West Midland Regional League

Premier Division

Saturday 13th April 2019

Black Country Rangers 0-4 Tividale

Tividale find their Range

.
Tividale completed their away league fixtures for the 2018-19 season with a convincing win against a much changed Black Country Rangers. They were given a great start courtesy of an early Rangers own goal and they never looked back.

With Haughmond just a point behind us this game one of the most vital of the season and so Dave King rang the changes again from the side that played 120 minutes and extra time on Wednesday night. Ben Birch, Lee Smith, Liam Wilkinson and Dan Smith came in for Karl Gardner, Brad Welding, Reece Shilvock and Harvey Walker.

Tividale were given that dream start after only 4 minutes when Birch was allowed to get a cross in and Rangers defender Luke Kettle made a mess of trying to head the ball back to his keeper Connor Hopkins and he only succeeded in heading the ball over the Rangers keeper and into the net.

With the pressure on before kick off for a positive result it was the ideal start and the visitors were now into their stride. A minute later and it could have been 2-0. A neat exchange of passes between Demetri Brown and strike partner Dan Smith resulted in a Brown shot that was saved by Hopkins. Due to Tividale’s defences domination, Rangers had to resort to shots from outside the penalty area that never troubled Tividale keeper Lewis Handley who had kept his place in the Tividale goal after Wednesday’s heroics.

Tividale were a constant threat to the home goal and a break from Brown had Rangers stretched and his pass found Dan Smith who’s shot was blocked by a Rangers defender and the follow up was put wide. Dan Smith was in on goal again after 20 minutes but once again his shot was blocked and then cleared off the line.

On 26 minutes Brown pounced on a defensive mistake but dragged his shot wide of Hopkins’s far post. But on 30 minutes the visitors doubled their lead. A lovely passing move ended with Tom Hurdman finding Curtis Cocking on the edge of the Rangers box and for the second time in 4 days the midfielder arrowed his shot into the back of the net. It was 3-0 on 35 minutes when Dan Smith played a brilliant lay off with the outside of his foot to Brown that completely split the Rangers defence and Brown calmly slotted the ball past Hopkins.

With 42 minutes on the clock Dan Smith unselfishly teed up Cocking but this time his low drive flashed past the post.

Half Time:-Black Country Rangers 0-3 Tividale

.
Rangers had their best chance of the game on 50 minutes when Tividale’s Dan Bryson and Lee Smith both went for the same ball and it dropped nicely for Rangers’s Okechkhu Onyeulo. But after making a shooting chance for himself he blazed it high and wide. The 4th goal was down to another Rangers error in the 60th minute. In trying to play the ball from the back Hopkins was caught on the ball by second half substitute Alex Cameron and the keeper brought the striker down in his attempt to retrieve the ball. The keeper was lucky only to receive a yellow card but his luck ran out when Bustin buried the resulting spot kick.

On 76 minutes Dan Smith was put through but he again failed to hit the target lofting the ball over the bar. Bustin then had a couple of efforts within the space of a minute. His first on 76 minutes was hit wide and the second produced a fine save from Hopkins. Cameron had a chance that he could not get hold of and the chance went and in the dying minutes he found Dan Smith after some good work but the latter could not find the target.

In the end Tividale could have doubled their goal tally as they dominated the play. But the young Rangers side stuck to their task and when they were breached poor final ball or poor finishing was Tividale’s down fall

Full Time:-Black Country Rangers 0-4 Tividale

.

Tividale Supporters Man of the Match – Curtis Cocking

.
Tividale:-1. Lewis Handley, 2.Tom Hurdman (17, Jamal Fuller 72), 3. Darragh Bustin, 4.Ben Birch 5. Dan Bryson. 6. Matt Hunt, 7. Lee Smith, 8. Liam Wilkinson (12. Harvey Walker 72), 9. Dan Smith, 10. Demetri Brown (15. Alex Cameron 45), ), 11. Curtis Cocking.

Unused Substitutes:-14. Karl Gardner, 16. Brad Welding.