PREMIER DIVISION action this weekend was on rations as only ONE league game was played and whilst the majority of the division were involved in cup action , TAMWORTH CASTLE were taking on RED STAR BELGRAVE and with Buckingham Road having been treated to a trim and a fresh coat of paint it was game on in the blustery windy conditions . Both sides have struggled so far this season and with both languishing near the foot of the table , this was a real six pointer between two sides desperate to notch points in the hope of staying in the division . Castle have put in some decent performances of late but have struggled to get the job done and take points . Red Star Belgrave gave new signing Dave Hartley his first start of the season in this game and Red Star started the game brightly playing some good football but looked nervous at the back but once they hit their midfield and forwards they moved the ball very confidently . Castle welcomed back Tom Starkey to their starting eleven and it was he with Nick Cooper that created Castles first chance . The ball was worked through midfield and Fitzpatrick slipped in down the left channel and his ball across the six yard box fell to big Jon Adams to stab home what seemed an easy goal for himself , but the Red Star keeper made a terrific stop to deny him . Red Star created some half chances but lacked that bit of quality in their final pass or cross and they were not penetrating the Castle goal enough for it to bother them . With both sides now matching each other , who was going to break the deadlock at this point could of been anyones guess . If you guessed Castle , then you would of guessed right as when a trademark customary Lee ’ The Bomber ‘’ Fitzpatrick long throw found it’s way into the six yard box , Castles FARNWORTH was on hand to just flick home for 1-0 to his side . Now leading and the question was for Castle how were Red Star going to respond to going behind and when a routine goal kick by Castle was attacked by the Red Star midfield and won , they then ran at the Castle defence unchallenged and when the ball was slipped to the Red Star striker Dave HARTLY his shot was deflected past Castle keeper Rich Cooper giving him no chance . In the process of drawing his team level , goalscorer Hartly was injured and despite bravely trying to carry on he was replaced by David Hewins , as the game was very closely poised at 1-1 . More cleaver interchange between Starkey and Nick Cooper enabled the latter to get into the box and shoot low across the Red Star keeper which he saved but parried the shot into the path of FITZPATRICK who slotted home to make it 2-1 to Castle and thats how the scoreline stayed until half time arrived . The second half started with Castle much the brighter of the two teams as they pushed their defensive line higher up the pitch and for the first ten minutes were camped in the Red Star half . It enabled Castle to build pressure and for FITZPATRICK to grab his second goal to make the scoreline 3-1 . Then came a rare treat from Castles Scott PENDREY who was pushed into midfield by his manager and he managed to latch onto a long throw to turn sharply in the box and smash in his effort for 4-1 to Castle . At this point Castle started to look like they had taken their foot off the gas and had the game won and they were soon punished as Red Star who had upped their game and were now playing some good stuff grabbed a sloppy goal from Castles point of view to make it 4-2 as Marc WATKINS scored . With their tails up Red Star were now on the front foot and Watkins went close again as his side upped the tempo but just as things were looking promising for Red Star , Castle managed to score an excellent goal finished by CARPENTER to restore their three goal cushion and lead 5-2 . Red Star kept their spirit about them by continuing to push forward and look threatening and they got their rewards as striker Dave HEWINS smashed in a twenty yard free kick with five minutes left on the clock making it 5-3 . Although Red Star kept at it , it was too little to late as they lost 5-3 in a game played in a competitive and thrilling spirit that was so obviously important for both sides to win . Castle were good value for their win and If they could have sustained their performance during the second half then the scoreline might have been a little wider and more pleasing for themselves ...... DIVISIONAL CUP saw the holders GLASCOTE SWIFTS take on an in-form WHITE LION LINK for a place in the next round . What would of been billed as one of the games of the day on the fixture list turned out to be no more than a stroll in the park for White Lion as Glascote arrived having only nine men and licking their lips White Lion set about Glascote straight from the off showing them no mercy as their two man advantage was just to much for Glascote and they were ran ragged the majority of the match , and the only downside to the final score was that White Lion hadn’t hit double figures as they embarrassed last seasons winners beating them 9-0 . Adam DELANEY and James PURSLOW both banged in hatricks whilst Kieron CLEARY also got in on the act with two for himself and James REDFEARN scored the other ...... DIVISION 1 saw VAULTS come into their game with ROCK BAR full of confidence after picking up two wins on the bounce and having taken league leaders Austrey Rangers unbeaten crown last week they grabbed a third straight win after an early thirty yard strike from John BARRON was enough to separate the two sides . Rock Bar were the better of the two teams during the second half and had to chances to take something from the game but ended up with nothing after a 1-0 loss ..... HOCKLEY PRINCE met POLESWORTH ROYAL OAK in a game of two halves effected mainly by the windy conditions . Hockley controlled the first half with the wind behind them and Martin HEATH bagged a couple and was only denied a hatrick by two superb saves from the Polesworth keeper . Hockley missed a host of chances before John ASKEY hit a thirty five yard free kick to make it 3-0 at half time . With the wind getting stronger and behind Polesworth they were handed a lifeline when the referee awarded a penalty that never was , making it 3-1 and Polesworth pressed forward and managed to grab another two goals to snatch an unlikely 3-3 draw ..... DIVISION 2 and unbeaten league leaders WILNECOTE WMC went into their game with BULLS HEAD TWO GATES fancying to extend that record but how wrong they were to think just that . Bull started at a frantic pace and their pressure game worked as first Chapman released SHEPPERD to slot home then captain CHESHIRE again from a Chapman pass rounded the Wilnecote keeper for 2-0 . Well on top Bull added a third as a Sutheran cross was headed home by CHESHIRE for 3-0 . Wilnecote had no answer to what a rampant Bull were now throwing at them and when SUTHERAN went on a mazy run swapping passes with Chapman along the way he rounded the keeper and smashed in goal number FOUR , despite the best efforts of the Wilnecote defender on the line and this was Bulls Head back to their best . Continuing their dominance Bulls Head scored again as this time Davis beat three men and unleashed a thunderbolt and the astute SHEPPERD managed to get a head on it , diverting the ball into the opposite corner for 5-0 . Bull then almost added a sixth soon after but the attack was broken down and the ball launched clear up field and against the run of play Wilnecote raced clear to score and make it 5-1 . Bull then conceded another when a fluke shot from the Wilnecote forward caught the wind and sailed in giving the keeper no chance and the score at the break was 5-2 . The second half was end to end and the woodwork kept the final score to 5-2 and Bulls Head became the first side to beat Wilnecote WMC in the league this season ...... MILE OAK met COTTAGE FARM RANGERS and the only goal of the game saw Cottage Farm win 1-0 ..... AFC BOLEHALL picked up their first league win since the opening day of the season , surviving a late scare from bottom club DRAYTON BASSETT . Bolehall started brightly with Milford having a couple of long range efforts but they were dealt a real blow as Ashley Prescott went off injured with a pulled muscle in the first ten minutes . Bolehall didnt let it get them down and they found the opening goal from a free kick on the edge of the box that saw Larvin crossing it in for Milford who thought he scored with his header until THOMPSON slid in and stole the ball off of the line claiming the goal for himself . Bolehall doubled their lead on twenty five minutes when Rowland crossed in for Tim PRESCOTT to head in making it 2-0 . It was soon to be 3-0 and Drayton Bassett must have feared the worst , left back Thomas MORTIMER getting it with a volley as Rowland made a driving run from the right wing and his shot deflected to the left back who found himself in the box and took it well . Weather conditions were terrible at the start of the second half , the wind picking up a lot and the rain poured down as Drayton Bassett pegged Bolehall back , but Bolehall stood strong and got a fourth with thirty minutes to go . Milford ran from the wing into the box before the ball struck a Drayton hand when missing a tackle and THOMPSON stepped up and scored his seventh goal of the season . Bolehall seemed to be cruising to victory until Thomas Mortimer gave the ball away in the final ten minutes gifting Bassett’s Gary CORDELL what all thought would be a consolation goal . That until Bassett scored a second straight after as they piled forward and CORDELL beat the Bolehall keeper from the edge of the box . The comeback was on and Bolehall got caught and outnumbered and a Bassett cross came in and Paul BRUCKSHAW headed in making it 4-3 . It was a rather nervous end for Bolehall but they managed to make sure Drayton Bassett had no other chances to level the game and took all three points ..... After dominating most of their game BONDS lost out to PROGRESSIVE . GLASGOW and TUNNICLIFFE scored in the first half for Progressive and DUDLEY scored in the second half for them to lead 3-0 before Rob PAYNE came off the bench to score a consolation for Bonds as they lost 3-1 ..... DIVISION 3 saw second placed FAZELEY TOWN take on bottom of the table EDINGALE SWIFTS for what on paper was three points in the bag for Fazeley before a ball had even been kicked . Swirling winds made it difficult for either team to play football and Fazeley struggled to get their normal passing game going . However they did create some chances with two crosses from right back Stevenson deserving more than the corners they earned . Finally Ben JENKINS swept home to score the goal which had been coming the last few games and Fazeley went into the break 1-0 up thanks to a good punch clear by Tallis . Fazeley then conceded an equaliser when Edingale managed to exchange passes down their left and a looping cross left their striker one on one and he couldnt miss for an equaliser . Fazeley were left shocked and for the next five minutes it was all edingale and only a last ditched tackle from Stevenson stopped the Edingale strike force getting a second clear strike at goal . Towns manager had a strong bench thanks to a number of no shows from last week and the introduction of Glover , Ridley and Diamond made the difference . DIAMOND managed to score two goals even though he looked like he was trying to miss the second !! Martin CUFFE used the Edingale back line for a one two before going past the keeper and scoring from a tight angle to make it 4-1 at the death ..... DIVISION 4 , and after securing their first points of the season last week GATE INN were confident of getting a result going into their match against fellow strugglers GLASCOTE SWIFTS RESERVES . The game started with Gate Inn at the foot of the table and Glascote just above them three points better off and a win for Gate would of taken them off the bottom of the table for the first time this season . Both teams found it hard to create chances in the windy conditions but Gate broke the deadlock when a hopeful punt up the pitch thirty minutes into the game saw the Gates Luke CLEMPSON break free and lob the advancing Glascote Swifts keeper to find the back of the net for 1-0 . The remainder of the first half saw neither side create any goal real scoring opportunities and the Gate went in at half time 1-0 up . The second half continued much like the first with most of the play being in the centre of the pitch with neither keeper having anything to do really . Gate Inn made a change and super sub Mitch BIRD scored with fifteen minutes left when the Gates Ashley Wood unselfishly crossed the ball to the far post and sixteen year old Mitch Bird was there to slot home from close range being in the right place at the right time and the game finished 2-0 to the Gate in a game that certainly wasnt pretty to watch for the spectators who braved the cold in the wet and windy conditions . Now after waiting a while for their first points of the season the Gate now have back to back wins in the league and this win took them above their opponents on goal difference and off the bottom of the league ..... TAMWORTH THREE TUNS secured back to back wins defeating TAMWORTH LEGION . Again it was two early goals that set them on their way as Jack MASON scored twice to give his team a 2-0 halftime lead . Shortly after the restart MASON completed his hatrick and further goals scored by Toby HARVEY and a fine effort from Spencer STEWARD made it 5-0 . Tamworth Legion scored a consolation goal in the last minute to make the final scoreline 5-1 ..... ANKERSIDE RANGERS started their game with WARTON CLUB well and were immediately on the front foot with them holding a good shape and pressing the ball well . After about fifteen minutes Ankerside got their reward and went ahead as Nathan WARDLE flicked a shot in at the front post from a corner . Ankerside continued to be the better team and had several clear cut chances which they failed to take leading them into the second half with a slender lead against the wind . In the second half Ankerside continued to play well and again had chances but ultimately they were made to pay in the last five minutes when Warton equalised thanks to a piece of bad luck as a ball struck by Stephen Shaw went in for OG off Ankersides own Ed Pickering who could do nothing about it . The final minutes were tense for Ankerside as Warton pressed but they still carried a threat on the break . In the dying minutes the ref chalked off a goal for Warton which would have been extremely hard on Ankerside as they had been the better team for large periods . The game ended 1-1 leaving Ankerside disappointed , but positive after a battling display that now sees them rise to the dizzy heights of fifth place in the league ..... Unbeaten league leaders CASA BAR met an in-form young ST JOHNS team for what promised to be a great game and it didn’t disappoint. Casa Bar retaining their unbeaten start to the season winning 5-3 thanks to a Carl TEDDS hatrick and goals from Ryan TEDDS and Anthony THOMAS ..... HURLEY UNITED RESERVES played out a 2-2 draw with MIDLAND UNITY . Unity got off to a bad start when Hurley broke on a Unity freekick and within three quick passes down the middle Unity were well and truly undone and a bullet strike from FRASER left the Unity keeper no chance to give Hurley an early 1-0 lead . Unity dusted themselves off and found an equaliser through OREILLY , who continued his amazing strike rate of scoring in every game so far , being put through and sliding the ball past the keeper for 1-1 . The goal however sparked protests as the Hurley linesmans spring loaded flag arm gave offside only for the ref to rightly over-rule him and let the goal stand . The protests lasting for well over five minutes but the goal stood . Unity were soon 2-1 up when Reece fed Berry from the left hand side , and BERRY shrugged off the defender and beat the Hurley keeper easily with no questions asked for sure this time . Both teams would then have their chances but the half ended 2-1 . The second half saw Hurley find themselves a fortunate equaliser within five minutes of the restart when a corner kick hit a shoulder of a Unity defender and went in the net for an OG making it 2-2 . From here on both teams had their chances to go in front , Unity on several occasions could have and should have retaken the lead , but poor finishing would them down , even when the keeper would be easily beaten . Hurley themselves were not quiet , twice they found themselves baring down on Unitys keeper , who twice fantastically saved both goal bound shots . Fulltime bought a share of the spoils at 2-2 and neither team could argue it was a fair result .... E.S GEORGE MEMORIAL CUP fixtures saw Premier Division ROYAL OAK KINGSBURY meet Division 3’s leaders REAL BELGRAVE in what was the second meeting of these two sides in cup competitions this season and proved to be another close game that Belgrave claim was only spoilt by the ref . The game began and after only five minutes the ref began his comedy act and gave a penalty to Royal Oak which baffled all , even the Oak players , but they weren’t moaning as they converted the spot kick to 1-0 up . It wasn’t long after that an Oak twenty five yard free kick hit the Belgrave bar and the ball fell to a lone Oak player on the six yard line who was yards offside but the ref ignored the linesman and over ruled him and Oak led 2-0 . Real continued to play football as they do and always look like scoring and after missing a few chances Belgrave got one back before the break with a smart header from Matty PRICE for 2-1 . In the second half Belgrave continued to chase the game but were becoming very frustrated with some of the bizarre refereeing decisions that were being given that made the game very stop , start . With an injury to Ste ‘’ Sick Note ‘’ Francis he made way for Rich ‘’ Monkey ‘’ Bown , for this to last only five minutes before another blow from the ref as Bown made a comment to himself for the ref to show him a straight red . With this blow Belgrave never stopped pressing but Oak made it 3-1 . Real Belgrave continued creating chance after chance but could not put them away until with five minutes to go when Matt WILSON on his return from injury popped up in the box to slot home and make it 3-2 . The goal was to little to late for Belgrave and the game petered out with Oak progressing ..... Premier Division HURLEY UNITED were taken all the way to extra time by Division 1’s TWO GATES UNITED in a game where one goal was enough to win it and it was Hurley who scored the all important goal in extra time winning 1-0 . On a very windy day , there was sure to be little quality football played in this game and both teams did not play well for most parts of the game . Two Gates came closest to scoring when a free kick bounced off the bar in the second half and Hurley’s Michael Swan had two good chances in normal time but was thwarted by the Two Gates keeper and defenders on the line . Extra time was needed and Hurley played there three best passes of the whole game and cut Two Gates open for Michael SWAN to round the keeper and finish his effort , third time lucky to win it for his team ... AUSTREY RANGERS of Division 1 were to strong for Division 3’s ONE STOP SUPPLEMENTS winning 7-2 . A game littered with incredible strikes was won emphatically in the end by Austrey Rangers . A Billy FARLEY strike was at the end of a five man move , scoring a great twenty five yard finish into the top corner . Benn MINSHULL as usual got himself in on the act scoring goals , a half volley from twenty five yards that went in off the post was followed up with a great twenty yard strike into the top corner . Minshull wasn’t finished there and completed his hatrick with a free kick from twenty yards out . He then chested down and controlled neatly a pass from a team mate to blast into the far corner from twenty yards , and he finished his FIVE goal haul with a firm strike from eight yards . The match was marred by bad injury to Aaron Waterson of One Stop just after half time , further weakening the injury hit supplements side ..... ELLISION ROSE BOWL CUP and Premier Division leaders WOOD END SPORTS met Division 3’s BIRCHMOOR UNITED . It was Birchmoor who were quick out of the blocks and they went into half time 2-0 up against the Premier league table toppers with two goals from TURNER and the scoreline didn’t flatter them at all . In the second half as expected Wood End came back into the game to take a 3-2 lead . Birchmoor equalised through TURNER with his hatrick goal . Wood End though showed their quality by scoring twice to run out 5-3 winners . Two goals for Dean RATHBONE were followed by goals from Dan DOUGLAS , Ash HAMILTON and Dave YONWIN as Wood End saved any cup upset ..... Representing the TDSFL in the LEICESTER SUNDAY PREMIER CUP are APPLEBY MAGNA who travelled to Hinckley to play TAVERN who have been opponents in previous years . Right from the kick off Appleby dominated the game but poor finishing and an outstanding performance from Taverns keeper meant Appleby struggled to put the game away . It always looked that it would take a sloppy goal and so it was , on twenty five minutes a Mitchell Jordan corner bobbled about in the six yard box and skipper Sam CARLINE was on hand to force the ball home . With more missed chances it remained 1-0 at the break . The second half started much as the first but Appleby got earlier rewards , good work on the left by James Fisher lead to the ball finding Dan STEVENSON and he gratefully drilled the ball home . An hour gone and a 2-0 lead , Appleby thought they were home and dry but Tavern had other ideas and they came back into the game . With twenty minutes to go they broke out and although Chris Hodge made a brilliant save the rebound was drilled home by a Tavern player who reacted first .With five minutes to go Appleby thought they had ridden the storm but a Tavern break on the left resulted with the deftest of chips to float the ball into the net . It looked odds on for extra time but with the ref looking at his watch Dan Stevenson used his strength to get past his marker and laid a beauty of a ball into the path of Danny TURNER who made amends for his earlier misses to smash the ball home to win the game . If they are to progress Appleby need to be a bit more clinical to get results for their excellent approach work that today nearly saw them fall short ......
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 17:20:42 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015