The West Midlands League beckons me today and I am off to a new ground, that of Dudley Sports who play in the Brierley Hill area of Dudley. When I set off from Worcester, it's still a bit misty but by the time I get off the train at Stourbridge it's a nice and sunny day!
After having some stir fry beef and noodles at a local eaterie called 'Taste' I head for the bus station and catch the Number 246 bus bound for Dudley. I get off at Brierley Hill High Street and after thinking about visiting the nearby Merry Hill shopping centre, I see a sign post that says 'Waterfront'. Intrigued I go down the hill and soon see that the sign was indicating the location of the Dudley Canal, which I had noticed earlier on my street map. I'm pleasantly surprised to see that there is a neat footpath along side the canal and walking along, soon I can see some moored boats and down below to my left is Merry Hill. As the walk along this canal is headed in the general direction of the football ground, I decide it's worth an explore. A bit later I come across an area called 'Delph Locks', where there are no less than 9 canal locks in total, taking boats up the hill to Dudley from Stourbridge. It's a great example of old British engineering and it's all in good working order. It's certainly making for an interesting stroll in nice weather.
At the bottom of the hill I arrive just in time to see a canal barge coming through the first lock.
Now I am heading for the ground and after some quick consultation with my map book, see that I need to finish my canal walk and soon I am heading up to and across the next bridge. The Dudley Sports FC ground is in Hillcrest Avenue and soon I see the entrance at the end of this road.
After walking through the club car park, I go through the gate and pay my entrance fee and obtain the match programme at the hut on my left. In front is a football pitch with the main pitch beyond this, which is at a 90 degree angle to me.
When I walk across the first pitch I can see that there are 2 buildings on the right hand side of the ground. The first is the one housing the changing rooms and toilets while the smaller one houses the snack bar, from which I purchase my usual pre-match cup of tea (£1). Also on this side of the main pitch are the team dug-outs and 2 small stands with a single row of seats in each.
The main stand (the Joe Forrest Stand) is on the opposite side and has seating and shelter for about 25 spectators. All in all the ground has a basic feel to it and after a quick look at my programme I see the teams coming out. Dudley Sports are in an all green strip while Shawbury United are in dark blue and white striped shirts with blue shorts and socks. I think this must be the visitors away kit as they usually play in black and white striped shirts.
Shawbury, basically a village team who hail from Shropshire (and play at the town of Wem) have played 6 league games,won 5 and drawn one with a very healthy 20 goal difference lie in 5th place, while the hosts have played 9 games so far, have won 4 and lie 2 places below them.
For the first 20 minutes it's Shawbury who look the more dangerous side and Dudley are having difficulty in launching attacks of their own. It's a surprise when the home team in one of their rare sorties in their opponents half are awarded a free kick and it's taken by their No.10 and top goal scorer, Stuart Hillman. He hammers in a low shot which comes off the near post and rebounds in to the net off the Shawbury keeper.
The visitors come roaring back and after 23 minutes their No.9, Rob Millington delivers a great cross from the right for their No.8, Dan Beddows, to head in at the far post. Game on!
Just 6 minutes later, Dudley's Aaron Gordon has his ankles clipped while trying to turn his marker in the penalty area. Hillman takes the spot kick but shoots too close to the keeper,Ashley Spittlehouse, who correctly guesses and dives to his right to save it (shown below).
While Shawbury still have the greater share of possession, Dudley are able break away at pace which causes the visitors defence some problems.
So it's 1-1 at the break and I must admit that Dudley Sports look a better team than I thought they probably were. They have a combative midfield,whose spirit is embodied by their No.8 Curtis Cocking who battles for everything, the goal threat of Hillman and the pace of their No.9, the exotically named Shepherd Machingauta. Their goal keeper, Sam Pearson, looks pretty useful too and is not afraid to take a few knocks for the team while diving at opponents feet.
So the 2nd half starts and it's the home team who are posing the greater threat to start with and it's probably their best spell of the match. After 12 minutes they take the lead when from a free kick on the right, the ball is flicked on for Aaron Gordon racing in down the left to fire in to the net off the far post (as shown below).
It's a great goal and Shawbury have got a fight on their hands to preserve their unbeaten league record. They immediately try to hit back and Pearson makes 2 saves in quick succession.
A few minutes later and Machingauta slides the ball across from the right for the dangerous Hillman to smack a first time shot on the volley which hits the bar and out.
Just a minute later and Shawbury's No.9 is put through by a great flick on and his volley is brilliantly tipped over the bar by the inspired Pearson. Shawbury's best opportunity for an equaliser is presented to them with a penalty award. Their No.3 steps up to take it but like the home side's 1st half effort, it's hit too close to the keeper and is easily saved.
On 39 minutes, a Shawbury substitute, their No.12 sees his shot tipped over the bar and a few minutes later their No.6 shoots in to the net off the post but it's disallowed.
Dudley Sports are still dangerous on the break and when Hillman pushes the ball to Machingauta, his shot is well saved by the onrushing keeper.
With the match moving in to injury time and the outcome still in the balance I decide to head off to catch my bus hoping I don't miss any goals. I'm lucky, when I find out later that there aren't but it's been a good match to watch today, especially the 2nd half and Shawbury may feel that they were a bit unlucky to lose. I think they should be one of the front runners for the Premier League title, as they have done over the last few seasons and Dudley Sports can certainly give most teams a run for their money on today's evidence.
Match entrance fee: £5
Match programme: £1
Match attendance: 25-30 (estimate)
Match entertainment: 8/10
Today I am partially rectifying my avoidance of the West Midlands League this season. This has been a major oversight on my part, particularly regarding the Premier Division as the title race is featuring 4 teams when for a long time it looked like that Lye Town would be the likely winners. They are in first place but have been stumbling a bit recently and had a morale sapping 2-3 away defeat at Bewdley in mid-week. The other teams in the mix are Pegasus Juniors, Wolverhampton Casuals and one of the teams I am going to see today, Shawbury United.
So I am heading on the train to the small town of Oakengates, which is part of Telford in Shropshire where Wellington Amateurs have their ground. It's not a town I have ever visited before, although I have been to Shropshire several times in the past.
I make my way to Birmingham from Worcester and then board the Shrewsbury train. Within 50 minutes I have arrived at Oakengates and the weather is still cloudy and cold! Typical British holiday weather.
I must admit I am not very impressed by this town's small shopping centre. There appears to be no cafes that are open, indeed there are not that many shops, definitely some charity shops and a rather grotty Co-op food store. Even visiting the public toilets is disheartening as I find the remains of burnt pieces of paper on the floor of the cubicle I go into. Looks like a local pyromaniac has been trying to torch the place!
There is good news for any real ale loving ground-hoppers who come this way as I note a pub, called 'The Fighting Cocks' that sells beer from the local Ironbridge Brewery. Indeed there seems to be several pubs all within a short staggering distance of each other.
So after having a snack at the local branch of Greggs, I make the short walk to the Wickes Stadium home of the 'Amateurs'. Founded in 1950, they were called by this name so as to avoid any confusion with Wellington Town who later morphed in to 'Telford United' and then the re-formed AFC Telford, who of course are going great guns at the top of the Skrill North this season. Wellington Amateurs have made steady progress since their formation and have featured in this division for the last few years.
Shawbury their Shropshire rivals have been challenging at the top of the West Mid Premier for several seasons. They ground share at Wem Town, which is about 5 miles away from the village of Shawbury.
The entrance fee is only £3 + £1 for the programme.
So the teams troop out with Wellington in red & black and the visitors decked out in black & white striped shirts.
The match is not of the best quality to be honest. Plenty of endeavour but played at a quite frenetic pace at times, probably a typical local derby.
Shawbury who are attacking away from the southern end of the ground, where I'm standing, go close after 10 minutes when their No.10 shoots across the goal from the right side of the penalty area.
There seems to be a crowd of about 30-40 today. I was expecting a larger crowd but AFC Telford are at home today which can't help I suppose and I later find out that they had an attendance of 2,048 at their game, which is certainly impressive.
The game seems to be heading for a goal less first-half but Shawbury have been bossing the last 15 minutes and it's no surprise to me when they score a good goal in injury time. Again it's from an attack down the right and the Shawbury forward buries the ball in to the opposite corner of the net.
The Wickes Stadium home of the 'Amateurs' has a small club house on the entrance side of the ground, which features a small seated stand in the front.There are toilets on the one side of this with what looks like a porta- cabin building on the other which probably houses the club's offices.
There is another small covered area on the other side of the pitch and the team dug-out's are located on this side too.
I had a chat with one of the locals in the first-half who is watching the game while walking his dog. It turns out that he went to the College at Worcester (now the University) in his youth and has fond memories of playing for the football teams there.
When the teams come out after the interval I am wondering if the home team will be able to get back in to the game. The weather has improved though and we are now basking in sunshine although it's still not that warm.
In response to my thoughts, Wellington press hard and start to give Shawbury's defence a few problems but without looking that threatening. They are lacking a bit of quality up front against their higher placed rivals.
During this half I start chatting to a guy who is a Shawbury supporter. He tells me that his team are looking to have their own ground in Shawbury in the future and also informs me that Wellington have been told that their present ground is not up to the required standard and will have to move elsewhere. This surprises me as although the standard of the pitch could be better I thought the ground itself was not too bad.
As the game progresses Shawbury become more and more of an attacking threat and on several occasions go close to doubling their advantage. With about 20 minutes to go they indeed do score again, their No.6 volleying in from the edge of the area, as shown below.
A deserved score for the title-challengers for the all the pressure they have been putting on the home defence.
With the score still at 0-2 I make my way out of the ground with a few minutes to go as I'm a bit worried about missing my train which is only an hourly service back to Birmingham. I go on a different route this time and in the spring sunshine, Oakengates with wooded hills surrounding it looks a much better sight to me.
So it's been good to go to a new ground today and it will interesting to see if the Amateurs do have to move to another ground. It seems to be a nice friendly club and they do have talent coming through the youth ranks (as stated in the programme) as their Under-16 team won the County Cup the previous Sunday.
Shawbury United are still in with a shout with the league title this season and I'm sure it won't be decided till right at the end.
PS. The Wellington club secretary, Graeme Mc.Dermott has kindly informed me that the club's ground and facilities have been passed fit for Level 6 football for next season, thanks to work carried out over the last 12 months.
