St Mary’s Hospice Midland Combination Review: 2nd/5th November

Saturday 2nd November 2013
Four Premier Division clubs made progress in the Les James Challenge Cup (sponsored by Endsleigh).

League leaders Brocton have become masters of single goal victories in recent games and were forced to work hard by Division Two side Coventry United, unbeaten in their previous 10 games. The Badgers needed a late goal from substitute Dan Lomas to progress into the Third Round and a home tie with Coventry Copsewood.
http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/broctonfc/news/badgers-bluster-to-a-win-1085180.html

Like Brocton, Atherstone Town also went through to the third round with a narrow 1-0 victory at Sheepy Road. Ben Ashby scored the winner in the 66th minute against Chelmsley Town.

Alvis Sporting Club hosted West Midlands Police at Green Lane and earned a home third round tie against Nuneaton Griff by the odd goal in three. Luke O’Kane, on 14 minutes, and Leon Kelly, six minutes before the interval, were Alvis’ scorers after Thomas Cunningham-Smith gave the Police an early lead.
http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/alvissportingclub/news/alvis-sporting-sweep-into-next-1085136.html

Last but not least, Stafford Town and Pilkington XXX served up a ten-goal thriller at Evans Park with Town coming out on top 6-4 after extra time. Dan Brown, George Burslem, Morgan Hurley, Darryll Johns and Dan Stockhall (with two) were Stafford’s scorer while Odane Barnes netted a hat-trick for Pilkington whose other goal came from Michael Skerrett. Town trailed 4-3 in stoppage time at the end of the 90 minutes before Stockdale headed home a dramatic equaliser. Then, with the score still 4-4 deep into extra time, Brown put the Reds ahead and Hurley scored the sixth to clinch the win.
http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/staffordtown/s/match-centre-65650/0-2137256

With Alvis in League Cup action, the four sides which started the day immediately below them in Premier Division table all won in the league. Bolehall Swifts produced a five-star performance at Rene Road to defeat Studley 5-0. Five different players got on the scoresheet as the Swifts moved up to second spot.

Southam United are now third, level with Bolehall on 28 points thanks to a3-0 home win over Earlswood Town. Oliver Manoochehri scored twice.

Alex Naughton capped a Man of the Match performance with a goal in Nuneaton Griff’s win at Racing Club Warwick by the odd goal in five.

A crowd of 219 at the Victoria Ground saw Bromsgrove Sporting move up to fifth in the table with a 3-1 win over Blackwood. Striker Mark Bellingham took his tally to five goals in just six appearances for the Rouslers with a first-half brace. Luke Darby added a third on 81 minutes before Chris Hill scored a late consolation for Blackwood.
http://www.bromsgrovesporting.co.uk/pages/posts/blackwood-report-267.php

While Alvis celebrated their cup success, they dropped from second to sixth position in the table.

In the other Premier Division games, Lichfield City moved up to 10th with a 4-2 home win over Littleton, Coventry Copsewood drew 1-1 with Castle Vale JKS and Pershore Town defeated Pelsall Villa 4-2 at the Winstanley & Co King George V Stadium.

The top two in Division One both won. Leaders Cadbury Athletic maintained their three-point lead at the top with a 2-1 win at Coton Green thanks to first-half goals from Stuart Cook and Stuart Butcher. Two goals from Keiron Clarke helped second-placed Phoenix Sports defeat Shirley Town 3-0 at the Vale Stadium.
http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/cadburyathleticfc/s/match-centre-45987/0-2127448

Paget Rangers top the Division Two table by a six-point margin following a 3-1 win at Alcester Town. Sean Dunne, Kirk White and Daniel Zouch scored Paget’s goals. Second-placed Badsey, with three games in hand on the leaders, comfortably came out on top 4-0 in the battle of the Rangers at Austrey.
http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/pagetrangers/news/paget-maintain-lead-at-top-1088662.html

Tuesday 5th November
Three cup games in different competitions and Midland Combination sides were successful in all three. A place in the Walsall Senior Cup was the prize on offer at Silkmore Lane as Brocton hosted West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division side Wolverhampton Casuals. Following a goalless first-half, Dan Lomas put the Badgers ahead but Cassies levelled thing up through Sean Williams. However, Paul McMahon restored Brocton’s advantage and Gary Fife scored the third to seal the win.
http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/broctonfc/news/brocton-progress-in-walsall-se-1088060.html

Castle Vale JKS travelled to Dudley Sports, in the same division as Wolverhampton Casuals, for a Birmingham Midweek Challenge Cup tie and returned with a victory. The tie finished 1-1 at full-time and 2-2 after extra time before JKS went through 3-2 on penalties.

In the J. W. Hunt Cup, Pelsall Villa recorded a comprehensive 5-1 victory over Red Star Alma at the Bush Ground. Kieran Miller with two, Carl Morris, Alan Wilkes and Alex Pammenter were Villa’s scorers.

(Compiled using Twitter feeds, club websites, Midland Combination full-time and my Ltrack database)

The St Mary’s Hospice Midland Football Combination websites

http://full-time.thefa.com/Index.do?divisionseason=626303&league=6125369

http://www.midcomb.com/

Road to Bescot

Stafford Town 0 Tividale 2…First visit of the season to Evans Park for a Walsall Senior Cup First Round tie where Stafford Town were putting their unbeaten home record on the line against high-flying Tividale.

A quick glance at the Midland Alliance league table highlighted the enormity of the task facing the Reds this evening. Tividale stood second in the table with a 100% record and only kept off top spot because leaders Highgate had amassed an extra four points from the four extra games they had played.

2. Tividale P 8 W 8 D 0 L 0 F 28 A 5 PTS 24

After bigging up the visitors, Stafford Town’s start to the Midland Combination Premier Division season needs bigging up as well – fifth in the table with just two defeats in nine league games. I saw then draw 0-0 at Pelsall Villa seven days ago.

Walsall Senior Cup First Round
Bolehall Swifts v Bolemere St Michaels
Romulus v Wolverhampton Casuals
Stafford Town v Tividale
Walsall Wood v Continental Star
Byes for Bilston Town 2007, Brocton, Chasetown, Heath Hayes, Lichfield City, Pelsall Villa, Rushall Olympic, Sporting Khalsa, Stafford Rangers, Sutton Coldfield Town, Tipton Town and Walsall.

For those of you unfamiliar with the stadium, Evans Park, named after Chairman Gordon Evans, is a relatively new ground which opened in March 2011. All the facilities are adjacent to the entrance including the 192-seater ‘Keith Mottershead Stand’. Keith has been a stalwart of football in Stafford for around 50 years and richly deserved the renaming of the stand in his honour during the summer.

Compared to the Pelsall game seven days ago [Town didn’t have a game on Saturday], the Reds’ starting line-up showed three changes with Alex Barnfather, John Warburton, Morgan Hurley in for Chris McComisky, George Burslem and the boss Adam Cunningham.

Visitors Tividale made no fewer than seven changes to the side that thumped Gornal Athletic 6-0 at the weekend. Andrew Parsons, Tim Jackson, Sam Williams and Ryan Winwood were the four who started both tonight and at the weekend.

Tividale (in all yellow) got the action underway defending the cricket ground end of Evans Park in the first half. Stafford made a “good start” as Adam encouraged his side from the technical area and urged his side to “keep it up”.

Even though neither side created a decent scoring opportunity during the opening 27 minutes, it was none-the-less a decent contest dominated by defences and midfields.

The visitors gradually started to assert their authority and, in the 28th minute, Ryan Winwood cut in from the left and hit a low shot that flashed across the face of the Stafford goal.

Tividale took the lead on the half hour with a goal that provoked much debate. No dispute as to whether it should be awarded or not but who actually should be credited with the goal? Ryan Winwood swung in a corner from the left which went into the net at the near post. My initial reaction was that Karl Edwards flicked the ball into the net [and even tweeted at the time to say so] though at half-time became persuaded that the goal was actually an own goal. Based on what Tividale subsequently tweeted and response from the striker, I’m giving it to Edwards.

Dan Brown responded and fired wide of the right-hand post before the excellent Ben Sturgeon produced two super saves in quick succession to prevent the visitors from doubling their lead. Twice in the 42nd minute, the goalkeeper first did well to push a rising 20-yard snap shot from Andrew Parsons round the left-hand post, then kept out Levi Bailey’s far post downward header from the resulting corner.

Half-time Stafford Town 0 Tividale 1

Sturgeon was again called into action early in the second half, this time to block a well-struck shot from Brett Clark.

Stafford gave a reminder to their fans just before the hour mark that they only trailed by a single goal. A neat passing move set up a chance for Francis Dacres who fired over from 25 yards out.

Sensing an equaliser, manager Adam urged his side to “raise it” and up the “tempo”.

Going into the last ten minutes, extra time still remained a distinct possibility with Stafford trailing to that 30th minute goal [I wasn’t complaining as an extra 30 minutes who have meant that Stafford’s journey on the ‘Road to Bescot’ was still alive.

A bouncing ball down the middle put the Tividale defence under pressure and the harrying Brown forced Luke Paskin to concede a corner. This was swung in from the right by Hurley across the face of goal but no one could apply the finishing touch. Close.

However, football can be a cruel game and it was certainly cruel to Stafford in the 87th minute when Tividale scored their match-winning second goal. A bouncing ball played forward into the Stafford area by Tim Jackson caused problems for Sturgeon and Brett Clark touched the ball into an empty net.

Tividale advance to the second round along with Walsall Wood who defeated Continental Star 2-1 at Oak Park.

Tuesday 8th October 2013
Stafford Town 0 Tividale 2
Walsall Senior Cup First Round
At: Evans Park, Riverway, Stafford
Kick-off: 7-45 pm
Admission: £4; Programme: £1 (28 pages)
Weather: mild and dry

Stafford Town (red/red/red): 1. Ben Sturgeon, 2. Alex Barnfather, 3. James Wild, 4. Mat Dockerty, 5. Jon Warburton, 6. Joe Woodward, 7. Francis Dacres, 8. Jake Turner, 9. Morgan Hurley (capt), 10. Dan Brown, 11. Jamie Cartwright. Subs: 12. Jack Milgate (for Barnfather, 76), 14. Matt Oulton (for Cartwright, 63), 17. Adam Cunningham. Manager: Adam Cunningham.

Tividale (yellow/yellow/yellow): 1. Jack Hayfield, 2. Andrew Parsons, 3. Tim Jackson, 4. Andrew Dicken, 5. Levi Bailey, 6. Luke Paskin, 7. Samuel Wilson, 8. Sam Williams (capt), 9. Brett Clark, 10. Karl Edwards, 11. Ryan Winwood. Subs: 12. Matthew Waite (not used), 14. Stuart How (for Winwood, 89), 15. David Bellis (for Dicken, 72), 16. Thomas Overfield (for Wilson, 79), 17gk. Charles Price (not used). Manager: Stuart Scriven and Ian Long.

Referee: Mark Murfitt.
Assistants: Ashley Parry and Matthew Brattley.

Attendance: 45 (headcount)
Duration: first-half: 45:38; second-half: 47:07

Goals:
0-1 Karl Edwards (30)
0-2 Brett Clark (87)

Cards: none

Brocton 3 Heath Hayes 1

Thursday 21st February 2013
Brocton 3 Heath Hayes 1 (after extra time)
Walsall Senior Cup Quarter Final
At: Silkmore Lane Sports Ground, Stafford
Kick-off: 7-30 pm
Admission: £6; Programme: £1 (36 pages)
Weather: very cold, windy, dry
Attendance: 35
Duration (45): first-half: 46:43; second-half: 48:30
Extra Time (15): first-half: 15:05; second-half: 14:37 

On a bitterly cold night, Brocton came from behind to defeat higher-ranked Heath Hayes 3-1 after extra time and earned a lucrative Walsall Senior Cup semi-final away at either neighbours Stafford Rangers or Rushall Olympic. The visitors held a slender one-goal advantage through Craig Hancox at the interval which was cancelled out in the second half by a super goal from the lively Jordan Bloor. Neither side could find a winner in normal time before extra-time goals from Gary Fife and Sam Bell sent the Badgers to within one game of emulating last season’s memorable run to the final when they lost to Rushall. 

Three games in three nights – not sure how I’ve got away with it! I couldn’t ignore an important cup quarter final on my own ‘doorstep’, could I?. Both sides were given a first round bye and won their respective second round ties with a clean sheet: Brocton won their ‘away’ tie 8-0 against Warstones Wanderers at Silkmore Lane while Heath Hayes also made good use of home advantage to defeat Chasetown 2-0 at the Coppice Colliery Ground. 

Walsall Senior Cup 2012/13…
First Round
Boldmere St Michaels 4 Continental Star 1
Pelsall Villa 0 Bolehall Swifts 1
Wolverhampton Casuals 1 Stafford Rangers 3
Second Round
Bilston Town 5 Bloxwich United 1
Boldmere St Michaels 2 Sutton Coldfield Town 3
Bolehall Swifts 2 Walsall Wood 4
Heath Hayes 2 Chasetown 0
Romulus 0 Rushall Olympic 3
Sporting Khalsa 0 Walsall 4
Stafford Town 1 Stafford Rangers 2
Warstones Wanderers 0 Brocton 8 (at Brocton)
Quarter Final
Bilston Town 1 Sutton Coldfield Town 1 (pens 4-5)
Brocton v Heath Hayes (tonight)
Stafford Rangers v Rushall Olympic (7th March)
Walsall Wood 0 Walsall 2
Semi Final
Stafford or Rushall v Brocton or Heath Hayes
Walsall 1 Sutton Coldfield Town 0 

In terms of league positions, this tie pitted step 5 Heath Hayes (21st in the Midland Alliance with 19 points from 22 games) and step 6 Brocton (7th in the Midland Combination Premier Division with 37 points from 22 games). Heath Hayes played two days ago and lost 2-0 at home to Coventry Sphinx while Brocton hadn’t played since Saturday when they defeated Racing Club Warwick 5-0. 

As always and much appreciated, teams were displayed on the whiteboard positioned in the hospitality room window. Both sides named a strong starting line-up in a bid to reach the semi finals. I watched the game in the company of some familair faces in Coxey, Cannock Rob and Mugsy. 

Heath Hayes (in blue and white) got the game underway defending the changing rooms end in the first half. The Badgers, however, made a bright start and, early on, Jordan Bloor twice went close to opening the scoring. First he drove over the bar then in the next attack forced Heath Hayes goalkeeper to tip over a rising shot at the expense of a corner. 

Brocton continued to impress when a nice move ended with a shot from Sam Bell that narrowly missed the target. 

Having survived the early pressure, Heath Hayes started to cause problems for the Brocton defence. Dave Waple hammered a first-time shot wide of the near right-hand post. Then, in the 27th minute, a poor clearance by Adam Whitehouse flew straight to Waple who hit a rising shot which the Brocton goalkeeper stopped with a raised hand. 

The visitors from the higher Midland Alliance continued to threaten and create chances. Just after the half-hour, two corners in quick succession, both delivered by Craig Hancox, almost lead to the opening goal. Brad Grice had a shot cleared off the line by Jamie Evans from the first and Adam Wood headed wide from the second which was initially cleared. 

Both sides were forced to make a change with the popular Mick Fox replacing Dave Ablewhite for the Badgers. 

The deadlock was broken in the 42nd minute when Hancox hit an unstoppable rising left foot shot past Whitehouse. 

Brocton got back on level terms five minutes after the restart. Gary Fife played in the ball into the path of Bloor on the left who confidently fired past Bowen to score his sixth goal of the season. 

Bowen produced a decent save from Dan Loams as Brocton looked to quickly take the lead. Chances continued to be created by both sides and Whitehouse did well to stop a close-range shot hit by Waple. 

Bloor could have won the game from Brocton in the 82nd minute. Bell beat several defenders on a run into the area from the right and squared a pass to Bloor who fired over from a few yards out. 

With the cold wind biting more than ever, we wanted a winner in normal time to save having to go through an extra 30 minutes. With time running out, Bell tested Bowen who did well to hold on a low shot at the second attempt. 

Brocton, who got extra time underway attacking the changing rooms end, moved ahead in the tie for the first time in the 98th minute. Bloor went down inside the area and Fife beat Bowen with the resulting penalty. Could the Badgers hang on? 

Brocton manager John Berks made his final substitution and replaced first-half substitute Mick Fox with Joe Pickering for the last 20 minutes. 

Pickering made an immediate impact by exchanging passes with Bell who put the outcome beyond doubt in the 112th minute. The tall attacking midfielder got into the area on the right and sent a low shot into the far side of the net off the hands of Bowen. Brocton 3-1 up and game over. 

Heath Hayes looked to reduce the deficit but the closest they got was a header over the bar. 

Brocton (green/white/green): 1. Adam Whitehouse, 2. Richard Jones, 3. Jamie Evans, 4. Andy Chandler, 5. Rob Tomlinson, 6. Dave Ablewhite, 7. Sam Bell, 8. Jordan Bloor, 9. Gary Fife, 10. David Berks (capt), 11. Dan Lomas. Subs: 12. Mick Fox (for Ablewhite, 33), 14. Joe Pickering (for Fox, 100), 15. Charlie Jones (for Lomas, 75), 16. Sam Beech (not used), 17. Matt Skinner (not used). Manager: John Berks. 

Heath Hayes (blue and white stripes / blue / white): 1. Mark Bowen, 2. Ben Maddox, 3, John Littler, 4. Andy Davies, 5. Tom Baggott, 6. Adam Wood, 7. Brad Grice, 8. Lee Smith, 9. Chris Deakin, 10. Dave Waple (capt), 11. Craig Hancox. Subs: 12. Harry Phillips (not used), 14. Stuart Simpson (for Maddox, 38), 15. Karl Wallis (not used), 16. Andy McMath (for Littler, 107), 17. Tom Green (for Deakin, 90). Manager: Simon Davies. 

Referee: Alan Sarginson.
Assistants: Sam Barnard and James Clements 

Goals:
0-1 Craig Hancox (42)
1-1 Jordan Bloor (50)
2-1 Gary Fife (98 pen)
3-1 Sam Bell (102) 

Cards:
Brocton: Jordan Bloor (YC, 90+3), Gary Fife (YC, ft)
Heath Hayes: none

Bilston Town 1 Sutton Coldfield Town 1

Wednesday 9th January 2013
Bilston Town 1 Sutton Coldfield Town 1
(Sutton won 5-4 on penalties, no extra time)
Walsall Senior Cup Quarter Finals
At: Queen Street, Bilston
Kick-off: 8-25pm (delayed by 40 minutes)
Admission: £3; Programme: £1 (20 pages)
Weather: cold, foggy
Attendance: 120
Duration (45): first-half: 45:10: second-half: 48:06 

Sutton Coldfield Town booked their place in the last four of the Walsall Senior Cup, winning 5-4 on penalties against Bilston Town at a foggy Queen Street after the tie finished 1-1 after 90 minutes. Because of a 40-minute delay caused by floodlight failure, the game didn’t kick off until around 8-25 pm and by the 23rd minute both sides had found the net. Nick Turton’s opener for Bilston was cancelled out by Reece Leek. Neither side could find a winner during the second half and sensibly the tie went straight to penalties because of the time, 10-10 pm, and thickening fog. The Steelmen had third penalty saved while all the other nine were converted so Sutton won the shoot-out 5-4. The Royals join Walsall FC in the semi finals who won 2-0 at Walsall Wood last night. 

I’ve got Tim on the Non-League Matters Forum to thank for flagging up this game and tempting me into a short trip down the M6 to the Black Country when I’d decided to give a midweek game a miss. 

Bilston are really on the up at the moment and remain top of West Midlands (Regional) League Division One with an unbeaten record (15 wins and two draws from 17 games). Tonight, as one contributor to the programme highlighted ‘It’s the first time in many years that we can welcome Southern League (sic) opposition to Queen Street’. I know what he means even though visitors Sutton Coldfield Town are members of Evo-Stik League Northern Premier Division One South, three promotions above The Steelmen. Bilston and Sutton were regular opponents over many seasons 10–25 years ago. 

I love Queen Street with that fabulous tangerine-painted main stand, a relic from a past non-league era and long may it continue to look over the playing surface. Perhaps that love of Queen Street is shared by others as quite a few groundhoppers – Ratty, Rob, Mugsy, Coxey and Tim to name a few – were also at the game. The announcer allowed us to copy down the line-ups (much appreciated) before reading them out to a crowd that numbered over one hundred, many wearing tangerine and white scarves. 

Around five minutes before kick-off, as the teams assembled in the tunnel, ‘pop’ – out went the floodlights! Fortunately, an electrician was called out to replace a blown fuse and the game got underway 40 minutes late around 8-25 pm. Bilston (in tangerine) kicked-off attacking the left-hand goal in relation to my seat in the stand. 

Bilston took the lead in the 6th minute. Nick Turton took the ball into the area on the right, beating two defenders before firing into the far left-side of the net to score his 21st league and cup goal of the season. “There’s only one Nicky Turton,” sang the delighted home fans sat in the stand. 

The lead lasted until midway through the first half. Louis Keenan crossed from the left into the area where Reece Leek rose to head past Bilston goalkeeper Ben Astley. 

So 1-1 at half-time. 

I found out the expected news that my raffle ticket (556–560) was unsurprisingly not the winner (581–585) so still nothing to add to my last prize of a Cheryl Cole poster and head massager won at Aberystwyth University ten months ago. 

On a more positive note, I hope the half-time bucket collection for cancer research was well supported. 

Sutton could have taken the lead a couple of minutes after the restart but Astley’s boot got in the way of Luke Chapman’s shot. Astley produced another save to block a shot from substitute Ben Lund while, in the 69th minute, Keenan’s free-kick hit the far left-hand post. 

The Bilston fan set next to me – a lady who’d only recently started watching the Steelmen – started to get worried and commented that it was “getting a bit precarious”. 

Astley continued to produce saves to keep in his in contention and pushed a curling effort from Chapman round for a corner. 

Then, in the 89th minute, Sutton thought they had scored the winner. From Craig Milligan’s corner, a header from Joel Kettle was blocked by a defender. The ball rebounded to Kristian Ramsey-Dickson who powered a header onto the underside of the bar and Astley somehow prevented it from crossing the line. 

I don’t know if extra time is used for drawn Walsall Senior Cup. Whatever the rule, sensibly, extra time was skipped – good news bearing in mind the time and fog. 

Taken at the left-hand end nearest the entrance, both sides converted their first two penalties (all left-footed) before Daniel Westwood had his saved by Jake Bedford. All the remaining penalties were converted with Sutton’s Scott Lycett scoring the match-winner at 10-20 pm. 

Bilston Town (tangerine/white/tangerine): 1. Ben Astley, 2. Neil Evans, 3. Leon Pugh (capt), 4. Rhys Hall, 5. Chad McCormack, 6. Neil Eccleston, 7. Matty Rutter, 8. Lee Onions, 9. Nick Turton, 10. Stuart Skitt, 11. Jamall Pinnock. Subs: 12. Daniel Westwood (for Pinnock, 67), 14. Matt Curley (for Turton, 85), 15. John Griffiths (for Rutter, 58), 16. Ryan Trumpeter (for Rutter, 73), 19gk. Karl Frankham (not used). Manager: Andy Rutter. 

Sutton Coldfield Town (blue/blue/blue): 1. Jake Bedford, 2. Scott Lycett (capt), 3. Louis Keenan, 4. Craig Milligan, 5. Joel Kettle, 6. Jamie Murrall, 7. Reece Leek, 8. Jamie Sheldon, 9. Kristian Ramsey-Dickson, 10. Mark Danks, 11. Luke Chapman. Subs: 12. Danny Edwards (for Leek, 63), 14. Phil Male (for Murrall, ht), 15. Ben Lund (for Danks, 63), 16. Andy Ling (not used), 17gk. Lee Evans (not used). Manager: Neil Tooth. 

Referee: Dave Kerrigan.
Assistants: Alan Sheffield and Glyn Thomas. 

Goals:
1-0 Nick Turton (6)
1-1 Reece Leek (23) 

Penalties
1-0 Leon Pugh SCORED
1-1 Louis Keenan SCORED
2-1 Stuart Skitt SCORED
2-2 Craig Milligan SCORED
2-2 Daniel Westwood SAVED
2-3 Luke Chapman SCORED
3-3 Lee Onions SCORED
3-4 Jamie Sheldon SCORED
4-4 Ryan Trumpeter SCORED
4-5 Scott Lycett SCORED 

Cards:
Bilston: Chad McCormack (YC, 26)
SCT: Mark Danks (YC, 53), Reece Leek (YC, 59)

Stafford Town 2 Bloxwich United 0

Tuesday 10th January 2012
Stafford Town 2 Bloxwich United 0
Walsall Senior Cup Quarter Final
At: Evans Park
Kick-off: 7-45 pm
Admission: £4; Programme: £1 (28 pages)
Attendance: 45 (headcount)
Weather: mild, dry
Duration: first-half: 45:07; second-half: 45:34

Stafford Town booked their place in the Walsall Senior Cup semi finals, and a short trip to Brocton in March, with two second-half goals from Sam Agar. Extra time and possibly penalties looked a distinct possibility after a goalless and largely chanceless first half on an unusually mild January evening. However, Town’s leading scorer found the net on the hour and later added a second to take his tally for the season to 42 goals.

In all my years of watching football, I’d only seen one previous game in the Walsall Senior Cup – a first round tie at Audley which visitors Armitage 90 won 2-0. To be honest, I really though tonight was a first for me. Assuming Wikipedia was accurate in 2007, apparently the cup has been contested on 127 previous occasions with Rushall Olympic being the current holders. To reach the quarter finals, Stafford Town defeated Romulus and Darlaston Town while Bloxwich, given a First Round bye, beat Walsall Wood in the last round.

The programme editor highlighted in his editorial that Bloxwich (26 points from 17 games) went into the tie in ninth position in the Athium Midland Combination Premier Division table. Stafford Town (26 points from 21 games) stood in 16th position in the West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division table. Last season, Town and Bloxwich were in the same division before Bloxwich switched to the Combination last summer. I saw at home them back in August in the FA Cup against AFC Wulfrunians.

Stafford Town (in all red with black trim) got the game underway attacking the cricket ground end and few decent goalscoring opportunities were created during the first half. Worrying with no replay and the prospect of extra time and even penalties.

Joshua Jones got down the left and looked to impede a defender before striking a rising drive which the well-positioned Stafford keeper Andy Heal held. That first effort on target came in the 8th minute and it wasn’t until the 35th minute that Town tested Matthew Edwards in the Bloxwich goal. Mat Dockerty’s free-kick played forward into the area found Agar who shot straight at the Bloxwich keeper. Just before the break, Jack Milgate found Agar on the right who crossed low into the area but a defender made a vital block for the ball got to Craig Hulme.

After my usual half-time tea and chocolate bar, Hulme saw a decent shot blocked by the boot of Edwards within 34 seconds of the restart. Agar was soon going for gaol again with dipping shot just over the bar despite being marked by two defenders.

Eventually, it was Agar who broke the deadlock on the hour. Mark Johnson took the ball forward on the left and fed Hulme who in turn found Agar. The prolific striker turned inside the area and clinically hit home a low shot from eight yards out.

Bloxwich (in all blue) were told to “liven up, all of us,” and Josh Jones sent a left-foot shot over the bar. However, the Reds kept up the pressure and Agar saw an initial shot blocked by Jon Walker and Jack Milgate’s follow-up effort deflected wide off a defender. From the resulting corner, a header from Agar was cleared off the line by Adrian Jones.

During the second half, I got chatting to a spectator near to me at the back of the stand. He turned out to be Harry (aka ‘glossop terrace’ on the Non-League Matters Forum’) wearing a warm red Porthmadog hat and who had travelled down from Birkenhead.

We wondered if Bloxwich would snatch an equaliser to force extra time but those thoughts were eased in the 79th minute when Agar netted his second goal. Josh Anderson delivered a free-kick into the area from the left which Agar flicked home.

The Reds almost scored a third goal following a delightful move involving Mat Dockerty, Dave Woodvine and Agar. The ball fell to Hulme who saw a deflected shot hit the left-hand post.

With Brocton defeating Wolverhampton Casuals at the same time, Stafford Town will face the Badgers at Silkmore Lane in the semi-finals on Tuesday 12th March. The other semi-final is Chasetown v Ellesmere/Rushall.

Goals:
1-0 Sam Agar (60)
2-0 Sam Agar (79)