Wulfs rue missed chances

                      Midland Football Alliance

                   AFC Wulfrunians v Tipton Town

A meeting between these two sides is always to be anticipated as both play a game pleasing to the eye. Wulfrunians have had an exceptional first season in the Midland Alliance and have a superior set-up at Castlecroft while Tipton are old hands in this league and are consolidating following a management change in the previous close season.

The idea that you make your possession and pressure pay was never more evident than in the first half with Wulfs dominating play and Town struggling to put anything significant together. Time and again Wulfs were quicker to the second ball and in fairness could and maybe should have been 3 goals to the good way before half-time but they paid the price for not putting chances to bed when Town took the lead on 41 minutes, the scorer having plenty of time and space. Pemberton in the visitors goal played no small part in denying Wulfs their just rewards.
Blowing my own trumpet ; minutes before Town' goal I said to my mate 'Wulfs are going to pay for these missed chances'.

Half-time ; AFC Wulfrunians 0 Tipton Town 1

The second half was almost a complete change. The pace and trickery of Nisbett and Kinch was much more to the fore and it wasn't long before Tipton were three goals to the good. The introduction of Hadley had an almost immediate impact when receiving the ball on the left he cut in, danced around two defenders and put the ball away. A superb goal,he doesn't seem to do ordinary ! For a time it looked like Town may be running away with the game but all credit to Wulfrunians as they got stuck into the visitors and were rewarded with a goal towards the end of the match.

The first half was nothing to write home about but was more than made up for with an exciting full-blooded second half; full-blooded enough for a member of the Wulfrunian management to be sent off. He, along with many home spectators were not happy with some of the decisions given. As a purely neutral observer I didn't see too many wrong decisions but spectators see refereeing decisions through different eyes. Example: Wulfrunian forward racing towards goal harried by a Town defender but staying on his feet. The home crowd screamed for a penalty which was not given. I saw that as the correct decision as the player stayed on his feet until the last possible moment. If he had gone to ground at the first touch by the defender a penalty would probably have been given.



This eventually evolved into a good game and Wulfrunians can justifiably feel hard done by especially when judge on their outstanding first-half performance but they were undone by a fast-improving Tipton side which saw a superb display by their number 3 who hardly put a foot wrong throughout the game(apologies for not knowing his name)

Apologies for the poor photograph quality.

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Result AFC Wulfrunians 1 Tipton Town 3

Entrance ; £3(concession)
Programme ; N/a
Drink ; £1
Crowd ; 71
Referee ; Ok

Steelmen put to the sword.

                                    West Midland Regional League

              Bilston Town v Black Country Rangers

Things are looking up; flowers on the primroses,buds on the roses,it's definitely a little warmer, but most relevant of all.............it's stopped bloody raining! At last we can actually watch a WMRL game and the clubs are able to generate some much-needed income.

I've long believed if you want atmosphere at this level,there aint many better places than Queen Street Stadium,home of Bilston Town FC but strangely,on this occasion the cheer-leaders were nowhere to be seen.....or heard.

Nick Turton was returning to his former club and was given a good welcome and showed his appreciation by assisting as Rangers took the lead inside 4 minutes. The Steelmen replied as they always do,by going on the attack and were unlucky on a couple of occasions.Although the pitch looked in fair nick after the crap weather,there were patches of boggy ground which caught out more than a few players. Rangers had the bulk of possession but were unable to increase their lead.

Half-time ; Bilston Town 0 BCR 1

From the off the visitors tore into their hosts and it was no surprise when they scored a second.Bilston were struggling to get out of their own half as Rangers turned the screw and the inevitable third was soon in the net.I think most spectators were expecting a hammering but the hosts scored a late consolation goal to bring respectability to the scoreline.

Town didn't seem to be firing on all cylinders but to be fair they were up against a very good Rangers side who are hoping for promotion this year.

 

Photographs are courtesy of my mate Pete for remembering to bring his camera while mine was left at home. Der!

 

Click on a pic to enlarge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                 Result ; Bilston 1 BCR 3

Entrance ; £2(concession)

Programme ; £1

Drink ; £1

Crowd ; 50(est)

Ref ; Ok

Telford stick it to Stockport.

                                     Skrill North

                     AFC Telford v Stockport County

County came into this game on the back of a 5 match unbeaten run against a Telford side pushing hard for promotion. On a gluepot of a pitch it was not easy to play a normal game, the ball bouncing in some areas and sticking in others. County were certainly up for it and played a controlled passing game but as the half wore on the hosts began to assert and it really surprised no-one when Owens was on hand to push home a perfectly placed cross from Phenix. County had their fair share of possession but were sadly lacking up front. On more than one occasion, some neat midfield play was let down by poor finishing.

Half-time ; AFC Telford 1 Stockport County 0

Telford were in no mood to settle for a 1-0 win and set about the visitors with gusto. Farrell was brought down in the box for what looked like a cast-iron penalty but surprisingly, this was not given. A second goal always looked likely and it came in the 73rd minute when substitute Clancy cleverly lofted the ball over goalkeeper Dibble. Try as they might, County were unable to break through the home defence.


Telford were well worth their win while County played well enough but could not finish some promising play. Mention must be given to Countys' fantastic travelling support.

The travelling support.

 

 

He's telling everyone it's 2-0 !

 

 

 

 

Result ; AFC Telford 2 Stockport County 0

 

 

Entrance ; £10(seated,concession)

Programme ; n/a

Drink ; £1.50

Crowd ; 1819

Ref ; Ok

 

 

 

 

Glassboys made to work for it.

                                                                Calor League
                                   Stourbridge v Bashley

Once again Mother Nature had a hand in deciding which game I would I would see this week. The WMRL programme was completely wiped out and the Midland Alliance was left with 3 games. So I made my way to The Memorial Ground at Amblecote for this game involving a top six team against the strongest team in the league( the one holding up the rest). The rational thinking would be ' side in free-scoring mood will get a bucket-full against the bottom side ', but it doesn't always work out that way and for the first twenty or so minutes Bashley looked far from a team at the foot of the table. Mistakes were plentiful as a swirling wind made ball control virtually impossible but added to the excitement.The visitors' defence seemed impenatrable and for a while, an upset looked possible; that is until the 23^rd minute when The Glassboys took the lead via Geddis; a lead they held for just 8 minutes when Joyce bustled his way through for a fine equaliser. Just reward for their first-half efforts.

Half-time ; Stourbridge 1 Bashley 1

With the wind getting ever colder, during half-time an offer of hot soup from Steve Mills(author of the excellent history of Tipton Town FC, From Tipton to England) was just what was needed.

Whether Glassboys manager Gary Hackett reorganised his side or gave them a damn good bollocking at half-time, it worked. The hosts restricted Bashley to the odd breakaway and within ten minutes of the restart Stourbridge were ahead through Brown. Six minutes later came a move which was worth the entrance money alone, Billingham starting and finishing with a dance through the visitors defence and scoring a scintillating goal. A pity we won't be seeing that on MOTD.

Bashley were not helped by having a man sent off mid-way through the half . The hosts took full advantage of their extra man and two minutes into injury time Broadhurst added a fourth. This was probably not their best display of the season but Stourbridge did deserve their win ; as for Bashley, they put up a spirited display but were finally undone by the better team on the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Result ; Stourbridge 4 Bashley 1

 

Entrance ; £5(concession)

Programme ; £2

Drink ; £1 - £1.20

Crowd ; 379

Referee ; V.Good(best I've seen in a while)

Hednesford miss their chance to go top

                                              Skrill North

                           Hednesford Town v Altrincham

The weather is doing its' best to deny us Proper Footy followers our weekly feed. With only one game surviving in each of MFA & WMRL, the choice of games was somewhat limited to say the least. Not for those clubs the super-duper pitches with a squillion miles of drainage pipes beneath. No, their option is to miss games because of crap weather and then cram in 3 or 4  games a week at seasons' end. Rant over, that feels better.

This was 2nd against 6th with the home side having the added bonus of going top of the table should they win - North Ferriby Utd being on FA Trophy duty. Good football was basically out of the question given the conditions - a glue-pot of a pitch and a cold swirling wind. The visitors seemed to adapt better with their passing game while their hosts seemed content to feed their strikers over the top which for the most part was ably dealt with by the Alty defence.

Half-time ; Hednesford Town 0 Altrincham 0

Come the second half and Hednesfords' whole game-plan changed. Gone was the ball over the top to be replaced by a pressing game which confined the visitors in their own half for most of the rest of the game. Hednesford were relentless ; try as they might, the visitors could not get near the hosts' goal. That is until the 75th minute when a free-kick a metre outside the area was awarded the visitors - which from where I was standing looked like a penalty. A great chance to score was duly despatched over the bar.

By this time the weather had turned distinctly awful, the wind having picked up and the rain having got a lot heavier(there's no doubt about it, our weather is s**t). Just at the point I was about to give in to the weather and leave, up popped Kris Taylor to volley Town into the lead in the 86th minute. Hednesford were heading to the top ! Or they would have been had not Shaun Densmore equalised for Altrincham in the 3rd minute of injury time.


A good whole-hearted effort from all concerned given the horrible conditions and it's as you were position-wise with Town second on goal-difference and Altrincham still in 6th .

Click on a pic to enlarge

How far away are they ?

 

 the crowd are singing to him; sounded

like something about sand-blasted.

 

 

 

 

Result ; Hednesford Town 1 Altrincham 1

 

Entrance ; £6(concession)

Programme ; £2.50

Drink ; £1

Crowd ; 703

Referee ; Good