Match reports - 2002/2003
Match reports - 2002/2003
Thes reports should be updated at the end of each playing month.
To see a breakdown of each team's players and squads for this month refer to the individuals teams in Club Squads
September 2002
Division 4
VILLAGE D 2 Old Wulfrunians 'C' 5
Despite John Small's 25th minute opener on his debut by half-time Village had gone 2-1 down and after an hour it was 4-1. Substitute Phil Mann scored a late consolation after they had further stretched their lead. No reason for depression despite the result. We actually played pretty well for much of the game and on another day might even have taken a point. We were simply betrayed by the side's lack of familiarity with each other and an ability to take what chances we had.
Division 8
VILLAGE E 4 Eccleston & Hart 'B' 3
Village started this game by conceding what was probably the quickest goal in the club's history, almost certainly under 10 seconds--and from our own kick off. After this set back Village gradually got themselves back into the game and equalised through Phil Newland, a neat finish after a dodgy goal kick, and then went ahead when Kevin Sampath scored from close range. In fact so close that he was probably offside. The game swung back Eccleston's way immediately before and after half time when two goals were conceded. For a short period Village looked weary and dispirited before deciding they might as well have another go. Phil Newland had an effort miraculously cleared off the line before Matt Kendall equalised with an excellent left footed shot past a goalkeeper who remained glued to his line. Victory was sealed 20 minutes from time when John Millard headed home a dangerous inswinging corner from Mike Coulson. All in all a very satisfying win against decent opposition, the only black spot being a booking for Sean McKenzie after a brutal scything tackle that sent a lad half his age sprawling.
Festival League Major Cup Round One
Greenlands Social 2 VILLAGE SUNDAY 0
An inauspicious performance on a pitch with a slope resembling the North Face of the Eiger. Not an aid to our slick passing style. It didn't do their lively if somewhat baby-faced side (average age 13) any harm and the only man worthy of mention in dispatches was Matt Quinn who pulled off a penalty save.
SEPTEMBER 28th
Premier Division
Woodbourne Sports 2 VILLAGE A 0
A disappointing performance by the injury-depleted first team. Nonetheless it was a game that could have gone either way and right at the death their keeper made a brilliant save to keep the score at 1-0 and they broke to get the clincher.
Division 2
VILLAGE B 2 Shirley Athletic 3
A match that started with a strong tempo from Village and they were unlucky a perfectly good goal from Vaughan was call not over by their linesman - even though their man on the side said it was clearly over. Village was to pay for this ill fortune. In the 43rd minute, in typical Village B style the team fell asleep and let them in for an easy score. To compound this 1 minute later a clear offside wasn't given and the score at the half was 2-0. Village clearly didn't deserve this and attacked with vigour in the 2nd half. A fine run by Atkins left Johnny on the spot Vaughan with a simple tap in. More Village pressure told and a lovely flighted ball was converted by the inspiring Atkins to make it 2 a piece. It seemed there would be only one winner. Unfortunately a ball that should have been easily cleared at a corner was returned into the goal and managed to beat 3 men on the line. Not a good result and the play, especially in the 2nd half didn't deserve this result. Fine performances from Nagle, Atkins, but man of the match, making his debut, goes to James Cullis.
Division 3
Sutton United 'C' 0 VILLAGE C 0
A bit of a slugging match this between old rivals from the two recent Minor Cup Final wins by our boys. Too many missed chances cost us the other two points.
Division 4
Kings Norton Celtic 8 VILLAGE D 0
Oops - 1-0 down at half-time against a strong KN side wasn't bad but after that things got a little out of hand.
Division 8
VILLAGE E 0 Handsworth GSOB 'D' 2
A disappointment as league challengers Handsworth weren't even that impressive.
Festival League
VILLAGE SUNDAY 1 Greenlands Social 1
Looking to maintain their unbeaten home record and avenge the previous weeks's cup exit at the hands of today's opponents Village fielded a changed formation which saw Paul Carter drafted into the defensive unit and a midfield debut for Simon Redfern. Within minutes of the kick-off Dan Atkins rounded Greenland's tubby goal-keeper only to be cynically squashed under an unsavoury challenge in the box. With just an indirect freekick awarded and no card shown the referee was being diplomatic. Village maintained their stranglehold on the game and deserved their opening goal which came courtesy of a viscous P. Cypher volley from 18 yards. Approaching half-time and the Greenlands keeper once again mismanaged his momentum and clattered into J. Cypher. The resulting spot-kick (taken by Mann) was saved by a keeper who had surprisingly remained on the field of play.
The second half saw Village defending deeply and Greenland huffing and puffing. Eventually Greenland equalised after a mis-hit defensive clearance, and with the scores level and time running out the game became increasingly frantic. The late introduction of Humphreys and Forbes had little impact as Village hung onto for a well earned point.
October 2002
OCTOBER 5TH Premier Division VILLAGE A 4 Handsworth GSOB 0 Much more like it. An impressive display at the back when they did get at us, particularly by Tony Dicicco but everyone played their part in an excellent display of constructive football and expert finishing. A goal half way into the first half by Ubong Umotong set out our stall although it wasn't until 10 minutes from the end that Ubong once again rounded the keeper and scored. Two more goals followed in two minutes from Dave Newton and Carson Twaddle and we even had time for Dan Atkins to fall over when 5 yards out and the goal gaping. having said that Dan like Andy Haigh, the other sub, had played their part in am impressive display. Division 2 West Hagley 0 VILLAGE B 2 A much better start from Village this week and the team set about their task with renewed vigour to bounce back from last week's disappointment. A half of very few chances, but Village by the last 20 minutes were beginning to dominate.0-0 at the half. With Fleming rarely troubled in goal eventually Village persistence paid off. A ball into the channels was seized upon by Nagle, whose sweet delivery into the box was flicked on by the ever-running Penfold. In trying to clear the ball the defender only succeeded in kicking the ball into the 'on rushing' (you heard me correctly) Revell, and the ball crossed the line. From here on in there seemed to be only one winner. Village however were fortunate when a Bailey 'interception' was deemed only punishable with a booking and the danger soon passed. To seal the game Bain intercepted a ball on our 18-yard line and passed it onto Penfold. His ball found the dependable Vaughan, and when the ball was crossed into the box there was the speedy (you heard!) Bain getting ahead of both goalie and defender to squeeze the ball home. A deserved victory for the whole team performance. Man of the match to Jarmy for another commanding performance in the centre of midfield. Division 3 Holly Lodge O.B. 2 VILLAGE C 1 Again no details except the general view that we underperfomed against an average side. Division 4 VILLAGE D 1 Wake Green 'C' 5 Not a fair reflection by all accounts but after an even first half in which Kevin Myers opened his account for the club from the spot, a goalkeepers error and a speculative shot form way out left the boys facing another mountain to climb (just count those cliches). Morale went down and so did we. Still signs of potential once the team gets used to each other and we get a bit of luck. Jeffs Cup 1 VILLAGE E 6 Colinthians 7 A rip roaring tie saw Village E edged out of the Jeffs Cup by the odd goal in thirteen. Facing Colinthians, flying high with a 100% record at the top of Division 7, was always going to be a daunting task, but manager Ben 'Keegan' Bevins still opted to play two forwards as wing backs and striker Matt Green in midfield. The result was a 3-2-5 formation that made a goal glut inevitable. Village's problems were further compounded by the enormous height disadvantage they faced, with no one in the side over 5' 9''. Village fell behind to an early goal but recovered to take the lead with goals from Phil Newland and Ben Bevins. By half time, however, they were 4-2 down and up against it. In the second half the gap was narrowed to 4-3 with a fine goal from Matt Kendall. The big push for an equaliser resulted in a few missed chances but also the conceding of three more goals, leaving Village with a mountain to climb--7-3 down with 10 minutes on the watch. Somewhat surprisingly, a spirited rally from the Division 8 outfit brought the score back to 7-6 with the opposition in disarray and almost coming to blows with each other. Goals from Phil Newland, Matt Green and new boy Will Palin almost produced a sensation and a seemingly inevitable equaliser was prevented only by the referee blowing the final whistle. A disappointment, but a fine performance against a side that had won all its previous fixtures in a higher division. County Junior Cup Village Sunday 1 Windsor Crown 9 (Nine) Um. OCTOBER 12TH Senior Cup Round 2 FCS Lasermail 1 VILLAGE A 1 (a.e.t) This was the exception and one of the dullest games I have ever suffered through. Another disappointing performance by the injury-depleted first team. Highlights are hard to find - suffice to say they had one attack of note and we had about 50! We didn't look like scoring though and only a Dave Newton goal from an excellent Ben Evans cross from the left saved our blushes after they scored with 20 to go Division 2 VILLAGE B 4 Colinthians B 2 A match that started with a strong tempo from Village and they were soon putting the lacklustre opposition to the sword. The introduction of Michael Brown seemed to cause the opposition many problems. At it was he who latched onto a good through ball from Nagle to put it past the advancing keeper. The industry of the whole of the midfield yet again was partly responsible for pushing Colithians back. After 30 minutes another good run by Brown saw a low cross being converted by Jarmy. Nagle suffered a hamstring injury through all the exertions he was putting in, but managed to still cause Colithians problems. The back four, who again, looked very strong, were under no pressure, but in true Village style we managed to give away a needless goal on the stroke of half time from a weak corner. The second half begun very much as the first and soon Village were dominating. They were awarded a penalty when A Haigh was rugby tackled to the ground and Revell, cool as you like, putting the ball straight down the middle. A Rogers's goal soon after meant the game was all but sawn up after 60 minutes. The last 20 minutes had Colithians pouring forward in numbers, and we could just have easily scored many more on the break. However they did manage to get one more back, but a 4-2 scoreline flattered Colithians. A very good performance, for most of the game. Good performances for the whole of the back 5, but man of the match goes to Michael Brown, on his B team debut. Division 3 VILLAGE C 4 Silhill 'C' 2 An early Andy Campbell header from a corner should have been the signal for a cakewalk against Mediocrity United but we actually managed to go in at the break level and even went behind before Dave Csondor equalised. With 15 to go their keeper made a phenomenal save from a Mark Titheridge left foot shot and Andy Campbell netted the rebound. Paul Cypher completed the scoring. Division 4 Smethwick Hall O.B 'B' 1 VILLAGE D 3 A great performance this by the Ds who are slowly settling down. One or two new boys could help transform these into a comfortable mid table side. Simon Bowron was on shooting form bagging two, the last a great diving header. Phil Kyei got the other. Division 8 Sikh Hunters New Boys 3 VILLAGE E 2 A gritty performance against the league leaders brought final disappointment in this one. Round 2 of the Minor Cup VILLAGE SUNDAY 4 Black Horse 7 OCTOBER 19TH County Vase Round 1 VILLAGE A 2 Cadbury Athletic 2 (a.e.t) - Cadbury won 4-3 on penalties Our debut in the County Vase brought much good football against Midland Combination Division one side Cadburys. We dominated the first half totally but couldn't put it in the net - not even from the penalty spot when the chance arose. The second half was more even but we still shaded it and a travesty of justice loomed when they went ahead from a clever chip with only 4 minutes on the clock. Substitute Rob Dunford pulled us back level only for us to 2-1 down right at the start of extra-time. The fat lady was even beginning to gargle when we missed another spot-kick but Ubong Umotong pulled the fat out of the fire once more to take us to penalties. Any pessimism we might have felt at this point - we'd already missed two proved fully justified but it just didn't seem the right result to me. Veterans Cup VILLAGE 4 Wake Green 5 After going 2-0 up early on, a bewildering array of incompetent defensive moves and over-elaboration around their box led to the Vets downfall against an equally disappointing Wake's side. Division 3 VILLAGE C 0 Illsley O.B. 0 A dour struggle that confirmed our position at third in the table but brought no goals. Division 4 Walsall Phoenix 'B' 3 VILLAGE D 1 For the second week running the Ds found themselves playing the second team of one of the league's strongmen. This time, despite a lot of good football and most of the possession we didn't do enough in the final third to bring home the bacon. Festival League Village Sunday 1 Courting Lisbon 5 OCTOBER 26TH JW Hunt Cup Round One VILLAGE FC 'C' 3 Continental Star Reserves 2 (aet) What can you say? A magnificent performance by all 14 members of the C-team squad on Saturday against supposedly superior opposition (2nd in Midland Combination 3) saw the C-team overcome a major hurdle on their road to the Molineux final. 2-0 down after 20 minutes and seemingly dead and buried, the C-team finally roused themselves and started to take the game to Continental Star. Campbell netted from a Khan corner - 2-1 at half time and all to play for. The final 25 minutes of the first half being the best performance by the C-team so far this season. Many thanks to the Star captain and bald to!!er whose shout of "This lot are so crap they're not even in the Argus" provided all the necessary motivation and the oft-to-be repeated rallying cry. The second half resumed the way the first had finished with Village matching and bettering their more illustrious opposition. With 20 minutes gone Village finally drew level with Karski latching on to a Titheridge effort and slotting the ball home. Cue a Star assault, but with everybody in the side doing their job perfectly the extremely well organised Village team prevented Star from having time to settle on the ball and had possession wrestled from them time and time again. Full time 2-2 and 20 minutes of extra-time to be played. Cue the tactical masterpiece. With Khan injured on the stroke of full time and become a substituted substitute, most people called for Bevins to take centre stage. However the tactical wizardry of Boore saw him bring Simpson into the back-3 and move Foy into centre midfield. Within 2 minutes success. Tithers won the ball from the full back, got to the bye-line and pulled the ball back to Foy on the edge of the area. A first time strike that flew into the roof of the net without the keeper having a chance to move. The titanic battle continued to the end with all 14 players playing their part and after a seemingly never-ending spell of injury time a truly wonderful 3-2 victory to the C-team. Congratulations to all involved - all of whom I shall now mention as all are worthy of listing, as they all more than played their part in this superb performance : Dave Bennett - stand-in custodian - Warren Foy, Matt Mitchell, Rhys Boore, Andy Campbell, Bob Jefford, Sid Khan, Mark Allison, Rich Munro, Stan Karski, Dave Csondor, Mark Titheridge, Steve Simpson and Ben Bevins. YOUR MUMS WOULD BE PROUD OF YOU Senior Cup Round Two Replay VILLAGE A 2 FCS Lasermail 0 A lively first half display brought no goals against a dogged if pedestrian Lasermail. Unfortunately after the break we produced our dullest form of the season and began to find it hard to break them down. Goals by Dave Newton halfway through and Rob Dunford at the death put the crowd out of their misery. Division 2 VILLAGE 'B' 3 Welwyn 2 Another good win for the Bs against previously unbeaten Welwyn. The first half was fairly even but Welwyn took the lead after a poor defensive clearance - 1-0 at half time. Village started the second brightly and goals from Nick Vaughan and Howard Rogers saw us take the lead. Then a dodgy line decision (when the ball appeared to have gone out) allowed Dave Penfold to beat the keeper from 30 yards with a top corner shot to make it 3-1. Welwyn poured forward without much menace although they were allowed a consolation when Forbes (between the sticks) bizarrely decided to leave a long range shot that went straight down the middle. Magnanimously he took the blame for the goal. Division 4 VILLAGE 'D' 1 Brittania O.B. 'B' 3 Another disappointing result for the Ds on the small pitch at Rowheath. Not an ideal setting but one in which a direct approach is favoured. Unfortunately we didn't seem to grasp this early on and were 3-0 down after 20 minutes. For the remaining 70 we were the better side but could only get one back - through Nick Haigh ten minutes into the second half. Its tough for these lads because they have the makings of a good side but its just not falling into place at the moment. Festival League VILLAGE SUNDAY 2 Black Horse 3 Village went down to a last minute goal against league leaders Black Horse in a controversial match played in extreme conditions. The quality of football on display reached new depths due to a swirling wind which culminated in 7 consecutive Village goal kicks going out for throw ins to the opposition. Playing with the wind in the first half, Village started brightly and took a deserved lead when maverick wingman John Denley burst through the middle and lifted his shot over the on rushing goalkeeper. Inexplicably, Village went in at half-time 2 -1 down due to some poor defending and G-force defying shooting from the Black Horse attack. Village began the second half with a certain trepidation realising the wind was now in their faces and recalling their propensity to concede goals in batches of 6 or 7 immediately following the restart. Village conceded a penalty mid way through the half, but saw stand in keeper John Delaney make a crucial save. Overall, it came as something of a relief when Village continued to defend stoutly and they drew level with 12 minutes to go with the most innocuous penalty award in the history of association football. Redfern was blown over and Super Sub Ubong Umotong slotted the penalty home. In the last minute Village hearts were broken when Black Horse snatched a late winner.
November 2002
NOVEMBER 2ND County FA Junior Cup Peugeot (Coventry) 3 VILLAGE 'B' 1 An inauspicious Junior Cup debut against Coventry Alliance Peugeot for the Bs. Re-organised because of various absences a bright opening spell was followed by two defensive lapses on the quarter hour that saw us fall behind. Another goal on the brink of half-time left a stiff task and a better second half display brought only a Gavin Revell goal. Division 3 Solihull Gas 10 VILLAGE FC 'C' 2 What a blow after last week. A weird game in which the pacy and talented league leaders went 4-1 up in 18 minutes. The rest of the first half and the beginning of the second was shaded by us and for long spells we looked like pegging them back to respectability. A little bit of indiscipline and their good finishing however saw them add a further 4 in the last quarter of an hour leaving a lop-sided look to the scoreline in a match that was never a ten goal game. Division 4 VILLAGE 'D' 3 Manchester Wanderers 2 A win that lifted the Ds out of the drop zone and fully deserved. After 15 minutes John Small stretched and touched home a Jon Denley cross and after 25 minutes Dan Stoner hit one in from just inside the box. Before half-time they'd got one back but with 17 minutes to go Andy Bancroft wrapped it up and Manchester's late consolation was simply that. Division 8 VILLAGE 'E' 2 Inter Quinton 1 A similarly welcome win for the Es that was equally worthy. Phil Newland scored twice - in the first minute and the last - and although they equalised early on we missed a stack full of chances and should have wrapped it up long before the end. A special mention for stand-in official Carson Twaddle who had a sound game in the rain. Festival League Greenlands Social 4 VILLAGE SUNDAY 0 NOVEMBER 9TH Senior Cup Round Three VILLAGE FC 0 Kynoch 2 Not a great deal of fun this one. A lack-lustre display by the As is at the root of this defeat with too many having an off day to deserve better. Nor in truth did Kynoch. They had one attack worthy of the name in the first half and a man two yards at least offside when the moved started scored too easily. We only have ourselves to blame, missing umpteen chances in both halves, slapping it against post and bar and generally looked uninterested in winning. Inevitably they would eventually benefit from a combination of crap officials (this time a free-kick for the keeper handling outside the box from a clearance - a rare event to say the least) and poor defending. Division Two VILLAGE B 5 Wake Green 'B' 2 Definitely a game of two halves for Village. All promised much when after an excellent flowing move the arch poacher himself Nick Vaughan polished of a Revell cross from the left in the 4th minute. Unfortunately after 10 more minutes of bright play the team sunk into a deep depression of drabness and carelessness. A warning was given when Wake Green were awarded a penalty for a push in the box. However the excellent Fleming repelled the attempt. He was not so lucky with the 2nd penalty moments later for a similar offence in the box. This failed to rouse Village and just before the half the offside trap didn't work and Wake Green took a 2-1 lead into the half. After some harsh words at the half it was the Village of old who took the game. A Rogers strike brought the scores level after a couple of minutes into the half. There then followed a Jap Stam moment by Gavin Revell. After the ever-threatening Brown won a penalty, Revell proceeded to blast the ball over the bar, over the trees and it was last seen somewhere down the Birmingham Road. This was however the only blip in the half as Village dominated to such an extent that 5 goals was not a true reflection of their domination. Further goals by Jarmy (Rogers assist), N Vaughan (Jarmy) and Brown (Nagle) made it a comfortable result. Man of the match again going to Michael Brown. Division Three VILLAGE 'C' 4 University Barbarians 3 Nearly the one that got away as a barely organised Village side attempted to give woeful Barbarians a point. It started with a fifth minute goal although we soon pulled in front through Andy Campbell and Rich Munro from a Jon Denley cross. By half-time Steve Marfleet had scored on his debut, running on to an Andy Campbell through ball to beat the offside trap and the custodian. Mark Titheridge put us further ahead after the break and then with 6 minutes to go we rather ludicrously started to play an offside trap and inevitably they got two back. Division Four Parkfield Amateurs 'B' 4 VILLAGE 'D' 3 In a reverse of the fortunes of the 'C' side this was an exemplary display by an emerging and well organised side who were very very unlucky not to take the points. Despite taking an early lead, we were pegged back by a very dodgy penalty award but after falling 3-1 down we got back to one down by half-time. We ten had a goal that had gone at least two feet over the line not awarded and they got another. After that we continued to press but could only get one more. Phil Kyei got all there goals - his first hat-trick for the club. Division Eight Tamworth Bonds 2 VILLAGE 'E' 3 Village started the game slowly allowing Bonds the best of the play in the early stages. As the first half progressed, however, they gradually asserted their control and had goal bound efforts from Mat Kendall and John Millard cleared off the line. The breakthrough finally came when Ben Bevins showed nifty footwork in the box followed by a rasping drive which broke the net (although it was only held up by pegs). Ten minutes later Matt Kendall slipped passed his man in the inside left channel and crossed hard across the face of goal for Phil Newlands to stab home from close range. The second half saw a physical Bonds side mount sustained pressure and draw level through two own goals from Village's otherwise impeccable centre backs, Harvey and Human. However, just when it seemed that the home side might go on and clinch all three points Phil Newland struck again five minutes from time with a fine curling effort from a tight angle. Another good win for Village E against opposition from the top half of the table. With three wins secured from six games they seem well capable of competing in this division. Festival League VILLAGE SUNDAY 3 K Ex United 1 Village put 6 consecutive defeats behind them with a hard fought victory over midtable K Ex United. Village opened in positive fashion and soon took the lead. The ball broke to Dan Atkins 25 yards out and he coolly controlled and volleyed over the K Ex goalkeeper - an excellent strike. Village let K Ex back into the game when a long range pot shot from the centre of pitch caught Quinn off guard and arrowed inside the post. K Ex went on to strike the post twice in quick succession and Village were grateful to reach half-time level The second half was a different story. Village played with renewed enthusiasm and pressed forward at every opportunity. It was after a double substitution with Denley and Wilson replacing Mann and Redfern that Village retook the lead. Denley danced down the left a wrapped his left foot around the ball presenting a heading chance to Dan Atkins who beat the goalkeeper to the ball for his second of the game. Midway through the second half, Village got the third after a mistake in the K Ex defence. The ball found its way to J Cypher who controlled and stabbed in. Village continued to threaten but failed to add to their tally as K Ex visibly tired. Village's defence looked a lot more secure this week coinciding with the return to Sunday team action of Dave Bennett after a self-imposed exile of 18 months even the ref thought he had been man of the match. NOVEMBER 16TH Holder Cup Round One Wake Green 'D' 0 VILLAGE 'D' 2 The Ds became the first Village side to reach a semi-final this season after an extended Holder Cup campaign, deservedly coming out winners in a game played on a sticky Wake Green pitch. With Junior Forbes leading the attack with all the pace and manoeuvrability of the Ark Royal it looked like it might be a tough afternoon but the other 10 played pretty well around him and had the chances to be four up by half-time. Instead a scrambled effort by Andy Bancroft had to suffice until John Small drove home from close range shortly after Junior was substituted. Division 8 VILLAGE 'E' 2 Flamengo 7 This game was one of those anomalous fixtures you get in the lower divisions when a new side enters the AFA. Flamengo are not a Division 8 side and Village were always up against it in trying to stem the attacking flow. From a positive point of view the whole team kept going until the end of the game and occasionally played some good football, two moments of which led to goals from Mat Kendall and Ben Bevins. The other good thing to come out of this game is that fact that we don't have to play them again this season, having now played them twice. Festival League Webasto 3 VILLAGE SUNDAY 2 After taking a 1-0 lead into halftime courtesy of a Dan Atkins freekick, Village were looking good value for a rare away win. However, a controversial back pass decision which resulted in Webasto's equaliser changed the complexion of the match. Webasto's spirits were lifted and with injuries to Village players in the latter stages of the game, our formation became amorphous and inevitably we conceded a soft goal. But after a powerful run by Ubong was completed by a Forbes scuffed-special, it appeared Village had done enough to earn a well earned point. However, a late scramble Village's box resulted in an undeserved Webasto winner, and a result which belied the overall pattern of the game. NOVEMBER 30TH Premier Division Sutton United 1 VILLAGE F.C. 2 Well its never easy at Sutton who have a lively young team and an aggressive one-eyed crowd and we weren't helped by not having played for two weeks. We looked rusty and they hadn't missed a game and it showed for the first twenty minutes when we were under the cosh. A headed goal from Paul Wilson on the hour, following a flick-on by Laurie Carey settled us down, however, and we had a slight edge for the rest of the half. At the start of the second we were back under pressure and the Dog Pound eventually persuaded the ref to give them a penalty when a forward smashed the ball at Carl Griffin. Justice was done when Tony Diccico saved the pen and he went on to distinguish himself with several more fine saves. With fifteen minutes to go they got one back but it was short-lived as Laurie Carey swept home a Steve Marfleet pass. Just time left for us to show steely resolve as one of the opposition was dismissed. Three hard fought for and well deserved points. Junior Cup Colinthians 'B' 0-1 VILLAGE 'B' Without the absent Forbes the Bs kept only their second clean sheet of the season but made hard work of what should have been a comfortable win. The first half was all Village, the only goal coming after 15 minutes when the referee gave a spot kick for an innocuous barge on James Cypher. Nick Vaughan duly dispatched the penalty and we should have gone on to score more before the break but were not able to put our chances away. The first 15 minutes of the second half were fairly even but Colinthians upped the tempo for the last half hour and we couldn't manage to get out of our own half. Man of the match Gary Fleming made some good saves and the defence held out to see us through to the next round. Thank you to Shaun Mackenzie who turned up to give some half time advice and ended up running the line. Division Three VILLAGE C 5 Welwyn 'B' 1 A good win this against second in the table Welwyn who never recovered from us going 4-0 up in twenty-five minutes. It wasn't much of a contest after that but they got one back with 7 minutes to go and we added one in the final minute. Mark Titheridge, Dave Penfold (2), Mark Alison and Jon Denley were the markspeople. Tuesday night: JW Hunt Cup Round 2 Darlaston Town 5 VILLAGE 'C' 1 Well it sounds like a slaughter but trust me it wasn't. West Midlands League Darlo opted to play downhill on the notorious slope at the City Ground and after a tight half an hour we did find ourselves 3-0 down at the break. The referee however gave us nothing all night and one clear penalty shout was denied and one of their goals escaped a clear offside decision. At 2-0 or 3-1 at the break it would have been very open. As it was we had a good second half and when we got one back halfway through through Rob Dunford an unlikely comeback looked possible. An excellent strike from 30 yards rocked us back and then right on the final whistle they got the goal that really made the scoreline unfair. Bad result but great performances from all who played. Division 4 VILLAGE 'D' 1 Illsley O.B. 3 Our only disappointment on Saturday this one and so close to being a good 'un. Illsley had only conceded 4 goals all season before this and are unbeaten at the top. Yet after 20 minutes in which we looked far from underdogs Phil Kyei put us ahead and it was another 20 before they pulled that back. An even game of good football in the conditions was spoiled when after 65 minutes their (subsequently apologetic) winger strongarmed Kamran to the floor and his cross was rifled home and the ref allowed it. To add insult to injury they added another in the dieing minutes and another good D team performance went unrewarded by points.
December 2002
DECEMBER 07TH Premier Division VILLAGE F.C. 1 Kynoch 1 Probably all we deserved from this one. We were certainly liveliest in the first half and took the lead near the interval through a Steve Marfleet cross-shot. It was always very tight (journalese for dull?), however, with the midfields cancelling each other out. We were less impressive in the second half, although we should have had a penalty, with our passing never quite coming right. It was no great shock when they got a free-kick towards the end and the taker bent it round the wall for the equaliser. Hopefully playing two weeks in a row will help restore our sharpness. Division 3 Causeway Hawks 2 VILLAGE C 0 No details of this one but a narrow defeat against the second in the league title favourites doesn't sound a disaster. Division 4 VILLAGE 'D' 3 Walsall Phoenix 'B' 1 At last points to reward the persevering D team for their recent impressive performances against the reserves of until recently one of the AFA's strongest sides. It took until the second half for us to go ahead through the impressive Dan Atkins and Kevin Myers. Although Phoenix briefly threatened to rise from the ashes and pulled one back with 8 minutes to go, it was only a brief glimmer of hope and supersub Junior Forbes soon restored the two goal margin. Division 8 VILLAGE 'E' 1 Sutton United 'E' 5 A bizarre scoreline from a very even game. The only real difference was the finishing with Sutton racing into a 4 goal lead by scoring from every single first half chance. That left a hastily re-arranged E side - badly affected by late dropouts - with too much to do and, despite Phil Newland's goal, we ran out well beaten. Festival League VILLAGE F.C. 3 Mahal Sunday 2 No details but clearly the lads responded well to manager James Cypher's plea to put the extra in for this 6 pointer. DECEMBER 14TH Premier Division Cresconians 1 VILLAGE F.C. 3 Three well deserved points from a feisty encounter. Basically we could have had four penalties by half-time but had to settle for one after a surging run into the box from Carson Tweedie which Dave Newton tucked away with aplomb. Paul Bennett then superbly headed home a far post cross and an avalanche seemed on the cards. However, they then had one sent off for cynically elbowing Dave and it was the best thing that could have happened to them. For whatever reason they played a lot better with ten and pulled one back with 20 minutes to go. Fortunately a Laurie Carey through ball soon sent Steve Marfleet on his way and he slotted past the keeper to seal the win. Division 2 Colinthians 0 VILLAGE B 3 A bright start from Village this week after a couple of weeks of and making his debut for the season, Rob `The Bagman' Dunford opened the scoring in the 9th minute with a well taken goal. Running onto a Jarmy through ball. He rounded the keeper and squeezed the ball home from a tight angle. A lot of Village pressure followed with a number of players going close. In truth the game should have been sealed before the half, but Colinthians were still in it as the half finished at 1-0. Village were still off the pace at the start of the 2nd half and it needed the impressive McQuade, Reed and Hatcher to be alert to thwart the opposition. The hard working (I thought I'd never use this phrase) Nagle duly got his and the team 2nd goal by (yes) outsprinting and out muscling the defender to slot the ball home in the 24th minute of the 2nd half. With the luxury of the 2nd goal Village could even afford to give Forbes a run out. Unfortunately for all concerned he managed to get his customary 2 yard tap in from the keeper fumbling a Rogers effort. A solid performance with some good all round play. Mentioned in dispatches to Nagle, Vaughan and Reed, but man of the match goes to Rogers. Minor Cup Quarter Final Wake Green 4 VILLAGE F.C. 'C' 1 One of the Cs most ineffectual performance of the season means no cup glory for them this year - not much to report on. No-one played well. Division 4 VILLAGE 'D' 4 Smethwick Hall 'B' 2 The Ds lifted themselves into safer midtable waters with this sound performance. 2-0 down at the break they responded with some slick passing football and in a quarter hour spell around the hour scored through Mike Hardy, Jon Vaughan, Dan Atkins and Phil Kyei. Division 8 VILLAGE F.C. 'E 1 Wake Green 'D' 8 A bit of a crisis of confidence for the Es. A poor performance against moderate opposition left everyone shattered. Festival League West Park 2 VILLAGE SUNDAY 0 A spirited display but no points - we were unlucky to go down 2-0 especially after the referee turned down a cast iron penalty appeal at 1-0 with 15 minutes to go. DECEMBER 21ST Premier Division VILLAGE F.C. 3 Cresconians 3 Its always difficult to play the next week against a side you've cuffed the week before and perhaps a little complacency can explain the individual defensive errors that saw us gift three goals to our opponents. The shame was that our attacking play was tearing them apart. Still it took character to keep coming back - from 1-0 down through a neat Carson Tweedie finish after Steve Marfleet did the spade work and then again halfway through the second half through Dave Newton from a Paul Bennett set-up after they had gone 3-1 up. Dan Howard then powered home from the edge of the box to leave Cresconians to sweat it out as we pressed hard but somehow they managed to run out the clock. Division 2 Wake Green 'B' 0 VILLAGE F.C. 4 Definitely a game of two halves for Village. On the back of a successful month of football Village looked to round the year off in style. Against dour opposition and on a glue of a pitch Village struggled to get their flowing football going. Wake Green were willing to sit back on their 18 yard line and try to soak up all pressure and try to catch Village on the break. A ploy that was successful until the half whilst the score remained deadlocked. After a chance to regroup the Village of old who took the game. A burst from the ever impressive and hard working Penfold led to him being scythed down in the box after 11 minutes of the half. After much arguing from the Wake Green defence the ever-dependable Nick Vaughan coolly slotted home the penalty. This started the total domination of Village and Penfold did well to score himself after good work down the left from the ‘tiring’ Jon Vaughan on as a 2nd half substitute. A late substitution of the young Nagle for the old head of experience of Doug Bailey as centre forward soon reaped its rewards in the last 10 minutes. Bailey notched his first of the season after another Jon Vaughan cross. He soon doubled his tally after profiting from a goalkeeping error to make it a comfortable result for Village and a good end of year result. Man of the match going to the ever-improving Greg Reed. Division 3 Moxley O.B. 0 VILLAGE F.C. 0 For the second time this season these two sides ended scoreless after a keenly fought and curiously entertaining match. Division 8 Eccleston and Hart 'B' 5 VILLAGE F.C. 'E' 0 This really was the one that got away. We were all over them in the first half and should have gone in 2 or 3 goals to the good. Steve Harvey and Ben Bevins were the main culprits. The second half saw Eccleston bring on a couple of their first teamers and they made the difference and after the hour they had snatched a 2-0 lead. Sadly the legacy of recent poor results kicked in and we then collapsed. Much to do in the New Year but far from a desperate cause.
