutes and so it proved. They immediately targeted our full backs but Joe and Scotty were brilliant all game. In fact one feature of this really tight game was that we probably had the better chances, which is partly a back-handed compliment since Champions scored the goals. From
our point of view with our height/weight/age advantage the key was to
arrive at the last half hour ahead since we knew we’d tire (and
they wouldn’t). For us the significant actions of the game decided
that we would not achieve this and chasing the equaliser in the final
quarter of the game meant we were open to a sucker punch. The first half
started promisingly. We played football, moved the ball around, caused
them problems and took the lead when Sammy Nelson powered home at the
culmination of a fine move. Our defence was solid with stand-in centre
back Simon Morris excellent alongside Stanton and Mark Southall was once
again bossing it in the middle ably supported by McIvor, Harvey and the
ever-improving Wayne Dyer (fitter by the week). It was made much more painful just before half time when Champions performed a smash and grab to go in 2-1. First a minor mistake (Scotty throwing it inside to Simon who barely stumbled) was ruthlessly punished by Josh Ball who simply took it on a pace and drilled it into the corner. Then we let Shawn free for one of the few times in the match and he rounded the keeper and fought off a couple of defenders to score. For us this is the next level. We’ve consolidated, Mark’s built a good side, we have good players but now we need this killer instinct which success brings. We’d won the first half football, created better chances but they’d won the battle of the key moments. And so it continued. We needed a goal and knew they were always waiting to pick us off. They had more of the ball second half but we kept our shape and the game remained a fascinating contest. I think we produced less despite the creativity and endeavour of Dyer, Harvey and the inspired Southall. For us it once again came down to missing a good chance. This time it was Christie put in by Wayne, one-on-one, keeper advance, he chipped him and it was just over (and with the form he’s been in you’d have put your mortgage on him). Simon Morris then limped off leaving us a little short at the back and when Shawn hit the post I think Rion followed up to break our hearts. That should have been it, though Matt Stanton made a brilliant last ditch tackle to prevent Shawn from getting in again, but Lee Roberts, our keeper, let a harmless corner squirm under his body for 4-1. Hard luck for Lee whose been excellent second half of the season but if you’re going to make one that was the time. All the best to Champions who will doubtless make a splash in the top league next year. We must ensure that our recent form does not get derailed by a couple of hard fought defeats. Referee was excellent today as well. Bournbrook Athletic 1 EK Corinthia 3 Jon Earp says: Well when you are down at the bottom it is true when they say nothing goes for you. We started well going up after Sam Lynch jumped on a defensive mistake and curled the ball over the on coming keeper. We the had two very good chances to put the game to bed, both wasted and that set the tone for the rest of the game. We then conceded after a cross was helped in by our keeper Lee Rhodes; he does not make too many mistakes so this was a rare one, sums up how the game was going: 1-1 at half time and us wasting lots of chances. The second half started the same, Bournbrook playing great football creating loads of chances but not taking them. Then from a corner, EK went on the counter and scored, 2-1. I warned of this at half time, we had wasted so many chances in front of goal that is was bound to catch up with us. We pressed and created chance after chance and then got caught again on the counter, 3-1 and game over. They lads played really well but it was one of those days when we could not put our chances away and that cost us in the end. Selly Oak Methodist 4 Chawn Hill Church 0 Rob
O'Neill says: The season should be winding up around about now
but we still have seven matches left and a lot to play for. Sand has been
spread on the Lion Farm pitches as they have taken a battering this season,
this mixed in with us playing our bogie team Chawn Hill made us eager
to get a good performance the week before the semi-finals and to keep
the pressure on Champions Church. Birmingham International 5 Lighthouse Lions 2 Inter take a step towards achieving third place with a solid win at home to their promotion rivals Lighthouse Lions. It's been a mixed season for Inter but yesterday was one of their better days, with their five goals scored by five different players. After a good spell Lighthouse seem to have gone off the boil but should achieve a top five placing with another two or three wins. Dynamo Kingswinford 1 MBD United 0 Today was a bitter sweet day for us. Last week we played one of the most important games DK have played in a long time. It was a must win game for us to support the “Great Escape” our Division Two status. As we know all too well, we lost this game to fellow strugglers Bournbrook Athletic and I could see just how gutting this result was and was concerned on how this would affect the team today. During the week, we had a number of withdraws and together with our long term absences numbers were looking few. This meant a long Friday night trying to select a team and then work out some tactics, the midnight oil was burning. We faced MBD United who we knew from our last game would be very physical and a real handful as a number of teams have discovered this season. Couple this with a team missing a number of players, players playing out of position and the loss of last week, I knew this game was going to be as tough as they come. We started brightly with a very fast tempo which was a delight to watch and something that we have lacked this season. We had two great chances within the first five minutes with John “Stay On Your Feet” Fairclough making the keeper's hand hurt with the best chance out of the two. At times it was a battle with both sets of midfield reminding me of gladiators slugging it out. MBD managed to sort out the slow start and created some chances forcing our keeper Mathew “The Cat” Pearson to make a fine save. The first half ebbed and flowed to half time all square. The second half started a complete reversal to the first half with MBD on the up. One of the defining moments of the game came to a great save from Mathew “The Cat” Pearson during MBD’s pressure. After this we started to get a foothold in the game. After defending well and with MBD pushing up the ball broke to Chris “Alright Duck” Sweetmore who ran the length of the pitch and shot at the MBD goal forcing the keeper into a save. But the ball just went up in the air and Scott “The Sandman” Bradley headed in for DK to go a goal ahead. The rest of game lacked any real moments with the exception of substitute Neil “That Was Close” Hambly strike on goal that nearly hit the corner flag from a well worked move from the right. At this point I have to say a big thank you to our subs today, “John “You’re the Future” Martin, James “Ever-ready” Pinches and Neil “The Mature Warrior” Hambly for their patience and continued support. Yes we rode our luck but deserved the three well fought for points. It was the 14th September 2002 at King George V Memorial Park in Wordsley against West Bromwich Beacons when we last won one goal to nil and this is an important statistic as this was our first season, the season where it all began. This was the season where we finished second in Division Two to Clarendon and our successes in the Cup followed. This was a fitting moment as today’s result reminded of the spirit we had in those days, a time that we had the faith to take on anyone and get a result, to battle together as a team and be successful. Ian “Chuck Norris” Hopson played for only the second time this season today. He was around in 2002 and his performance today not only rolled back the years but epitomised what playing for Dynamo Kingswinford means. He was a Vidic: nothing was going to get past him and he led like the hero he is. Andy “Steve G” Waddams was also another player around in our days gone by, his performance was top draw even carrying the injury he gained early in the first half. Dave “Stevie Bruce” Trask also around in 2002 was just like a terrier. Dave “Ever Present, Most Capped DK Player in History, and don’t I know it” Abel was solid. We also had Andy “Lineker” Aston available for only his second game of the season who brought experience and a voice. Blend this experience with the youth of Rob “The Captain” Waddams, Scott “The Sandman” Bradley, Ross “Denis Irwin” Hodgkins we have a fine whisky that will only mature into a great once more. But its take time, we will learn things together as a team and I as a manager but it is a real privilege to be associated with a group of players who have the potential to be great, and one day they will. Next week we face, Renewal Solihull and then Champions Church, two great teams and lets see what this Dynamo Kingswinford team of 2010 can do to improve on their three wins out of five. Division Three St John's Church 1 DC Dynamos 4 Mark
Crouch says: A massive game today saw third take on first. St
John's are a good physical side who on their day can beat anyone. This
was not their day as DC ran out comfortable winners. Maintaining their
unbeaten streak and maintaining their place at the top. DC now have the
enviable record of dropping the fewest points in any league - Have to
mention it as it might never happen again lol. Junction Ten Village 4 Brierley Hill AOG 2 Jon
Bennett says: We arrived at Junction Ten today looking to do
ourselves justice after the thrashing we took from them at the start of
the season but fearing a backlash from them after their last two results
and within two minutes it looked as this may be the case when they scored
a header from a well worked goal. Common Ground United 4 Sandwell United 3 Common Ground remain in fourth for the time being at least as they narrowly beat Sandwell United to snatch the points yesterday. David Walker took over the lead in the race for Division Three's Golden Boot and joins Shawn Devonport as WMCFL's top scorer with his hat-trick. Sandwell sit at the bottom of the bulk of Division Three teams and have four tough games coming up, including Junction Ten and Sporting Zion. They will be pleased with their season though, a massive improvement on previous years. Sporting Zion 6 Zion City 1 Sporting seem to have hit form at the right time, with a couple of big wins. I think there will be a bit of a shake up of those participating with some teams talking about folding and several new clubs making enquiries. So the difference between fourth and fifth may be crucial and Sporting could even wrest third off St John's. They have to play DC, St John's and CGU in their run-in, so some tough games but if they win them all, they'll be at least third. Rockmount United 4 Living Hope Church 4 After
taking until almost March to register a win, LHC have now gone three games
unbeaten and add a creditable draw to their tally as their season takes
a sharp turn. Steve Farley says: First blood went to
Rockmount after just five minutes in this exciting end to end encounter
at Cooksey Road. LHC were carved up by a neat passing movement giving
Callum Oakshott little chance of a save. LHC responded with some neat
football themselves with man of the match Chris Webb working tirelessly
in midfield (where does he get his energy?) but we had to wait for a neat
assist from the referee to get our equaliser. A Rockmount clearance hit
him firmly on the chest and the rebound fell perfectly for Brainy to hit
the bar and with their keeper stranded it was left to Steve Wozniak to
head the rebound into an empty net. All Nations 4 Pye Green Towers 4 Hey!
- How about this for a statistic: None of our bottom three clubs lost
yesterday. I think that four goals was the most popular score, with seven
teams achieving exactly that number in Division Three. It is nice to see
teams playing out worthwhile matches. Our bottom three have taken a few
poundings but they will all have come away from good games this week-end
having competed. |
10
March 2010 |
Saturday Preview Famous last words, but we do seem to be over the worst of the weather; the frost and snow at least. If it rains when it's warmer, it does dry much more quickly. So let's hope we'll get some football played over the next few weeks. For some sides, the season is nearly over, especially All Nations who have managed nineteen and have just three to go. Despite being bottom of the league again, they have improved: They have won a couple of games this season and conceded fewer goals. They leaked 108 in 18 last year but the figure is slightly better: 94 in 19 so far this year. They are not the first side to struggle in their early days; I could rattle off many names including St Mary's, the current league leaders. I managed to get a new photo of a few sides last Saturday. If someone from All Nations could get in touch and let me know who's who on their photo, I will update your scorers. Division One Despite St Mary's having the shortest odds of winning the title, it's still very tight at the top. Just six points split the top four and it's first versus fourth as St Mary's travel to Halesowen. St Mary's made easy meat of St Boniface last week but I think it will be tougher for them on Saturday but an away win nevertheless. In second, Clarendon travel to King's in search of three points. King's season has fizzled out somewhat: They are well and truly out of the title race and have probably done enough to stave off relegation, unless they lose all their remaining games. They'll be playing for pride and a win against Clarendon is always an achievement for any side in our league. I still say away win. City in third welcome St Boniface to the Pavilion. I don't think City will win the title this season, maybe in the coming years but should a couple of results go their way they could suddenly find themselves back in the race. They just need to win their games and hope for a slip-up; I think they will beat St Boniface. Amblecote travel to relegation threatened St Matthew's this week-end. After leading the division for so long, Amblecote's season has slipped away from them, whereas St Matthew's need a couple of wins or they will begin to panic. Three points would mean so much more to the Walsall boys this week-end and they've not had the rub of the green and I think the combination of those two factors will lead to a home win. And lastly Wolves and Perton travel to St Thomas in search of a win to banish the memories of last week's defeat to botom side Sheldon. Unfortunately, John Mozza Morris will need a lot longer than a week to eradicate the pain. He sustained a grade three sprain and ruptured ankle ligaments. Richard Webster sent me a text confirming the details and passes on his best wishes on behalf of the team. I think Wolves will win. Division Two Champions Church close in on back-to-back titles as they face perhaps their sternest test this season as they take on Rowley at Coneygree. They just need to win their last four games to secure the championship but this match is a major hurdle for them. Should they falter on Saturday, it will open the way for Selly Oak. I think it will be close, Rowley have been strong since Christmas and were unlucky to lose against Selly Oak last week. A draw maybe? EK still sit in second spot but they have blown the title. They can only get 37 points if they win their last three but Champions already have 40. I think that EK have had some changes in personnel and are settling but they have retained a core of players. Chris Morrison has had his niggling ankle injury fixed but will take some time before he is back; he has been missed. I think they will be up against it on Saturday as they take on Bournbrook. Athletic are fighting to retain their Division Two status and have looked good recently, whereas EK have struggled to score: Narrow home win. Selly Oak's season is very much alive, with the Division Two championship to chase and another Cup semi-final to contest. They need to win all their matches and hope that Champions slip up somewhere. They start with a home fixture against Chawn Hill and I'd expect them to take three points. It's fourth versus fifth as Inter and Lighthouse clash at Moor Lane. It's a bit of a tough one to call as Inter have hardly seen action over the past three months. Lighthouse were looking strong until last week, so I'm not sure about them, perhaps it was just a blip. I do think it's a key game though; with EK faltering there may be a promotion place up for grabs, so all to play for. MBD could also be in for a shout for promotion but that notion seems to be slipping away as the weeks go by. I think that they will have their work cut out against a rejuvenated DK side who have had a sudden burst of confidence. They have sniffed the remote possibility of escaping the drop, a bridge too far in my opinion but they are enjoying it whilst it lasts. Division Three DC have emerged as the firm favourites to win the division recently and three points every Saturday has seemed as safe as houses. I can't see them throwing it away and they could go on to win it with games to spare. Saturday is a major hurdle: St John's away is on paper one of the tougher fixtures left on the card but I think they will win. Junction Ten have faltered of late, with a couple of reverses and several narrow wins recorded. Brierley Hill are an improved side but I think that J10 will take the win on Saturday. They still very much remain in the hunt for the number one spot but will rely on DC dropping points. Common Ground could close the gap on St John's if DC win but they face a Sandwell side enjoying the ride down in ninth. You have to say, where there's Sandwell there's goals. The goals for is only one shy of DC but they have conceded so many in the process. I'm going with a home win: CGU have only lost four all year. Sporting Zion's aspirations to get promoted in their first season are still achievable but they have some ground to make up. Third place is within their grasp but they cannot afford to lose any more matches. It's Zion City that stand in their way on Saturday and I think it could be close: Narrow home win. Rockmount are the latest side to take on born-again Living Hope. After winning their last two games, I'm sure LHC will take to the pitch with a swagger. I never like to see a side or an individual take a hefty beating, sport is so much more enjoyable if the scores are close. This one is a result that I will be looking out for, I think Rockmount will be a match for LHC and an acid test if their new-found form was just a flash in the pan. Score draw. And last but certainly not least, Pye Green and All Nations clash in a tie in the DIvision Three mini-league that has formed itself at the bottom of the pile. Both sides will perhaps see this as a great opportunity to register a win and avoid the wooden spoon. My money's on Pye Green. Good luck everyone and have a great game. |
8
March 2010 |
| Summer Football Events I have been asked to advertise two football events this summer: Deanery Links 5-a-Side The Deanery Links 5-a-side is to be held on 22 May at the Old Wulfrunians football ground in Wolverhampton. There are various categories of teams, including three age groups for children in the morning and adults in the afternoon, including an Over 35's. If you would like to enter a team, please see the attached application form which contains full details. Deanery Links Application Form Betel of Britain Football Tournament 2010 Betel of Britain is a caring, not-for-profit Christian community in the heart of the UK dedicated to restoring homeless and substance-dependent people to productive, independent lifestyles. They are also organising a small-sided tournament in Bournville at Rowheath Pavilion, where City Church play on 7 and 8 August. For more details, please contact Darren Newton on 01564 822356 or 07748 557477 or info@betel.org.uk or see the attached flyer. |
7
March 2010 |
Saturday Review A great day for WMCFL yesterday, firstly because all our scheduled matches went ahead. We had a brief respite from the weather on 6 February but prior to that you have to go back as far as 28 November to find another Saturday with a full set of games completed. It felt like a WMCFL day out at Lion Farm, with six matches on. Every match in our league had three officials scheduled to turn up, so unless someone was unable to attend there were no club linesmen asked to pick up the flag. Quite an achievement. In Division One, the top teams all won, which means the bottom teams all lost I guess! Except for Sheldon, my apologies. We have no enormous gap at the top between the top two and the rest with four teams still in the hunt. St Mary's have ten matches remaining and the other three teams have nine or eight, so we may see some trippage before the season ends. Division Two at first glance seems to be rolling to a conclusion. Champions beat EK yesterday, which ends EK's title hopes. Whilst Selly Oak are fourteen points adrift of the team in first place, they do have four games in hand partly down to their Cup exploits. On paper Inter can still catch Champions but if they win all their remaining matches and Champions lose all theirs they will overtake them. So Division Two is a two-horse race. Division Three is still tight but DC have taken over as firm favourites. Junction Ten appear to be spluttering at the moment. Apart from a 5-0 win over Zion City, their last six matches have been settled by one goal and they've lost two to sides contesting the wooden spoon. DC cruise on with assured results towards the crown. Whilst there are half a dozen hurdles to overcome, I can't see DC losing and even if J10 beat them, they have a cushion. Nerves can play a part, as teams with nothing to lose can play the best football in a relaxed attitude against teams needing a win. The battle for that wooden spoon enters its final phase, with All Nations assuming their berth at the bottom this week-end and Living Hope suddenly finding out how to win a game. Several matches scheduled are between these sides, so they should be interesting games. Division One St Boniface 3 St Mary's 7 John
Myatt reports: Just in case my first hat-trick (since playing
a game overage for the cubs) is misrepresented by my team mates,I thought
I'd send a quick report. The first was a shin roll out of the top draw,
starting at the top of my shin pad and rolling off my toe from three yards
out. For the second I barged infront of Dave (even though he called),
and headed it against the defender, the ball dropped and I made a suprisingly
good connection with my leftie, from a whole six yards! Then the third
was 'arguably' the best of the lot, getting the ball in the centre circle
and playing an elongated 1-2 with right back Stag who landed the ball
on my head 10 yards out for me to loop it back across goal over the keeper.
Josh (Striker) then had the cheek to tell me I shouldn't have been up
there as he was having to cover back for me at Centre Back! Anyway...
Ed - Congratulations John on your hat-trick, especially as you were playing centre-half for your team. John is one of a small band of players that have scored in every season that I've been counting, the 'post-internet' era now seven season. Clarendon 4 St Thomas 0 Alex
Russon says: Another spirited performance from St T's, but alas
another defeat. We gave as good as we got, the difference being the finishing.
We'd get to the edge of their box and scratch our heads, they got in front
of our goal and were merciless. All square after half an hour with Hadden's
header going close for us, we then conceded following some tippy tappy
on the edge of our own box which went wrong, 1-0. Just before half-time,
a booming punt from their keeper lands at their striker's feet, 2-0. Plans
were hatched at half-time for a St T's revival, yet the ref's second half
re-start whistle is still audible when bang, great volley from Morrison,
3-0. Ten minutes left, a wonder strike from sub Hunter, 4-0. Zion Athletic 0 City Church 2 Martin Ogbourn says: The game today at Lion Farm (where half of WMCFL seemed to be!) was a carbon copy of our most recent game three weeks ago. It was another hard fought 2-0 win which included a goal in each half against determined opposition. Both games v Zion have been tough encounters although an aggregate of 6-1 is fairly conclusive. City started slowly again and were a little disjointed in the opening exchanges as our lack of match practice showed (three games in three months!). Zion had the better of the early play, but both keepers made good saves before David Grogin struck a sharp finish from the edge of the box in his first start of the season. Other opportunities followed, but we were very happy to go in at half time at 1-0 without really getting out of first gear. The second half was a better spectacle (for all those watching! - thanks again Kathryn!) as both teams tried to work the ball. Zion have some good players and defended well with the goalkeeper and Jon Allen playing particularly well. They also had useful possession and got into promising attacking positions, but seemed to lack a cutting edge to finish off moves. Chris Chattaway made some important saves, and along with John Sheppard were both good performers again, (and have been two of our most consistent players this season). Daniel Atkins found his passing range and demonstrated a good engine. Martin Colvin had an excellent defensive game in another clean sheet (three clean sheets in the last three games in normal time). As the half developed the game became more stretched as both teams pushed forward, but it was City who doubled the score with about 10 minutes left after a well-worked move, and powerful finish from Steve Bailey who rounded the keeper and scored from a tight angle. Overall It was a solid all round team effort from everyone (including all subs) as the workrate and passing got better as the game wore on. We know we need to improve for the challenges ahead, notably in the Cup semi-final against our new feeder club, Clarendon, and starting next week against St Bonficace. We can improve, but it is now only one defeat in 12 games and still all to play for if we keep winning! Halesowen Zion 1 St Matthew's 0 Dave Walters says: A tough game today with neither side able to take control of the game. In the first half, I can only think of two efforts on goal which were long range shots by Spicer, one which hit the bar, with Grant in our goal never needing to make a save. The second half was a little better, we created a couple of chances which Jon Lea fired over the bar and Noony headed just wide, Martin Nicholls also headed a good chance over the bar for St Matt's. The breakthrough came in the 86th minute when Noony got on the end of chipped in free kick from Spicer and the ball went in off a St Matt's defender. We were pleased with the win but not so with the performance, however I would take 1-0 every week. Martin
Nicholls adds:
A dire game on a pitch that was very uneven due to the poor weather conditoins
of late, but both teams I think were glad to get a game!! The pitch never
lent itself to our ball players in the midfield and to be honest the match
was one of the most dire experiences I have ever had. Halesowen hit the
bar from 25 yards or so and to be honest that is about the only effort
of note in a very poor first half. Same old St Matt's of recent weeks,
we worked some great openings and opportunities to create but our final
ball was lacking. Sheldon 3 Wolves and Perton 2 Tom Baugh says: First off. Well done Sheldon. As gut-wrenching as this defeat was, I find it difficult to begrudge them the win. The two games we’ve played against them have both been well contested, so perhaps it was fitting that the sides walked away with a win a piece. Right, now to the excuses: We turned up with a bare eleven and as so often turns out to be the case, picked up an injury inside the first thirty minutes; John Morris turning his ankle over on one of the numerous tractor marks running down the middle of the pitch. Oh the joys of amateur football. It was one all at that point and a close match, so hardly ideal to have to play with ten men for the last hour. But even so, the game continued to swing from end to the other. Then just before half-time I did a superb job of turning a cross into my own net to give Sheldon the lead. Don’t mention it lads. The second own goal of my career (the first coming three years back when Jadon Silva arrowed in a long throw against my shin). We managed to get ourselves sorted out at half-time and with my biased hat on, I’d say we were the better team in the second period. Olly equalised with a superb dipping volley from the edge of the box, that left Sheldon’s giant keeper clutching air. Both teams then had chances to win it, but Sheldon grabbed the points with a late header/shoulder from close range. Good luck to them for the remainder of the season. We’ll hope to bounce back next week against St. T’s. Lyndon
Fisher adds: A competative match yesterday end to end play by both sides,we
took the lead with a screamer from Shaun Horobin it went past their keeper
before he could blink. They equalised, and then a rather lucky goal by
Tim Atkins restored our lead. Champions Church 5 EK Corinthia 0 Top
vs second today and we had a pretty strong side out with Lee Ralph recovering
from his toe injury, Josh Ball back after a few weeks away and Dan played
in goal with a little plaster round his ankle, couldn't kick or run but
did a job. Selly Oak 3 Rowley College 2 Mike
Ibrahim writes in Pete Bennett's absence; get well soon Pete:
A hard fought match at Lion Farm ended with Selly Oak just edging the
game with an injury-time goal, having twice been behind to a resurgent
Rowley. Rob
O'Neill adds:
First of all I would like to congratulate Champions on being promoted
to Division One. If my maths are correct only us and Bham Inter can catch
them which guarantees them third spot. As for us I think we are now undefeated
in thirteen and with only eight matches left I think we will only need
to win five of those maximum to secure second and a Champions slip up
could still leave the title on. Lighthouse Lions 1 Renewal Solihull 4 Rowan O'Sullivan scoops a hat-trick that included a couple of penalties to help his side pretty much all but banish any lingering worries of relegation. Solihull have been in the league for about a dozen seasons and have frequently come good in the latter half of the year. And this season seems to be one of them. Despite this set-back, Lighthouse are not out of the running for a promotion spot. The close season shake up could be interesting. MBD United 3 Chawn Hill Church 4 The goals were shared around yesterday as Chawn earned a vital three points from their game with MBD. With just three games left, their situation is still precarious but something tells me that Chawn will get the points they need. For MBD they are now looking decidedly mid-table after a mixed year. Bournbrook Athletic 3 Dynamo Kingswinford 2 Jon Earp says: Finally we manage to pick up a win and a much needed three points. Dynamo Started the better boxing us in and hitting the woodwork twice, one off a well struck free kick that hit the underside of the bar and then the line and back out. We were having trouble getting forward and had to rely on counter attacking football for most parts of the half. Half time came and I made some changes and brought on an extra striker. We now went out and started to play the football we are capable of, creating chances and having most of the possession. Against the run of play Dynamo caught us on the counter and scored to take the lead. We were soon back in it after a lovely delivery off Ben Homer found the dangerous Sean Boughton with a nice glancing header to make it 1-1. Then the goal of the game came from Walter Mapako who hit a looping half volley over the keeper from 25 yards, 2-1 and looking like we could run away with the game. We then let Dynamo back in it after a lack of communication caused three scuffed clearance that fell to a Dynamo player who hit a nice low curling shot that went through everyone and into the net, 2-2 and gutted. The game was a bit more open with both teams going for the win. A goal mouth scramble found its way to Max Tully who found the bottom corner in the last minute of the game to win it, a proper captain's moment to win us the game. All the lads played well and I hope that confidence is returning and we can kick on from here. Division Three Zion City 0 DC Dynamos 2 DC stay on course for the Division Three title with a hard fought win against a determined Zion City side. As the season begins to draw to a close, DC will secure the championship if they win four out of their five remaining matches, it may be sooner if Junction Ten slip up. Next week they play third placed St John's who appear out of the title push, although mathematically are still in it. Junction Ten Village 3 Pye Green Towers 2 Without a match report to comment on the goings on at Bentley West, I'm scratching my as how to describe this result. When the two teams met back in September, Junction Ten won 9-0, which is fairly conclusive. So something has changed: Either Junction Ten have got a lot weaker or Pye Green have got better. It's probably a combination of the two. David Spencer adds: A few vital stats: Goals scored from set pieces: two, Goals scored from within the six yards box three, Red cards: three, Yellow: six. Although the score line looks close, Junction 10 did gift us one or two advantages. I did notice there was no Pete Major and their first choice goalie was not to be seen. On top of this J10 fall foul of the no tolerance rule twice in the first half and were down to nine players. The first half saw us trying to take advantage of a weakened Junction 10, and eventually it was Mark Thomas who was in the right place at the right time to get on the end of a throwing and take us 1-0 up. Quick to retaliate Junction 10 became as eager to score as we were to stop them from scoring which resulted in a messy penalty box 'pile on' (well it looked that way to me) and Junction 10 were given a penalty which was given a text book finish just before half time. HT 1-1. When we played All Nations we showed we could win a game with nine men, and Junction 10 were convinced they could also win with nine. Both teams played with a three man defence and went for goal. Wayne Taylor forced the J10 goalie to make a full stretch save and then we flooded their box on a corner and once again Mark Thomas was in the right place at the right time. But a few minutes later J10 were awarded a free kick on the edge of the area which proved too much of a problem for our keeper. Soon after our defender was dismissed for bringing down the last man making things a bit more even. Keen not to loose momentum, J10 continued to dominate and scored one more from open play. FT 3-2. A lot went on in this game, and it's fair to say that even with nine men Junction 10 were still the stronger side. Despite the nine cards, it was a fairly well natured game most the time and I we all found Junction 10 a pleasant side to play against, I wish them all the best in competing for the Division Three title. St John's Church 4 Living Hope Church 5 Pete
Hopper reports: Two on the bounce - is this what a winning streak
feels like?! Today's match ended up being a well fought, and ultimately
close match. Amazingly it was very quickly 0-3, which I missed as I was busy writing the notes from the last one. I was told that it was another ball over the top that Brainy picked up, cut inside and placed in the bottom corner. From here on in the game got a little interesting - as St John's found their feet and started to bring it - firstly a brilliant piece of control from Adam, who with his back to goal, dropped his shoulder, turned and shot into the right corner, straight through a very crowded penalty area. Great finish, 1-3. It only took a minute before St John's were awarded a penalty for hand ball. We thought justice may have been done when Callum 'I-am-reading-your-mind-right-now' Oakshott dived brilliantly to push the ball away for a throw, only for the penalty to be re-taken after the ref spotted a few LHC players sneaking into the area a bit quickly. St John's made no mistake with the second attempt. 2-3. HT The
second half looked at first to be a repeat of our home tie against St
John's, as we seemed to drop our heads and go quiet for 30 mins, with
the Jack Russell in slippers on the sideline making more noise than us.
It was no surprise when St John's equalised on 55 minutes with a piercing
move which drew our defenders out and left Callum to try and deal with
the threat, and an empty net to knock the ball into. 3-3. The game threatened
to fizzle out for us and it took a great run and through ball from sub
Lee 'this-way-and-that' Smith to set us on fire again. Chances started
to come again and a great through ball from our skipper was chased by
Pete 'I'm-just-a-blur' Kirkby, knocked across the face and finished cooly
by brainy. 3-4. St John's responded straight away and took advantage of
our failure to switch on again and a goal mouth pinball game was not dealt
with properly leaving a simple finish to level things up again. 4-4. The
ref signalled injury time left and a draw would have been a fair result,
but Nathan 'I-laugh-in-the-face-of-fair' Brainy took advantage of a St
John's 'wardrobe malfunction' and while the defender was tying his shoelace,
brainy used the extra few yards to push forward, receive an incoming ball
and literally run around the GK and into the goal. 4-5 FT. Adam
Wall adds: It's a bit late I know but just a mention on Saturday's
game. We went into this knowing LHCFC had beaten J10, so it wasn't looking
a easy prospect as we try and claw back into the top two. Earlier in the
season we beat Living Hope after being 3-0 down at half time, I felt that
time around, and I think they will agree, a lack of experience on Living
Hope's part helped us back into a game we seemingly had lost. Today was
such a massive improvement by the away side and a well deserved victory.
Well Done. Soon
after the restart Wall raced through had his shot saved only for Turton
to be on hand to slot a equaliser: 3-3 More deja vu for both teams. But
this is where Living Hope folded last time but no repeat performance as
their Man of the Match Nathan Brain got his hat-trick and put LHCFC back
into the lead. Just 20 seconds later Ash Hamer raided the left side and
delivered to a long queue which was headed by Platt, he volleyed us level.
A point I thought, not bad considering we were 3-0 down, but when you
don't finish your chances it always comes back to haunt you. Two minutes
into injury time Brain who already had a hattrick added his fourth and
a deserved win for Living Hope. Common Ground remain in a tight battle for fourth as they do the double over Rockmount United. A couple of rare goals for Jabir were added to by David Walker's twenty-seventh. I think CGU will struggle to make it any higher up the league but with St John's slipping up yesterday and with them having to play DC next week and CGU play St John's on Easter Saturday, you never know. Common Ground have a tough run-in though with St John's, Junction Ten and Sporting Zion on the script. If they beat those three, I think they will deserve third. Sporting Zion 11 All Nations 0 This match was set right in the far corner of Lion Farm on a pitch where it seemed that teams are banished to, rather than play on. I did manage to get a new team photo of All Nations as the old one is well out of date. They were doing well when I was watching the game, just 0-1 down counting down to half time and playing in a lively manner with Sam Jarvis looking threatening. Sporting were doing a good job of containing the attacks, as teams often do: Soaking up the pressure, letting the opposition expend their energy before going for the kill. The result has done their chances of an early exit from Division Three no harm at all, although Sporting's run-in looks even harder than CGU's as they have to play the top three. The goal-difference is looking decidedly better, with only four clubs in the entire league with better figures. Sporting have scored just two goals fewer than DC and let two more in. Sandwell United 0 Brierley Hill AOG 0 Jon
Bennett rounds up the reports today with his take on the goings
on at Lion Farm: Not too much to report today, a lot of huff and puff
on a very heavy pitch and a lack of real chances led to a goalless score
line and our first draw of the season. Ed
adds: Little and large were back starring at centre-half for Brierley
Hill yesterday. I think that if you added them together and took the average,
you'd have the perfect footballer. In all seriousness, it is great to
see Carl and Ian playing for Brierley Hill. Clearly, they were highly
effective as no goals were conceded. I may put them in my fantasy WMCFL
team. |
2
March 2010 |
Special General Meeting Notice to Club Secretaries: The will be an SGM on Friday 12 March at 7.30pm at Zion Christian Centre where a motion to extend the playing season will be discussed. |
3
January 2010 |
Christmas Review and Predictions Tin hat at the ready and bunker down. Once I press the upload button, I'm going into hiding until spring. Good luck to you all for the second half of the season, when it happens! It looks like we are going to have a fascinating run-in with all three divisions wide open: |
30
August 2009 |
Ed's Pre-Season Predictions I've been gradually writing my predictions over the past few weeks, taking note of what player changes I've heard about and factoring friendly results. I managed to finish them last week and was ready to publish and then we had a raft of friendly results and the Kevin Kovacs trophy. I'll be honest, I thought St Mary's were going to be turned over by Clarendon yesterday. I thought City would start with a bang but have not turned in any results (that I know of) pre-season. I thought Dynamo would struggle this year, basing my rationale on their lack of goals; then I hear Chris Sweetmore is back and Neil Hambly played for them yesterday. EK seemed to be getting pounded pre-season, then they beat Division One ZIon Athletic, albeit narrowly yesterday. I hear that St John's were heavily beaten yesterday too. So, most of what I have written appears to have been blown out of the water. I was going to revamp the lot, then I thought 'forget it, I'll put the page up anyway'. So, by popular appeal, you can click here to read how I think everyone's going to do. |
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