WOLVERHAMPTON SPORTING 2 - 3 HINCKLEY AFC

 

     MIDLAND FOOTBALL LEAGUE, DIVISION ONE

                 Pride Park, Hazel Lane, Great Wyrley, WS6 6AA

                     29th October 2022         3:00 pm Kick-Off

Today is the last day of British Summer Time and to make the most of this I am going to a 3pm kick-off. I had toyed with the idea of going to see the FA Trophy match at Hednesford who are playing Stourbridge but instead I am saving a bit of money by going to watch Wolves Sporting who are at home against Hinckley AFC.

This will be my 2nd visit to Pride Park, after having watched a West Midlands League match last season when Norton Canes FC were ground sharing there. I'm not sure what's happened to that club now? Folded maybe?

After some early rain, the forecast is a good one. Cloudy with sunny intervals with the temperature possibly hitting 18 degrees C.

I make my way by train to Walsall, have a good value meal of fish & chips at the Tesco cafe and then take the train to Landywood, which is the station before Cannock.   

It takes me a leisurely 20 minutes walk to get to the ground and this gives me time to buy a cup of tea at 'Wolfies Bar' which lies at the top of a flight of steps in the building which houses the changing rooms below. 

Unfortunately there are no programmes for sale, just like when I saw Paget Rangers a few weeks ago. The trouble is for clubs with usually low attendances, it's probably not worth their while and expensive to print too. I later find the team line-ups on a print out and pinned up near the entrance.

When the teams venture out on to the pitch they are both in their first team colours, Wolves Sporting in orange shirts, black shorts and socks while Hinckley AFC are decked out in red shirts, blue shorts and red socks.

It's the home team that start the brighter, with their No.11, Luke Francis put through on the left and he has his close range shot blocked by keeper, Brandon Bache.

The warning signs are not heeded though by the AFC defence as the same player is put through again a few minutes later and this time he makes no mistake with a placed shot going just inside the right hand post.

Hinckley are trying to get in to the game but their attacking efforts are generally being snuffed out by the Sporting defence before they can get close to their goal. 

Disaster strikes for the visitors when a calamitous defensive error leaves the Wolves Sporting No.9, Arman Khoshkoo with the simple task of placing the ball into an empty net after Brandon Bache had raced out of his goal after 30 minutes.

Unfortunately the visitors suffered some more bad luck just before the end of this half when their No.3, Jeremie Agholor is clattered by Sporting's Callum Wood at the other end of the pitch to me and so I don't have a good view of the incident. I only know that the Hinckley fans are displeased by this.

He is escorted limping gingerly off the pitch at half-time, a sad sight indeed! 

So Wolves Sporting are very much in the driving seat and what will Hinckley do to shake things up?

I see that there is still work being done to this ground. When I came here last season I was told that drainage work had been done and I can see that the labour is being carried out by a few volunteers on an ongoing basis.

I had seen 2 photos on the club website yesterday of the ground in 2014, presumably when it was bought. It was a sorry sight and has been well renovated since then.

The second half gets under way and Hinckley are putting more effort in to their game. The pep talk by the manager seems to have lifted them and just 7 minutes in their No.9, Chandler Pegg, has scored. I think that he previously played for the MFL Premier outfit, Lichfield City. A good acquisition!

8 minutes later and the visitors have equalised, courtesy of a penalty scored by their No.8, Lewis Collins, after Pegg is brought down in the area by Sporting defender, Ellis Jones.

  We have a real game on our hands now and both teams are going for the 3 points although the momentum seems to be in Hinckley's favour, courtesy of their vocal loyal band of supporters.

Both teams fashion chances and it's the visitors who score the next goal, when following good work by that man Pegg on the left of the Sporting goal, the ball is played in to Jack Edwards who shoots past home keeper Ben Wood. You could almost feel the ball being sucked into the net by the Hinckley supporters standing behind that goal!

    This sparks a big celebration with the some of the players and jubilant supporters.

This proves to be the winning goal despite some late pressure by Wolverhampton Sporting. A fitting finale for a memorable fight back by the visitors and the match has been a great showcase for Non-League football, a testament to both the competing teams today.

I had a feeling that this match would be a good one to watch with both sides having similar league positions. Hinckley are now in the play-off places and later I find out that the top 3 teams all lost today.

Wolves Sporting are in 9th spot and no doubt will be looking to build up a good run of results to get further up the table.

Entrance Fee:                   £6 (£4 concession)

Match Attendance:          38 (0fficial figure)  Approx 50 (head count)

Match Programme:         none available

Entertainment Value:     8.5/10 

PAGET RANGERS 1-1 DUDLEY TOWN

 

     MIDLAND FOOTBALL LEAGUE, DIVISION ONE

           Central Ground, Coles Lane, Sutton Coldfield, B72 1NL

                         8th October 2022,    3pm Kick-Off

There is another rail strike on today and following my last weeks bus journey back home, I have decided to make sure that I will not be going through the city centre this time.

Travelling back from Darlaston had been fine until I got to the centre of Birmingham and then realised that the traffic was so bad that nothing was moving by Moor Street rail station for the five minutes I was waiting for the No.4 bus back to Acocks Green. I decided to start walking, which I did for most of the way (with a 20 minute meal stop), until I finally managed to get a bus for the last mile and ended up getting back at 9pm!

So today I am going to Sutton Coldfield via Erdington to watch the leaders of the Midland League Div One, Dudley Town in their away match at Paget Rangers who ground share with their landlords, Sutton Coldfield Town at Coles Lane.

It promises to be an intriguing clash as Paget have a good home record while Dudley are proving to be a handful both home and away.

It's a glorious day of sunshine with temperatures around the 15-16 C mark.

I take the 11A bus to Erdington without any problems, have time for a light meal at a local cafe and then catch one of the several buses that go to nearby Sutton Coldfield.

I have got to the Central Ground 20 minutes before kick-off, pay my entrance fee and have time for a leisurely cup of tea. 

For a match like this, it's looking to be a disappointing turn out, although I do know that Paget these days don't have a large following.

Both teams in the past have enjoyed brief stints in the Southern League and now ground share with other clubs who have artificial pitches (Dudley Town at Sporting Khalsa).

When the teams come out, 'The Bears' of Paget Rangers are attired in their usual colours of yellow & black striped shirts, black shorts & yellow socks while 'The Robins' of Dudley Town are wearing their first team strip of red shirts, white shorts and black socks. 

The visitors are using their pressing game to good effect in this half, being awarded several free kicks and winning plenty of corners too.

Dudley's No.11, Harry Crook cuts the ball back from the right for No.8,Todd Sherwood to volley wide of the left hand post and then Crook goes close with a free kick which skims the top of the cross bar.

In the 18th minute the home side spring to life when they break away and their lanky No.9, Szhem Whyte-Hall has his shot easily saved by the Dudley keeper.

The visitors next go close when their No.6, Owen Massey, heads just over the bar from a corner.

Dudley's failure to make their dominance count comes back to haunt them in the 38th minute, when Whyte-Hall makes a good run down the right. His attempted lob deflects off the Dudley Town No.5 who'd turned his back and the ball loops up, hits the cross bar and comes down for The Bears No.7, Tim Oyanda, lurking near the far post, to volley in the ball with his outstretched right foot (a la Erling Haaland).  

So the home side, who have battled well despite not seeing much of the ball, unexpectedly go in to the break with a goal lead and it promises to be an interesting second half in this tightly fought contest. 

The Dudley Town fans move down to the far end where their team will be attacking and they have been very quiet in the first half. There must be about 20-30 of them.

When play resumes they become more vocal and their efforts lift their team to push harder for a goal.

The Robins go very close in the 56th minute, when they have an in-swinging  corner delivered from the right and the ball ends up just going wide of the far post. 

However a few minutes later, the dangerous Harry Crook is put through again on the right and an over eager Paget defender takes his legs away from him for them to be awarded a penalty, which is scored by Owen Massey, much to the delight of the nearby Dudley Town fans. 

Paget Rangers are definitely not out of this contest yet and their No.11, Harry Jackson, fires in a fierce shot which stings the hands of Ethan Hawkes in the visitors goal.

Then in the closing minutes, both sides have great opportunities to get the winning goal. Firstly, Dudley Town's Harry Crook cuts the ball back in to the penalty area for their No.9 to fire wide when it might have been easier to score and then a Paget forward bursts through on goal only to blaze the ball way over the bar.

That's how the score stays when the ref blows his whistle for the end of a match, which was a credit to both teams.

Dudley Town stay on top despite this draw, with Bilston Town cutting down the gap to just one point after their hard fought 1-0 win over Smethwick Rangers and Leicestershire's Ashby Ivanhoe are just one point behind them in 3rd spot.

Paget Rangers are lying in 10th place and maybe fancy finishing in the top 5 or 6 if they improve their away form? 

 

Entrance Fee:                 £6 (£4 concession)  

Match Programme:       none available

Match Attendance:        70

Entertainment Value:    8.5/10           

   

DARLASTON TOWN 0 - 1 BEWDLEY TOWN

 

     MIDLAND FOOTBALL LEAGUE, DIVISION ONE

       The Paycare Stadium, Bentley Road North, Walsall, WS2 0EA

                           1st October 2022,   3:00 pm Kick-Off

With yet another rail strike on this Saturday, I decide to be adventurous and visit a new ground for me, The Paycare Stadium home of the newly promoted club, Darlaston Town. They have been on my radar for some time now.

I work out on Friday evening that I can take the faster bus up to Walsall, the X51 from Birmingham city centre and then the short ride west on the Number 529. 

I get to Walsall a bit later than planned as there was confusion where the X51 bus actually started from. After missing 2 buses I managed to figure which was the correct bus stop, no thanks to the Traveline West Midlands website though.

I have enough time to have a good meal and a bit of window shopping before hopping on to the 529 bus that drops me of on the Wolverhampton Road ten minutes later. 

Then just as I turn into Bentley Road North, a car stops on the other side of the road and the driver shouts across to me 'Are you John?' Even though my name is Jonathan, a lot of people call me 'Jon', so I answer 'yes' and call back 'Are you Simon?' The reason for my question is that I emailed the Darlaston Town secretary, called Simon Cox, the previous day, asking about the availability of club programmes and badges.

He answers 'yes' and tells me to hop in to his car and he will take me to the ground. I'm thinking this is a really good and unexpected service but when we get to the ground entrance he carries on driving. I just think that there must be another entrance nearby but confusingly he soon turns off to the right for the AFC Bentley ground. I tell him that I am going to see Darlaston and he realises he's made a mistake as he'd thought that I was one of the match officials for the game taking place at this ground. We have a laugh about the situation and he kindly takes me back to the Darlaston Town entrance and drops me off there.

I find out when I relate this story to a fellow spectator later on, he tells me that before the kick-off that he thought he heard that there was found to be an extra linesman at the ground. If so I hope he made it in time for the start of the AFC Bentley game!

I walk through the car park, pay my entrance fee and get a programme too, while being told that there are metal badges for sale at the bar. I go in to the club house and there are plenty of people in here, with the Arsenal v Spurs derby highlights being shown on TV.

I buy a cup of tea,  a club badge (£4) and sit down at a nearby table and a bit later on, a guy comes along handing out neatly printed team-sheets for anyone needing one. A very nice touch!

Later I go out and take up a position by the side of the goal that's nearest the entrance. To my left are the changing rooms and the club house, with the team dug-outs in front. A bit further up is a small stand with seating for 50 spectators.

There is another small stand on the opposite side of the ground but just for standing spectators.

The teams come out with 'Darlo' in their home strip of blue & white striped shirts, blue shorts & socks. The visitors are in their change strip of lime green shirts, black shorts & socks.

It's Darlaston who go close to scoring first when from a free kick on the left the ball is crossed over to the far post where a Darlo hits a shot on the valley that goes across the goal and just past the wrong side of the post. 

Although Darlaston are mainly on top for the first 10-15 minutes, Bewdley start to get in to the game more and more in the first half. Darlaston go close again after 25 minutes when the lively Ryan Winwood passes to a fellow forward who sees his shot hit the stanchion and out.

When I move up to the far end of the ground, I get talking to another photographer who turns out to be the Club Secretary, Simon Cox. He is well kitted out with 2 of the latest Canon camera bodies with top notch looking lenses attached and a sturdy tripod too. Nice set-up!

He makes a comment about it not being the best of games and I have to agree. There is plenty of effort but it's just too frenetic with not many chances being created.

So it's no surprise when half-time arrives and it's still 0-0.

Darlaston Town, might be a new club but their forbears, the old Darlaston team had been founded in 1874! So they have a proud history. It's good to see them settled at this neat looking ground after having to ground share before after they had reformed the club for the 2014-15 season.

When play resumes, a Bewdley player finds himself in a one on one encounter with the Darlo keeper, Joe Sidaway who is able to block his shot.

Just 6 minutes later and Sidaway makes a clearance just from underneath the cross-bar from a Bewdley corner.

Defences are remaining on top and I think that the longer this game goes on, then the first team to score will probably win it.

Just a few minutes later and Bewdley Town's, No. 10, breaks through to push the ball past Sidaway.

 That goal had been coming from the visitors mounting pressure in this half but Darlaston are not going to lie down that easily.

They pile bodies forward in a bid to score an equaliser but the Bewdley defence manages to hold firm and take away the 3 points.

It's been good to finally visit Darlaston Town's ground. They are a friendly well run club who are certainly looking to put their team on the map. It's just a shame I have caught them on an off-day today.

They have come a long way since the first and last time I saw them in December 2014 at a muddy Bartley Green, where they won 3-2.

Bewdley Town look to have improved from last season, when they made a last minute escape from relegation. Hell, they won 0-3 at Worcester City recently, hastening the resignation of the then manager Tim Harris, who had guided them to a very respectable 4th spot in the last campaign.

 

Match Attendance:                 128

Entrance Fee:                          £6 (£4 concession)

Match Programme:                £2

Entertainment Value:            6/10

DUDLEY TOWN 4 - 0 CRADLEY TOWN

 

       MIDLAND FOOTBALL LEAGUE, DIVISION ONE

       Guardian Warehousing Arena, Noose Lane, Willenhall, WV13 3BB

                         19th February 2022, 3:00 pm Kick-Off

As the recent weather has been so appalling and it's been raining this morning I don't have much choice but to travel to a game being played on an artificial surface. Also as I have not watched a MFL Div 1 game so far this season, it's a good opportunity for me to see Dudley Town play at their current ground where they are the tenants of Sporting Khalsa.

I have never seem them play before and they are currently doing well, occupying 4th place in the league table. They are one of the oldest clubs in the West Midlands area, being formed in 1888! In the 1980's they even reached the Southern League and spent 2 seasons in the Premier League too. They even reached the 1st Round of the FA Cup and played in front of 5,000 spectators against York City, drawing 1-1 and losing the replay 1-4.

Their opponents today, Cradley Town, also hail from the Black Country and their formation happened in more recent times, in the year 1970, following the merger of Albion Rovers and Haden United, being named Albion Haden United and then Cradley Town in 1975. They currently are 13th in the league table.

I go by train to Walsall and then take the 529 bus bound for Wolverhampton. I get off the bus 20 minutes later at Willenhall, which lies halfway between Walsall and Wolverhampton. I'm disappointed that my original choice of my lunch time stop, the splendidly named 'Greedy Pig Cafe' is not open. Instead I soon find 'Sarah's Cafe' in the town centre and my healthy appetite is appeased by ordering their 'Super Breakfast' which proves to be quite filling and I still have time to have a quick look around the town centre. Willenhall's centre is a bit run down but does have some interesting old buildings, like the The Bell Inn (an old Coaching Inn, dating back to 1659), which has been purchased by the Willenhall Heritage Trust, who have plans to restore it.

Also I find some artwork, celebrating the town's old manufacturing industry of lock making.

    I make my way to the ground, (which I have visited twice before) by cutting through the Willenhall Memorial Park and then I'm outside the ground just 12 minutes later.

I find the entrance and pay my entrance fee and manage to get a programme too for a further £2, which proves to be a good read. I also manage to get a club badge for £4 and it's one celebrating 130 years of existence from the year 2018.

The ground itself has 2 stands on both sides of the pitch, with enough seating for approximately 4-500 spectators, befitting a club of Sporting Khalsa's status (Northern Premier League, Midlands Division).

The teams come out with 'The Robins' of Dudley Town, in their home colours of red shirts, white shorts and black socks, while Cradley are in their change strip of blue shirts and black shorts and socks. Dudley will be looking for revenge as Cradley won the their home league match against them (2-0) earlier in the season.

Dudley certainly make the early running and score after only 6 minutes when the Cradley keeper parries a shot from the Dudley No.9, Matt Gardner but only as far the incoming No.3, Rhys Boswell who sweeps the ball in to the net.

 

A great start for this promotion chasing team!

Cradley are the next to go close when their No.10 has a shot blocked by the home defence.

After 16 minutes, 'The Robins' No.7 is put through on a one on one with the Cradley keeper but has his effort smothered from close range. Dudley aren't to be denied and their No.8, Brad Ward sees his shot take a deflection and then loop over the Cradley No 1.

A bit lucky but it's a fair reflection on how the game is going.

Cradley Town escape further punishment before the interval and will be hoping to get more in to the game in the next period.

There is a good sized crowd today and shows that Dudley Town have a good fan base even though they are playing their home games 10 miles away from Dudley itself. I wonder if they have a plan in place to return to their own borough in the future?

In the 2nd half, Dudley start to take control again and in the 60th minute, Matt Gardner lobs the Cradley keeper from just outside the penalty area for their 3rd goal.

Cradley go close just a minute later but their player wastes the opportunity by blasting well over the bar. This underlines their main problem of scoring goals this season, with a return of just 34 from 28 games.

      (Dudley Town, No.10 Dan Jones, shown here shielding the ball) 

The home team increase their advantage in the 72nd minute when Matt Gardner is nicely played through the middle and places his shot past the advancing keeper.

Cradley are still fighting when they break away soon after this only for their No.15 to shoot across the face of the Dudley goal. 

The Robins are playing with a lot of confidence in the last part of the match and probably should have scored another goal.

They force several corners but are unable to make them count.

So Dudley Town run out convincing winners and look to take their hunt for a promotion place right to the end of the season. They now leapfrog Darlaston Town in to 3rd place (albeit playing one game more) and are now 4 points behind 2nd placed Stapenhill from Derbyshire. Atherstone Town are the runaway leaders, a further 11 points ahead.

Cradley will no doubt be looking to solve their goal scoring problems in the last part of the season and acheive a mid-table position.

Entrance Fee:      £5 (concession)

Match Programme:                 £2

Match Attendance:                156 

Entertainment Value:           8/10