The road to Wembley

TIVIDALE 1-2 OADBY TOWN
Saturday 14th August 2010
FA Cup Extra-Preliminary Round
The Beeches

The second week of the English domestic season and it is FA Cup time already. The draw was made in early July and (despite not watching them very much now days) the fixture I always look out for first is that of Oadby Town’s, and this year they have got drawn at West Midlands (Regional) League side Tividale.

Sam Young (Oadby Town)

Tividale first played in the FA Cup in the 1975/76 season beating Midland League side Heanor Town 6-2 in their opening tie. They ended up getting to the 4th qualifying round before losing 3-2 @ Southern League AP Leamington which is the furthest they have gone in the competition. Oadby meanwhile first entered in the 1999/00 season and won 4-2 @ Southern League side Bilston Town in the preliminary round. Like Tividale their best run came in their opening campaign reaching the 3rd qualifying round before losing 3-0 @ Northern Premier League side Eastwood Town.

The club were founded as the senior branch of Tividale Hall Youth Club FC playing in the Handsworth & District League from 1953 to 1968. Tividale FC competed in the league between 1956 and 1960. Two years without any league football followed before joining the Warwickshire & West Midlands Alliance in 1962. Four years were spent in the Alliance before they joined the West Midlands (Regional) League (WML) in 1966. The 1972/73 season saw them win the division 1 title and promotion to the premier division. Eighteen seasons were spent in the top division before relegation to division 1 in 1991. Just three seasons were spent back in division 1 before a 3rd place finish in 1994 secured promotion to the premier division again and they have remained there to this day. A best finish of 2nd place was achieved in 2001/02, while last season saw them secure 7th place in the twenty-one team division.

Tividale have started their campaign with a win and a defeat. The defeat came last Saturday @ Goodrich when they went down 2-1, but they bounced back with a 3-1 victory at home to Dudley Sports midweek. Oadby meanwhile have suffered two straight defeats, firstly 3-2 at home to Bridgnorth Town last Saturday and 3-0 @ Loughborough University on Tuesday.

Tividale’s ground is called “The Beeches” and is around two miles from junction 2 of the M5. To get there come off the motorway and take the fourth exit onto the A4123 following signs for Dudley. Turn left onto Trafalgar Road, then right onto Birch Crescent and then finally right onto Packwood Road – the ground is at the end of the cul-de-sac.

Michael Osbourne (Oadby Town)

Going into the game despite Oadby playing at one level higher than their hosts I predicted that Tividale would win the game 2-1 or 3-1. Sometimes you are glad to be proven wrong!!!! The early exchanges looked like I was to be correct as ‘Dale scored after only six minutes when Chris Russell got behind the Oadby defence to round keeper Wayne Connolly and finished comfortably. Tividale continued to dominate and could have been further ahead with Connolly pulling off a good save on thirteen minutes when Anthony Cox tried to chip him. The visitors gradually got into the game and played some pretty decent football but it lacked a cutting edge. Their best chance of the half came around the thirty minute mark when a shot was blocked by Tividale keeper James Trevalen. Just six minutes into the second half and Oadby stunned their hosts with the equaliser from Ben Laxton, who latched onto a through ball, held off a challenge and slotted the ball past Trevalen. Tividale nearly caught Oadby napping and went straight up the other end but was scrambled away for a corner. The next twenty minutes Oadby probably had the better of the exchanges and deservedly took the lead on seventy three minutes. Sam Taylor put a low cross into the box to Michael Osbourne who turned and put the ball into the top corner. The final fifteen minutes saw Tividale throw everything at Oadby but the visitors held out for a morale boosting victory. The sides go at it again in three weeks time as they have been paired together in the 1st qualifying round of the FA Vase. Oadby now play fellow Midland Alliance side Malvern Town in the preliminary round following their 3-2 victory at Cradley Town.

Man of the match: Ben Laxton (Oadby Town)

Admission: £5
Programme: £1
Attendance: 40 (official) 53 (head count)
Match rating: 3*

Teams:

Tividale: 1) James Trevalen; 2) Mark Turton; 3) Jason Chilton; 4) Andy Parsons; 5) Derek Cole; 6) Adam Hill; 7) Todd Warner; 8) Rich Taylor; 9) Chris Russell; 10) Anthony Cox; 11) Matt Salmon
Subs: 12) Nick Turton; 14) Brett Clarke; 15) Ben Hughes; 16) Kyle Hill; 17) Kieran Gadd; 18) Luke Stevens; 19) Matt Hearsey

Oadby Town: 1) Wayne Connolly; 2) Adam Smith; 3) Sam Young; 4) Adam Parry; 5) Thomas Hodson; 6) Jamie March; 7) Ben Laxton; 8) Andy Tiday; 9) San Taylor; 10) Michael Osbourne; 11) Andy Gunderlach
Subs: 12) Andy Cayless; 14) Rueben Joseph Walker; 15) Elliot Pacy; 16) Leon Cole: 17) J Tishibangu; 18) Hayden Loach

Additional photos of the game can be found here: FGIF
Links:
Tividale FC: http://www.clubwebsite.co.uk/tividalefootballclub/

Goody

GOODRICH 2-1 TIVIDALE

Saturday 7th August 2010

West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division

Goodrich Sports Ground

We (Gary and myself) had a choice of three games today in the West Midlands, two on the edge of Solihull and one in Wolverhampton. We chose the latter and made our way to the Goodrich Sports Ground on the northern edge of the city in the district of Fordhouses. The ground is located a few hundred yards south of junction 2 of the M54 and took around an hour to make the journey.

The following information on the company is taken from www.goodrich.com.

“Goodrich Corporation is a global supplier of systems and services to aircraft and engine manufacturers, airlines and defense forces around the world. From aerostructures and actuation systems to landing gear, engine control systems, sensors and safety systems, Goodrich products are on almost every aircraft.

Key Markets

Large commercial, regional and business aircraft, helicopters, defense and space, original equipment and aftermarket.

Key Products

Flight control and missile actuation; landing gear; wheels and brakes; engine control systems; cargo systems; engine nacelles and pylon systems; surveillance and reconnaissance systems, electrical power systems; evacuation systems; seating products; fuel measurement and management systems; satellite and launch vehicle control systems; sensor systems; de-icing systems and heating products; lighting systems; maintenance, repair and overhaul service.”

The company’s headquarters are in Charlotte, North Carolina and they employ more than 21,000 people across sixteen countries.

The sports ground is a tidy affair located at the back of the factories and houses two pitches. The main pitch is fully railed off with hard standing all the way round. A stand which seats 132 spectators is located on the far touchline with further cover being provided by the pavilion located behind the near goal. The current Goodrich Football Club were formed from the remnants of Aero Lucas who competed in the West Midlands (Regional) League (WML) between 1983 and 1989. The second team, who played in the Wolverhampton Works League reformed as Lucas Flight Controls when the first team dropped out of the WML, changing their name to Lucas Sports and again to Goodrich in 2003. The first season as Goodrich FC saw them win the WML division 1 north title obtaining seventy two points from their thirty league matches. Due to the sports ground not being up to premier division standard they groundshared at Wednesfield FC for one season until the improvements were made. The six seasons spent in the top tier of the WML have seen them finish a top half finish only twice – 7th in 2005/06 and 6th a year later. Last season the club finished in 18th place in the twenty one team division. Opponents Tividale who come from the Oldbury area of the West Midlands finished in seventh place last season with seventy one points. The two teams prior to today have met on twelve occasions in league encounters with Tividale recording seven victories to Goodrich’s two with three draws.

The game itself is not one of the better ones I will see this season with the first half particularly hard going. Tividale had the majority of possession and created more chances though most of those were tame shots at the home keeper or put wide of the uprights and over the bar. The home sides best chance came in the latter stages when, following an error from the home defence allowed a one on one with the visiting keeper coming out on top. We did not have to wait long in the second half for the breakthrough as Goodrich scored with a tap in from a couple of yards out on forty eight minutes. This with a Tividale player lying face down in the penalty area. A minute later and it should have been 2-0 but a shot was drilled wide from the left hand side of the penalty area. Tividale then continued to have the majority of possession (like the first half) and paid the penalty with around fifteen minutes from the end when the home number nine turned his marker on a sixpence and finished well with only the keeper to beat. The pattern continued as normal for the final quarter of an hour with the visitors having the possession but failing to take any chances that came their way. Their consolation goal came right on full time from the penalty spot.

A disappointing result for the visitors who I will be seeing next Saturday for their FA Cup tie at home to Midland Football Alliance side Oadby Town. Oadby themselves started off their season with a defeat also, losing 3-2 at home to Bridgnorth Town.

Admission: £3

Programme: £1

Attendance: 56 (head count)

Match rating: 2*