Coleshill Town 2 v 0 Kings Heath AMS - B/ham Jun Cup

[Alan Beckett]

Saturday 16th October 1976
Birmingham Junior Cup - 1st Round Replay
Coleshill Town 2 v 0 Kings Heath AMS
Scorer: Ray Nabbs 2.


Team: John Capper GK, Ray Nabbs, John Allcock, John Newey, Martin Davies (Les Drinkwater), Roy Phelps, Paul Garnell, Jim Hall, Paul Hannon, Mark Gardner.


COLESHILL CHRONICLE WROTE
Town Add A Bit Of Class
Coleshill Town added a touch of class to this Birmingham Junior Cup 1st Round replay at Pack Meadow on Saturday and won their tie easily. In spite of giving their supporters a few anxious moments, when the visitors showed that they could put some dangerous breaks together, Coleshill wre well worth their win. Ray Nabbs who has been promising with some near misses all season, opened his account by notching the two goals that took Coleshill through. He could in fact have opened the scoring in the first minute when, following a good ball by Allcock, he ran through the visiting side, rounded keeper Kenward, and pushed the ball past the post with no-one left to beat. He made up for it in the 20th minute with a fine diving header from a ball from Newey to put Coleshill in front. This followed a period of almost complete domination by Coleshill, with Allcock and Newey both bringing good saves from Kenward. Only seconds before the goal, Martin Davies, making his second return to the side this season, had scored a "moral goal" when a hard shot unluckily rebounded off the post with the Amateurs' side completely beaten. Seven minutes after his goal, Nabbs brought another fine palming save from Kenward with a shot which was dipping towards the far corner of the net. Kings Heath came back into the game more in the last 15 minutes of the first half, Roy Phelps having to clear off the line with Coleshill showing some of the lethargy of the previous week. Kings Heath resumed their pressure early in the second half, Paul Garnell five times collecting the ball and clearing it just outside the area in four minutes. Town struck out again however, Allcock beautifully beating the off-side trap from a ball by Hall only to have his try deflected at the last second. Davies was replaced by Drinkwater after 50 minutes, Coleshill coming back more into the game, although Davies can be pleased with his return, Eddie Hanlon, currently having a fine season, started one of his characteristic breaks through the middle, past obliquly left for Allcock who ran jinkingly towards goal, just looping the ball past the far post in the 57th minute. Kings Heath struck back almost immediately, a fine shot rebounding off the Town bar for a lucky escapefor the home side. Again they tried, Phelps having to clear again, but Allcock was pulled back by his shirt when on a retaliatory run. A well judged sideways header by the hard-working Newey gave Allcock another try, this time shooting on the run. Paul Garnell, who had played so well at the back, received Town's first booking of the season with a late tackle in midfield in the 72nd minute. If the booking was earned, which will be argued, it was ironical that the referee spoke twice to two Amateurs' players for similar offences without recording their names. Three minutes later however, Coleshill's joy was restored when consistant pressure brought it's reward. After a good build-up, Newey, currnetly enjoying his tenacious Brand of football, did well to retain possession on the bye-line, slip the ball to Ray Nabbs who made sure of his second goal from close-range. Kings Heath tried to restore some of their pride but were kept out by a renewed Coleshill, who could have added a third when Allcock miskicked from ten yards with only the keeper to beat. In spite of the anxious moments, this was a better performance by Town, who are now through the first round of three competitions, a distinct comparison to last season when they never got beyond the first round of any competition.


COLESHILL CHRONICLE ALSO WROTE
Coleshill Bid For Floodlights
Coleshill Town Football Club have a chance to win floodlights worth £7500 for their Pack Meadow ground. Phillips Electrical Limited are sponsoring a football competition with the installation of floodlights as the top prize. Midland Combination Coleshill Town are one of 226 contenders for this prize by qualifying for the First Round of the F.A.Vase, and they are only 16 matches away from seeing their ground fully floodlit. All the clubs taking part are playing their normal league fixtures and they will qualify for the finals by virtue of the number of goals they score in their first 12 league games after September 25th. Grouped into eight regions throughout the country, clubs have their eye on the National Sports Centre at Crystal palace, London, where the finals day will be held. Only the top scoring club from each region will travel to London for that climax to the Phillips competition. The Finals Day takes place on 1st May 1977 in the form of a six-a-side competition played in two groups of four, the top scoring leaders from each group to contest the Final! Good Luck Coleshill!
Coleshill didn't win the competition but eventually got floodlights at Pack Meadow 20 years later in 1997!