As we slip into Autumn, my midweek trips to Step 7 & 8 games are becoming more and more limited as the nights draw in. So, seeing a step 8 game scheduled for a Wednesday evening, I just had to give it a shot. It's a bit of a trek from Oxfordshire up to Wolverhampton, especially having to get around Birmingham during rush hour. However, I was really hoping the 168 mile round-trip would prove worth it. My chosen game was the West Midlands (Regional) Division One clash between Bilbrook and Dudley Kingswinford. As regular readers may know, I was born in Dudley and grew up in Kingswinford, so there's certainly a connection there. Although the football team didn't exist when I lived there, DK is more associated with rugby for people of my vintage. In Recent years' however, Manager Martin Humphries and former Wolves player Jody Craddock, his assistant, have begun to put the round ball game on the map over at DY6. I have seen DK play a couple of times previously, a 5-4 home win over Punjab United last season (Goals Guaranteed) and, earlier in this season, a 4-1 win at Leafield Athletic (Leafield's Big Day Falls Into DK). However, I've not had the pleasure of watching Bilbrook, either home or away, before.
Before the evening's football, DK sat in second spot, two points behind Norton Canes, with a game in hand. Meaning a win tonight would take them top. Bilbrook were in seventh, seven points behind DK but having two games in hand on their visitors. To add to the occasion, Bilbrook were also coming into the game with a 100% home record, winning four of four, scoring 17 and conceding zero. DK, however, were defending an unbeaten away record, having won two and drawn one. The game also pitched the league's two tightest defences, DK having conceded only seven, Bilbrook eight.
DK made one change from Saturday's 5-0 defeat of FC Premier 2008, Shane Farrington coming in for William Edney. Bilbrook, who had gone down 6-2 to Silverdale Athletic Development in a Staffordshire Challenge Cup game on Saturday, only had three from Saturday's starting line-up in the starting eleven.
Many thanks t the match officials Isaac Culver, Adam Athersmith and James Kerrigan for taking time to share the team sheets with me prior to kick-off. As always, very much appreciated.
Before the evening's football, DK sat in second spot, two points behind Norton Canes, with a game in hand. Meaning a win tonight would take them top. Bilbrook were in seventh, seven points behind DK but having two games in hand on their visitors. To add to the occasion, Bilbrook were also coming into the game with a 100% home record, winning four of four, scoring 17 and conceding zero. DK, however, were defending an unbeaten away record, having won two and drawn one. The game also pitched the league's two tightest defences, DK having conceded only seven, Bilbrook eight.
DK made one change from Saturday's 5-0 defeat of FC Premier 2008, Shane Farrington coming in for William Edney. Bilbrook, who had gone down 6-2 to Silverdale Athletic Development in a Staffordshire Challenge Cup game on Saturday, only had three from Saturday's starting line-up in the starting eleven.
Many thanks t the match officials Isaac Culver, Adam Athersmith and James Kerrigan for taking time to share the team sheets with me prior to kick-off. As always, very much appreciated.
DK attacking The hosts got off to a blistering start. No more than 2 minutes were on the clock when Lewis Bradley's speculative ball, aimed at Ben Mason, overshot its intended target only to fall perfectly into the path of Mibanda De Sousa The left winger's first touch took him in behind the defence, allowing him to sweep the ball past Zach Barratt. 1-0
The goal left DK looking somewhat shell-shocked. The tightest defence in the division looked unsure as Bilbrook pressed to assert their dominance. Ten minutes in De Sousa cut in from the left and fired one well over. A few minutes later Callum Cottee went closer, getting his strike on target, although it was well held by Barratt.
The DK stopper was called into action again on 19 minutes when Callum Bright got a good head onto Bradley's right-wing cross. The ball looked to be looping the top corner before Barratt got across well to tip it over for a corner.
We were midway through the first-half before DK managed to create any kind of threat. When it did come, Shane Farrington's shot flew well over Tom Tipton's bar. Straight down the other end, Bright once again tried to test Barratt, the stopper making a comfortable save this time. The game ten swung to the opposite end as Josh Parker broke clear before squaring to Farrington on the left-hand edge of the box. The centre-forward went for the curled effort toward the far post, but again Tipton didn't have to make a save.
It was all action during this part of the game. two minutes after Farrington's effort, Dan Mason came agonisingly close to making it two for Bilbrook, seeing his beautifully struck left-foot strike crash back off Barratt's bar. Unlucky!
On the half-hour Dylan Cook unleashed a real stinger from way out. Barratt managed to parry the initial strike and then drop on the loose ball before a posse of Bilbrook players pounced. Four minutes later, DK were cursing the home goalkeeper for keeping them behind. A superb through ball completely dissected the home defence, allowing Jack Hardeman to run free. He drew Tipton off his line but, as he attempted to lift the ball over the keeper, Tipton acrobatically reached out to push it away for a corner. Excellent reflexes. Three minutes later, however, Tipton could only watch as Farrington wriggled free on the right before flashing a ball across the face of the home goal. Unfortunately for the visitors, there was no-one gambling at the far post to convert.
With time ticking down until the break, Dan Mason suddenly found himself one of one with Barratt but the DK keeper did really well to force the striker wide and he could only put his effort into the side netting. That just left time for Bilbrook substitute Taylor Pollitt, on for the injured goal scorer, to fizz an effort in from distance, which barely cleared Barratt's crossbar.
HT Bilbrook 1 Dudley Kingswinford 0. Bilbrook deserve their lead at the break. It took DK 25 minutes to get going and for a team who have conceded so few goals, they looked a bit shaky at the back. Once they did, they looked a little more threatening at times, but the lion's share of chances have fallen to the home side.
The goal left DK looking somewhat shell-shocked. The tightest defence in the division looked unsure as Bilbrook pressed to assert their dominance. Ten minutes in De Sousa cut in from the left and fired one well over. A few minutes later Callum Cottee went closer, getting his strike on target, although it was well held by Barratt.
The DK stopper was called into action again on 19 minutes when Callum Bright got a good head onto Bradley's right-wing cross. The ball looked to be looping the top corner before Barratt got across well to tip it over for a corner.
We were midway through the first-half before DK managed to create any kind of threat. When it did come, Shane Farrington's shot flew well over Tom Tipton's bar. Straight down the other end, Bright once again tried to test Barratt, the stopper making a comfortable save this time. The game ten swung to the opposite end as Josh Parker broke clear before squaring to Farrington on the left-hand edge of the box. The centre-forward went for the curled effort toward the far post, but again Tipton didn't have to make a save.
It was all action during this part of the game. two minutes after Farrington's effort, Dan Mason came agonisingly close to making it two for Bilbrook, seeing his beautifully struck left-foot strike crash back off Barratt's bar. Unlucky!
On the half-hour Dylan Cook unleashed a real stinger from way out. Barratt managed to parry the initial strike and then drop on the loose ball before a posse of Bilbrook players pounced. Four minutes later, DK were cursing the home goalkeeper for keeping them behind. A superb through ball completely dissected the home defence, allowing Jack Hardeman to run free. He drew Tipton off his line but, as he attempted to lift the ball over the keeper, Tipton acrobatically reached out to push it away for a corner. Excellent reflexes. Three minutes later, however, Tipton could only watch as Farrington wriggled free on the right before flashing a ball across the face of the home goal. Unfortunately for the visitors, there was no-one gambling at the far post to convert.
With time ticking down until the break, Dan Mason suddenly found himself one of one with Barratt but the DK keeper did really well to force the striker wide and he could only put his effort into the side netting. That just left time for Bilbrook substitute Taylor Pollitt, on for the injured goal scorer, to fizz an effort in from distance, which barely cleared Barratt's crossbar.
HT Bilbrook 1 Dudley Kingswinford 0. Bilbrook deserve their lead at the break. It took DK 25 minutes to get going and for a team who have conceded so few goals, they looked a bit shaky at the back. Once they did, they looked a little more threatening at times, but the lion's share of chances have fallen to the home side.
Batham scores from the spot Bilbrook, obviously quite happy with their first half performance, were out early for the second half and, it was the home side who generated the first chance of the second period, Callum Cottee running from inside his own half but not being able to find the finish he wanted (this X post was endorsed by the player himself :-)).
We then entered fifteen minutes of madness in the game. Five minutes into the second period Shane Farrington went over in the Bilbrook box but the referee waved away penalty claims, issuing a yellow card to the striker for simulation. Just two minutes after that, in an incident that I didn't see clearly, Farrington was adjudged to have shoved a defender in the back as they challenged for a ball in the middle of the pitch. A second yellow and marching orders for Farrington. On the hour mark Bilbrook thought they had taken advantage of the extra player. Barratt did well to parry Cottee's shot, but could only push the ball into the path of Dan Mason, who slotted home the loose ball only to see the assistant's flag up on the far side. The disappoint didn't last too long though. With 63 minutes on the clock the home side did double their lead. Cottee was once again the instigator, chasing a lost cause on the left and managing to keep the ball in play whilst the defender tried to shepherd it for a goal kick. Cottee dispossessed the DK player before rolling the ball across the six-yard box for Callum Bright to have the simple task of knocking it over the line. 2-0
That was not the end of mad quarter-hour however. A minute after going two down, DK not only had a chance to get back into the game from the spot, but the home team were also down to ten. It came about when Tipton came off his line to meet Tom Jones, who had got behind the defence. As the striker tried to round the keeper and slot into an empty net, he was sent to the ground by the keeper. A clear penalty but the decision to show a red card was met with plenty of complaints from the Bilbrook players and supporters. In fairness to the referee, Jones did have a very clear goalscoring opportunity before he was felled. From a neutral standpoint, it was hard to see any other outcome. Whatever the case, Shay Batham stepped up and send substitute keeper Owen Humphreys the wrong way. 2-1 and game on for the final 20 minutes.
Despite a Dan Mason run and shot in the 70h minute the remainder of the game, as you would expect, began to focus more on the efforts of DK to find an equaliser. However, they were to find Bilbrook's replacement goalkeeper in excellent form. Humphrey's pulled off a series of good saves in the closing moments, twice blocking from Josh Parker, including a reactive block, from a shot that came through a lot of bodies, in the final minute. There was also a superb one-handed save from Jack Hardeman to admire, after the player was once again set free by a delightful, defence-splitting, through ball. In between these saves, Bilbrook also found themselves reduced to nine players when, with six minutes left, Pollitt was shown a second yellow. For what? I'm not too sure. Dissent perhaps?
In the end it didn't matter, as Bilbrook hung on to take the points.
FT Bilbrook 2 Dudley Kingswinford 1. Bilbrook retain their 100% home record and climb to fifth. DK remain in second place, still two points adrift of Norton Canes. Although they can have slight consolation in being the first visiting team to score at Bilbrook this season. If Bilbrook can turn around their poor away form of played two, lost two, and retain their home ground as a fortress, they could well be up their challenging. Tehir two games in hand on the leaders would put them level on points should they win both.
At the weekend Bilbrook make the trip over to Leafield Athletic, who sit third from bottom. Back in August a Mbianda De Sousa goal was the difference as Bilbrook beat Leafield 1-0. DK are back at home for the visit of seventh placed PC Olympic.
Bilbrook:1.Tipton, 2.Bradley, 3.Saville, 4.Dedja, 5.Farley-Moss(c), 6.Cook, 7.Cottee, 8.Walker, 9.Mason, 10.Bright, 11.De Sousa. Subs: 13.Humphreys, 12.Scott-Jenkins, 14.Pollitt, 16.Alexander, 15.Device, 17.Lodge
Dudley Kingswinford: 21.Barratt, 2.Taylor, 34.Craddock, 6.Humphries, 7.Gwilliam(c), 8.Batham, 9.Farrington, 10.J.Parker, 11.Lamb, 15.Waterhouse, 17.Hardeman. Subs: 1.Roberts, 5.Crampton, 12.Langford, 16.Broome, 14.M.Parker, 18.Jones
We then entered fifteen minutes of madness in the game. Five minutes into the second period Shane Farrington went over in the Bilbrook box but the referee waved away penalty claims, issuing a yellow card to the striker for simulation. Just two minutes after that, in an incident that I didn't see clearly, Farrington was adjudged to have shoved a defender in the back as they challenged for a ball in the middle of the pitch. A second yellow and marching orders for Farrington. On the hour mark Bilbrook thought they had taken advantage of the extra player. Barratt did well to parry Cottee's shot, but could only push the ball into the path of Dan Mason, who slotted home the loose ball only to see the assistant's flag up on the far side. The disappoint didn't last too long though. With 63 minutes on the clock the home side did double their lead. Cottee was once again the instigator, chasing a lost cause on the left and managing to keep the ball in play whilst the defender tried to shepherd it for a goal kick. Cottee dispossessed the DK player before rolling the ball across the six-yard box for Callum Bright to have the simple task of knocking it over the line. 2-0
That was not the end of mad quarter-hour however. A minute after going two down, DK not only had a chance to get back into the game from the spot, but the home team were also down to ten. It came about when Tipton came off his line to meet Tom Jones, who had got behind the defence. As the striker tried to round the keeper and slot into an empty net, he was sent to the ground by the keeper. A clear penalty but the decision to show a red card was met with plenty of complaints from the Bilbrook players and supporters. In fairness to the referee, Jones did have a very clear goalscoring opportunity before he was felled. From a neutral standpoint, it was hard to see any other outcome. Whatever the case, Shay Batham stepped up and send substitute keeper Owen Humphreys the wrong way. 2-1 and game on for the final 20 minutes.
Despite a Dan Mason run and shot in the 70h minute the remainder of the game, as you would expect, began to focus more on the efforts of DK to find an equaliser. However, they were to find Bilbrook's replacement goalkeeper in excellent form. Humphrey's pulled off a series of good saves in the closing moments, twice blocking from Josh Parker, including a reactive block, from a shot that came through a lot of bodies, in the final minute. There was also a superb one-handed save from Jack Hardeman to admire, after the player was once again set free by a delightful, defence-splitting, through ball. In between these saves, Bilbrook also found themselves reduced to nine players when, with six minutes left, Pollitt was shown a second yellow. For what? I'm not too sure. Dissent perhaps?
In the end it didn't matter, as Bilbrook hung on to take the points.
FT Bilbrook 2 Dudley Kingswinford 1. Bilbrook retain their 100% home record and climb to fifth. DK remain in second place, still two points adrift of Norton Canes. Although they can have slight consolation in being the first visiting team to score at Bilbrook this season. If Bilbrook can turn around their poor away form of played two, lost two, and retain their home ground as a fortress, they could well be up their challenging. Tehir two games in hand on the leaders would put them level on points should they win both.
At the weekend Bilbrook make the trip over to Leafield Athletic, who sit third from bottom. Back in August a Mbianda De Sousa goal was the difference as Bilbrook beat Leafield 1-0. DK are back at home for the visit of seventh placed PC Olympic.
Bilbrook:1.Tipton, 2.Bradley, 3.Saville, 4.Dedja, 5.Farley-Moss(c), 6.Cook, 7.Cottee, 8.Walker, 9.Mason, 10.Bright, 11.De Sousa. Subs: 13.Humphreys, 12.Scott-Jenkins, 14.Pollitt, 16.Alexander, 15.Device, 17.Lodge
Dudley Kingswinford: 21.Barratt, 2.Taylor, 34.Craddock, 6.Humphries, 7.Gwilliam(c), 8.Batham, 9.Farrington, 10.J.Parker, 11.Lamb, 15.Waterhouse, 17.Hardeman. Subs: 1.Roberts, 5.Crampton, 12.Langford, 16.Broome, 14.M.Parker, 18.Jones
Bilbrook under the lights
The Ground
Bilbrook, or Bilbrook Junior FC to give the full club name, play their home games at a large complex on Pendeford Lane, just to the North of Wolverhampton. The facilities include the floodlit first team pitch, another full-size pitch, two 9v9 pitches and four mini-soccer pitches. There's ample parking and a fairly new looking pavilion that houses a function room, bar, snack bar and the changing facilities.
The main pitch sits at a 90 degree angle to the clubhouse, completely surrounded by a low, green-mesh, metal fence. There are dugouts on the opposite side of the pitch, one either side of the halfway line. There's also a small covered standing area on that side of the pitch, toward the car park end. That is the only spectator cover currently available. The pitch looked in good condition and has no perceivable slope.
This is a very tidy, well tended facility which has clearly benefitted from some investment in recent years and is well-equipped for the journey up the pyramid if required.
Ground Number: 418
Att:
Entrance: £5.00
Programme: N/A
Bilbrook, or Bilbrook Junior FC to give the full club name, play their home games at a large complex on Pendeford Lane, just to the North of Wolverhampton. The facilities include the floodlit first team pitch, another full-size pitch, two 9v9 pitches and four mini-soccer pitches. There's ample parking and a fairly new looking pavilion that houses a function room, bar, snack bar and the changing facilities.
The main pitch sits at a 90 degree angle to the clubhouse, completely surrounded by a low, green-mesh, metal fence. There are dugouts on the opposite side of the pitch, one either side of the halfway line. There's also a small covered standing area on that side of the pitch, toward the car park end. That is the only spectator cover currently available. The pitch looked in good condition and has no perceivable slope.
This is a very tidy, well tended facility which has clearly benefitted from some investment in recent years and is well-equipped for the journey up the pyramid if required.
Ground Number: 418
Att:
Entrance: £5.00
Programme: N/A
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