Midland Football League

Premier Division

Tividale FC 2-3 Sporting Khalsa FC

Tividale toppled in a thriller

Against high riding Sporting Khalsa. Tividale played their part in a terrific game of football at The Beeches. Unfortunately they went down to the odd goal in five. But if they keep this level of performance up, Dave King and his squad will soon begin to climb the table.

The visitors made the early running against a Tividale side that started slowly but after about 10 minutes it was the home side who started to make the running. Tividale had the first chance when after 16 minutes. Tividale’s Lewis McPike forced ex Tividale keeper Tom Turner into a brilliant save to deny him from a free kick. A minute later Turner again had to be alert to turn a McPike shot around the post. Tividale then had a spell of three corners were they had Sporting under all sorts of pressure, the last of them ending with Karl Gardner hitting the crossbar from a hook from the edge of the box.

It was the 20th minute when Sporting eventually got the ball into the Tividale defensive third and won a corner. From that right wing corner Bradley Lawley got ahead of Tividale keeper Luke Kriskinans and headed home. Five minutes later Tividale could have been two nil down when from a Tim Jackson free kick into David Meese his snap shot came back off the base of the post. Tividale made the most of the let off and on 26 minutes a Darragh Bustin shot took a deflection and cleared Turner’s bar. Four minutes later and Tividale were level. Dan Smith won a free kick on the edge of the Sporting box and although McPike had fired in an earlier effort that Turner did well to save. The keeper stood no chance with the latest effort as the free kick, curled over the wall and into the top left hand corner with Turner clutching fresh air.

Tividale lost midfielder Liam Smith with a nasty cut to the head a minute before half time and was replaced by Shane Grainger. And on the stroke of half time Turner did well to deny Smith.

Half Time :-Tividale FC 1-1 Sporting Khalsa FC

Four minutes into the second half and Smith did well to slip his marker but again he was denied by Turner. Then Nathan Jones whipped in a left wing cross that Smith just failed to get on the end of.  Just as Tividale looked the more likely scorers up popped Sporting’s Deqwon Ebanks on the hour to fire the visitors back in front. But back came the home side when  literally straight from the kick off  Jones again whipped in a cross from the left wing but this time Smith met it on the volley with a magnificent scissor kick that Turner could only watch flash past him and into the back of his net. Again Tividale looked to be finishing the stronger and the likely winners if their was to be one and were unlucky when a Jones cross shot crashed against the frame of Turners goal. But right at the death it was Sporting who snatched the points when substitute Lewis Taylor-Boyce fired home after Tividale failed to clear.

Full Time :- Tividale FC 2-3 Sporting Khalsa FC

Tividale FC:-I. Luke Kriskinans, 2. Tom Hurdman, 3. Lewis Probert, 4. Karl Gardner, 5. Joe Woodall, 6. Craig Stevens, 7. Lewis McPike, 8. Liam Smith (12. Shane Grainger 44), 9. Dan Smith (14. Jake Brigdale 88), 10. Darragh Bustin, 11. Nathan Jones

Unused Subs:-15. Charles Wilson, 16. Jake Fairhurst, 17. Matt Hunt