Gornal run riot

West Midlands Regional League  Division 1

Gornal Athletic 6 Wyrley 2(click on the teams for wiki or twitter page link)

Anyone watching MOTD tonight will not see the two sublime moments we witnessed.Indeed,for a few seconds it was as though we'd been transported to the Nou camp or the Bernabeu as Cox danced his way (a la Messi 👏👏)through the visitors' defence to score a peach of a goal! Not to be outdone,following the interval,the visitors No 16 pulled off a similar feat,beating a couple of players,creating a space and planting the ball in the roof of the net.
   Athletic gained only their second win of the season with this emphatic result over strugglers Wyrley. It was,in a way, a strange sort of game with Gornal dominating long stretches of play,Wyrley unable to get any sort of momentum going and the hosts threatening to run away with the game with a double figure score and yet,there was a period following half-time when the visitors upped their game,pulled a goal back to make it 4-2 and came close to getting a third.That would have been interesting to say the least.However,Gornal were not to be outdone and bagged the points with an impressive display.

Special Mention ; Gornal Athletic ; Number 7 Cox
                            Wyrley                Number 16(?)

Entrance ; £2
Programme ; £1
Drink ; £1 *** Not a good coffee but certainly not a bad one!
Crowd ; 45 est
Referee ; 7/10
Dogs ; 0
Entertainment value ; 7/10

Old Wulfrunians on the up

West Midlands Regional League Division 1

Tipton Town 0 Old Wulfrunians 1

This was a game of few chances.The visitors,it has to be said,were the the better side for most of the match. Towns best spell was early in the game but even then they found a resolute visitors' defence.On twenty minutes Town were awarded a penalty which was saved superbly 

Apart from the occasional foray that was about the sum total of Tiptons' threat.The visitors,on the other hand always seemed to find an opening and it was no surprise when they took the lead on 75 minutes with a very well-worked goal.They also hit the post and the crossbar as well as forcing the home keeper into at least three brilliant saves.

This was probably just a 'bad day at the office' for Town.For Wulfrunians,praise indeed for a thoroughly well-deserved win.

Special mentions ; Tipton Town - No 5
                           Old Wulfrunians - No 7

Entrance ; £3 concession
Programme ; n/a
Drink ; £1 Star value ; ***  Pretty good
Referee ; 6/10
Crowd ' 40 est 

Transfer Window

So there is to be a change in the Transfer Window next summer. This is the silly season when the clowns in charge of football clubs throw money like confetti to buy bridesmaid for their teams and the greedy bridesmaids hold clubs to ransom for an even bigger share of the pot. The only new challenge that they seek is to see how much money they can take out of the beautiful game.
 All changes though next year when the deadline ends on the Thursday before the season starts. It will not make much difference to the transfer market other than the fans who spend half a weeks wages  buying a shirt with their favourite bridesmaid’s name on can be confident that the shirt will be valid until the winter transfer season starts. Providing of course that they wait until the Friday before the season starts to buy it.
But how does that affect us. Not a bit is the confident answer. Our Blogmaster will not be moving on. ‘Not for all the black pudding in Dudley. Nor all the beer in Banks’ brewery’ he said when interviewed at Lye on Saturday. ‘I am Black Country ay I ? And I watch Proper Football.’ he continued. So that is it, we are here for the long term. Watching good football and searching for decent cups of coffee.

Worcester City just edge it

Midland Football League Premier Division 

Lye Town v Worcester City  


                   


                                    0                                                   1

An excellent game for the neutral at the Sports Ground,Stourbridge Road Lye where the two teams provided 90 minutes of  cracking entertainment.Lye started this as one of only three unbeaten sides in the league and their record looked to be in jeopardy early on as the visitors seemed to hold the upper hand with their crisp passing game.The hosts spent the first 15 minutes defending in their own half as City poured forward at every opportunity but ever so gradually they worked themselves into the game without actually having a direct shot on goal and the half ended all square.

On the hour mark the visitors took the lead with a well-worked goal; a pass down the right gave Danks plenty of time to cross and Reynolds wrong-footed the keeper. This did nothing to deter the hosts as they upped their game searching for an equaliser and they got it on 70 minutes with a superb header,only for the referee to disallow it for an infringement only he was aware of. From where we were it looked a perfectly good goal..City certainly didn't sit on their laurels and defend,far from it and as the game wound down,they drew numerous free kicks from the home side.

Credit to both sides for providing terrific entertainment.The non-league game looks to be in rude health.

Entrance ; £5 concession
Programme ; Sold out
Drink ; £1. Star value **(could do with some coffee in it !)
Crowd ; 250 est (Crowd boosted by excellent away support)
Referee ; 6/10
Entertainment value ; 9/10

Tividale give the big boys a scare.

FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round 

The Beeches ground,Tividale.

Tividale 2 AFC Rushden & Diamonds 3

After seeing some of the garbage 💩churned out by our illustrious England team on Friday,this gem of a game was like a breath of fresh air . West Midland Regional League Tividale entertained Evo-Stik East League table-toppers Rushden & Diamonds. Straight from kick-off it seemed the hosts would be overwhelmed by their two leagues higher opponents but somehow the visitors were kept at bay. After weathering the storm,Tividale gradually played themselves into the game as the half progressed.The hosts were testing the visitors keeper and on 35 minutes they took the lead with a fine goal from Smith.The visitors were visibly shocked as they had controlled most of the game to that point.

Following the break it was 'as you were' with Rushden in total control and within minutes they had levelled with a goal of some quality from Shariff. Again there were ominous signs of a rout by the visitors and again Tividale surprised us all when,in a rare breakaway Smith scored his second with a beautifully placed header.Game on ! Back came Rushden and that man Shariff claimed his second and shortly after,a third. Tivi were unlucky with a last-gasp effort but the visitors came out worthy winners.

What a stunning advert for Non-League football. Next Mays' final will probably be a forgettable affair involving any two from the top six of the PL.This game deserves all the accolades I and others can give it.Congratulations to both teams for showing us what the FA Cup should be about.

Special mention to :- For Tividale,Goalkeeper & No3
For AFC Rushden & Diamonds,Shariff(and their fans who added to the atmosphere)

Entrance ; £3 concession
Programme ; sold out
Drink ; £1 coffee star rating **
Crowd ; 250 est
Referee ; 8/10
Entertainment value ; 8/10