September 24, 2009 20:45 - (Reads: 3102)
Bedworth United shared the second half of their game with Burton Albion with the sides scoring a goal each but unfortunately for Bedworth the damage had already been done with Burton having taken the first half 7-1. An improved performance by Bedworth the following week saw them create chances to take the lead but instead they went off at the break three goals down before losing 5-0 with the highlight of the goals being Jack Wolsey's individual effort for his second one after Jordan Stewart had scored three. Mile Oak Rovers went behind to a great chip from Gornal Colts' Matthew Holmes but came back to win 2-1 with goals from Nathan Brayford and Jason Davis. Mile Oak started the stronger in the next game but a hard-working Gornal defence restricted their opponents attempts on goal until falling behind to a deflected goal. Gornal battled hard to get back on terms in the second half but it was Mile Oak who scored again right at the end of the game. Gornal can count themselves unlucky to be without a point after three narrow defeats, the last of which came against Bedworth who had lost their previous two games. Bedworth drew level soon after Gornal had opened the scoring and with Gornal not making their goal chances count it was Bedworth eventually finished 2-1 winners. Mile Oak hosted Burton on Saturday with both teams defending 100% records after two games each. It's Burton who remain top of the table after turning round a two goal deficit to end up winning 4-2.
Group 1 P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Burton Albion 3 3 0 0 17 4 13 9
2 Mile Oak Rovers 3 2 0 1 6 5 1 6
3 Bedworth United 3 1 0 2 4 14 -10 3
4 Gornal Colts 3 0 0 3 2 6 -4 0
Nuneaton Town got off to a great start in Group 2 with a 7-0 win over Corby United with three of the goals coming from Callum Sankey. Corby did better when the yeams next met and took the lead from the spot and finished the first period level at two each. A stronger Nuneaton side took control of the second half, although Corby created chances too, to finish as winners by five goals to two. Rothwell Town entertained Long Buckby in their first game and it was the home team which started better to build a three-goal interval lead with Long Buckby replying once in the second period to give the hosts a 3-1 victory. In the return fixture at Long Buckby all three goals came in the last ten minutes of the first half with Lewis Gilkes and Hussien Kofi on target for the home side and Jack Marriott scoring the first goal of the game for Rothwell. Nuneaton made it three wins in three games when Rothwell were the visitors. The home side scored first but the scores were all-square within a minute before Nuneaton re-established there one-goal lead before half-time. Rothwell again pulled level before the home side went ahead for the third time. Pressure from Rothwell failed to pay off as the match finished 3-2 to Nuneaton. The other game due to take place on Saturday was Corby United v Long Buckby but the match was not played. Clubs are reminded that all games in the regional groups must be played on the due date. Any club liable for a game not being played is subject to having the game awarded to their opponents by a score of 1-0 and with the opponents also picking up the three points. The decision on this match will be made at the League's Management Committee meeting on Sunday.
Group 2 P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Nuneaton Town 3 3 0 0 15 4 11 9
2 Rothwell Town 3 1 0 2 6 6 0 3
3 Long Buckby 2 1 0 1 3 4 -1 3
4 Corby United 2 0 0 2 2 12 -10 0
Bristol Rovers (SW) lead Group 3 after two victories. They started at home to Yate Town. After an even first half which finished 1-1 there were chances for both sides before Rovers got two more. Yate put Rovers under pressure but weren't able to get the goal they needed before Rovers scored twice more to finish as 5-1 winners with Zac Gibson contributing three of them. In their next meeting Rovers scored through Louis Feeley before Matt Fusco brough Yate level with the last kick of the first half. Rovers went into a 3-1 lead with two goals from the head of Jordan Clash but then needed their defence to remain solid to keep Yate at bay. With Yate pushing forward, a Rovers break resulted in Clash completing his hat-trick before Edmon Avetisyan netted Yate's second for a final score of 4-2 to Rovers. The last match to date in the group was a keenly contested game between JS Soccer One and Yate. Defences controlled the first half but the second half was a more open affair and it was JS Soccer who took a two goal lead. Yate pulled one back but couldn't find the other goal they needed as JS Soccer held on leaving Yate somewhat unfortunate to be without a point so far.
Group 3 P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Bristol Rovers (SW) 2 2 0 0 9 3 6 6
2 JS Soccer One 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 3
3 Yate Town 3 0 0 3 4 11 -7 0
Willenhall Town top Group 4 with nine points from nine. In their opening game at their Noose Lane ground they took a 2-0 lead against Worcester City before the away side scored. Worcester failed to to take their chances to pull level and it was Willenhall who finished on top 3-1. Willenhall took an early lead in the next match between the two with Matthew Garrad in the Worcester goal repeatedly keeping his team in it with quality saves before Willenhall doubled their lead five minutes after the restart with the game finishing 2-0 to the visitors. The Studley Town versus Romulus game was a great exhibition of attacking football in which the home team went five goals up before winning 7-3 but with the number of chances created by both sides it wouldn't have been a surprise if either of them had scored quite a few more. This is exactly what did happen in the next meeting which was another end to end affair with Studley coming out on top in a game which finished 9-5 and featured hat-tricks for them by Connor Hensey and for Romulus by Aarron O'Neil. Studley were unable to add to their 16 goal tally when they went to Willenhall. Despite battling hard all game they conceded top spot to Willenhall who put six past them. Romulus saw the total goal tally in their three games reach an incredible 35 when they went to Worcester for their last game. Worcester opened the scoring before Romulus went 3-1 up. It was then Worcester's turn to bag three more before the break. The visitors then got two more to go 5-4 ahead only for Worcester to bring the game back level before Romulus, with their sixth different scorer, clinched the game 6-5 with two minutes to go.
Group 4 P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Willenhall Town 3 3 0 0 11 1 10 9
2 Studley Town 3 2 0 1 16 14 2 6
3 Romulus 3 1 0 2 14 21 -7 3
4 Worcester City 3 0 0 3 6 11 -5 0
The match on the opening day between Southam United and Bromsgrove Rovers One was a close-run game with Southam taking a 2-0 lead before having to withstand pressure from Bromsgrove who managed just the one goal in reply. The return match started off being similarly close with Southam's early 2-0 lead cancelled by Bromsgrove before Southam scored a third. The second half was all almost all Southam's with three early goals before the match finished 7-3 in their favour with Elliott Parasmo having scored four of them. Southam maintained their 100% record in their last match against Stratford Town when they again raced two ahead. Stratford were denied by good saves by Kieran Conway before pulling level only to finish losing 3-2. Stratford had also lost their first game, against Bristol Rovers (Central) by the same score. They had fought back from 2-0 down and 3-1 down before the game finished 3-2 with Rovers being put under pressure to hang on for their win. It was Stratford who took the lead when the sides next met before the sides changed round on level terms. A penalty for Stratford restored their lead. They would have gone further ahead but for the brilliance of Dominic Richards in the Rovers goal before his side again restored parity. Stratford went ahead again but Rovers ensured a share of the points by equalising for the third time with just two minutes left of an exciting game. Bromsgrove earned their first point on Saturday with a 1-1 draw away to Bristol Rovers.
Group 5 P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Southam United 3 3 0 0 12 6 6 9
2 Bristol Rovers (Cen) 3 1 2 0 7 6 1 5
3 Stratford Town 3 0 1 2 7 9 -2 1
4 Bromsgrove One 3 0 1 2 5 10 -5 1
Group 6 opened with the match between Pelsall Villa and Stourport Swifts which saw both sides leading at different times. The final score of 3-3 was a fair result after both teams' provided a game of attractive football. Harbir Dhanda scored two for Pelsall after setting up the first for Mitchell Harris. Ryan Wollecote, Harry Grant and Ben Maund all scored for Swifts. In the reverse match Pelsall were first on the scoresheet but Swifts hit back to win 8-1 with Nick Pritchard and Ben Maund contributing three goals apiece. The third game in the group saw Villa in action again, this time at home to Archdales. Pelsall took some time in getting really started and fell two behind before scoring their first. Archdales restored their two goal lead early in the second period with Pelsall again being the next to score. This pattern was repeated before the game finished 4-3 in Archdales' favour.
Group 6 P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Stourport Swifts 2 1 1 0 11 4 7 4
2 Archdales 1 1 0 0 4 3 1 3
3 Pelsall Villa 3 0 1 2 7 15 -8 1
The opening day match between Shirley Town and Oxford City was a close contest which could have gone either way. Shirley got the first goal with Oxford scoring the next two before Shirley netted again for a final score of 2-2 which was probably a fair result. In the Judgemeadow versus Pilkington XXX game it was the visitors who had the better of the earlier stages and went into a two-goal lead but it was the home side who had most of the game toward the end of first period with Stephen Ballard getting a goal for them. The home side, who had been weakened by the absence of a number of players and who had no substitutes, grew increasingly tired and found it difficult to cope with Pilkington's pacy attacks which enabled the visitors to run out 7-1 winners with Sean Dowling having scored three and two more from each of Zack Wahab and Jack McGinn. Oxford gained their only win to date in the return fixtur against Shirley. Shirley scored with three minutes left of the game but Oxford had already built up a three goal lead in a highly competitive game. Oxford were glad of Adam Turner's goalkeeping which kept them in the game during a first half in which Pilkington scored the opener before a penalty left the teams level at half-time. Oxford started the second half looking dangerous but it was Pilkington who tok the lead again and then went on to sore a further four, including three in the last six minutes, to take the game 7-1. The Pilkington XXX v Judgemeadow fixture was not played and will be adjucated on at the League's next Management Committee meeting.
Group 7 P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Pilkington XXX 2 2 0 0 13 2 11 6
2 Oxford City 3 1 1 1 6 9 -3 4
3 Shirley Town 3 0 2 1 4 6 -2 2
4 Judgemeadow 2 0 1 1 2 8 -6 1
Gloucester City look very likely to finish top of Group 8 after winning all their games so far. In their first game against Stroud they went five ahead in the first half before Stroud drew the second half 2-2 to make it 7-2 at the final whistle with Josh Watts scoring three and despite an outstanding performance by Ashton Herbert in the Stroud goal. Gloucester completed the double the following week when winning 5-1 with Ashton Herbert again keeping the score down. Stroud managed to creat chances of their own but managed to convert only one of them just before the break. Josh Watts' second hat-trick of the season helped Gloucester to a 6-1 win but their opponents, Evesham United, were not without their share of attacking play.
Group 8 P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Gloucester City 3 3 0 0 18 4 14 9
2 Evesham United 1 0 0 1 1 6 -5 0
3 Stroud 2 0 0 2 3 12 -9 0
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