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           

   

STUDLEY 2 - 0 PAGET RANGERS

         F.A. VASE, 1ST QUALIFYING ROUND, 11-09-2021

       The Beehive, Abbeyfields Drive, Studley, Warwickshire, B80 7BF

Today heralds the start of the FA Vase, my favourite cup competition and I have decided to venture to a new ground, 'The Beehive' ground of Studley FC, who now play in the 1st Division of the Hellenic Football League, after moving over from the Midland Football League. Their opponents are the Birmingham team of Paget Rangers, a club well known in local circles and who have been in existence since 1938.

I have thought of coming here before but had considerations on the difficulties of getting here by public transport. It wasn't getting here but going back that I was worried about but when I checked on the West Midlands transport site, I found out that there were plenty of buses going back to Redditch, from where I would be catching the train back to Birmingham. No problems then! 

So I catch the No.57 Diamond Bus from Redditch town centre, after having a snack in the nearby Kingfisher shopping centre and 15 minutes later I am getting off the bus at Washford Mill. After rushing across the busy road I walk over to Abbeyfields Drive where the club is situated.

The ground is right at the northern end of this large village. This club has come a long way since their humble Sunday League bow in 1971 and have won the Worcestershire Senior Urn 5 times and have got to the last 16 in the FA Vase in 2004. 

They have a nice spacious club house with a bar and 2 big screens for the televised football, where I watch the replay of the 3 Crystal Palace goals against Spurs in this morning's Premiership game.

Also I notice that there are promotional materials for the Solihull Moors team and I later find out that Solihull have bought the place and use the facilities for training purposes.

I'm glad it's a nice sunny day as I realise that there is no cover by the pitch and indeed no seating. The main (artificial) pitch is accessed by walking between the other 2 (grass) pitches.

I pay the entrance fee at the table sat before the main pitch and there is a programme too. I'm told by someone from the club that they are looking to have a stand erected within 4 weeks time.  

I saw Studley play for the 1st time in July and it was a pre-season friendly at Racing Club Warwick. Although they lost 1-2, they should have got at least a draw that day. On that basis I think they could win today's encounter.

The 2 teams are in their usual colours, Studley in sky blue shirts and dark blue shorts,white socks. Paget in their, amber and black striped shirts, black shorts, amber socks.

For the first 15 minutes of play, it's very like the game I saw at Bedworth last week, with the home side dominating the play and looking dangerous whenever they attack.

  Again like last week, the home team score after 5 minutes and they do it through a spot kick, awarded when one of their players is brought down on the right side of the penalty box. This is dispatched by their No.11, who has been making threatening runs down the left.

A few minutes later and the same player heads over the bar following a long throw in from the right.

Sustained pressure from 'The Bees' results in a 2nd goal after their No.5 flicks in a neat glancing header inside the far post, from a left-hand corner.

  (Paget's Ryan Kimberley, takes the ball away from this Studley forward)

Paget do start to get back in to the game and near the end of the 1st half, their No.2 goes on a good run, passes to their No.9 but at the vital moment he loses his footing and his attempted shot, scoops harmlessly in to the arms of the Studley keeper.   

So The Bees are 2 goals to the good at the break but there are possible signs of Paget making a game of it after the interval.

During half-time, a guy asks me if I'm a pro photographer and when I say no, he says 'Ah, so you are a groundhopper then'. This makes me laugh as my bag is a bit of a give away.

It turns out that he has come all the way from Swindon, as Studley is one of the new Hellenic club grounds he had yet to go to. He has been 'hopping' himself for around 45 years and counting. We chat for the rest of the interval and the 2nd half too, as we exchange knowledge of the clubs we have seen. He also confesses to being a fan of Rochdale Athletic and is even a club shareholder!

In the 2nd half, Paget do get in to the game more but despite having more possession this time around, don't create too many clear cut chances. Their most dangerous player is forward, Rivel Mardenborough, shown in the photo below.

  Their best effort is comes after 74 minutes minutes when their No.10 has a shot pushed on to the post by The Bees goalkeeper.

Also later on their No.16, hits a shot in to the side netting after a good run down the left.

Studley go close to adding to their tally right near the end but it ends with them still leading 2-0.

So the home side are through and all in all, I'm glad I finally made a visit to The Beehive and I hope the club are able to erect their new stand soon, as they will need it I'm sure with the autumn and winter months coming ahead.

Match attendance.......60 (approximately)

Entrance fee..............£ 6

Match programme......£2

Entertainment value...7/10