BRINKLOW 4-3 MAHAL
Saturday 15th December 2012
Birmingham FA Saturday Vase 3rd Round
Barr Lane, Brinklow, Warwickshire
Shock horror...a proper report on the blog today!!!
Originally when looking at possible fixtures today I intended to go and watch Ashby Ivanhoe v FC GNG in the Leicestershire Senior League. Ashby moved into a new ground in the summer and this would re-complete the league again, but Ashby have a rearranged county cup tie @ Ellistown so this will have to wait until 2013. With now at a loose end and no real restrictions I was then on the look out for another fixture. After trawling through various league websites a tie in the Birmingham Vase (BV) competition between two teams from different leagues caught my attention.
Brinklow is a village a civil parish in the Rugby district of Warwickshire and is located on the Fosse Way, the Roman road that runs from Lincoln to Exeter. In 2001 it had a population of just over one thousand inhabitants.
Brinklow Football Club are members of the Coventry Alliance and compete in the premier division. This season they have nine out of ten league games and sit in second place, three points behind leaders Woodlands WMC but they have three games in hand. Their two ties in this seasons BV have resulted in away victories at Leamington Hibernian (5-0) and Barnt Green Spartak (2-0) respectively. Opponents Mahal play their home games at the Hadley Stadium in Smethwick and compete in division one of the West Midlands (Regional) League. They currently sit in fifth place having won nine of their fifteen league games. Their only tie in the BV saw them beat Midland Combination side Northfield Town 4-3 after extra time.
The drive down to Brinklow took me around thirty minutes, and with a bit of time on my side pulled into the local chippy and paid £3.50 for sausage, chips and a can of coke. The playing fields are set behind Broad Street which is the main road through the village. There is a small car park though, as expected no spectator facilities.
The game though was a cracker with the Coventry Alliance side progressing to the quarter finals at the expense of their West Midlands (Regional) League opponents. The first ten minutes looked like the home side would steamroller Mahal, but went behind just before the half hour mark. Two goals in the last five minutes of the half saw Brinklow go in at the internval 2-1 up.
Two minutes into the second half and Mahal were awarded a penalty but the resulting kick was well saved by the Brinklow keeper. A few minutes later and the home side were themselves awarded a penalty - personally I didn't think it was one, but anyhow no mistake was made from the spot and it was 3-1. Five minutes later and after was appeared to be a case of "handbags" the referee sent off one player from each side. With my view impeded by the opposition on the sideline I had no idea what it was for. Going into the final twenty minutes and Brinklow made it 4-1 to all intents and purpose book their place in the next round. Mahal though never gave up and added a second with nine minutes remaining. Their third and final goal came too late with it being two minutes into stoppage time.
Admission / programme: none
Attendance: 32
websites etc:
Mahal - official
Coventry Alliance - mitoo
37 match photos can be viewed in the slideshow below:
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