Alcester Town 0 v 2 Coleshill Town

[Alan Beckett]

Saturday 20th March 1971
Midland Combination Division Two
Alcester Town 0 v 2 Coleshill Town
Scorers: Frank Baird, Roy Sanders.

Team: John Comley GK, Keith Midgley, Steve Ward, Clive Lyons, Geoff Statham, Eddie Hanlon, Roy Sanders, Martin Curtis, Oscar Deeming, Roy Phelps, Frank Baird.



COLESHILL CHRONICLE WROTE
Good Win For Injury Hit Coleshill
Coleshill Town recorded their third successive away win on Saturday when they beat Alcester Town by two goals to nil in a Midland Combination Second Division game. Coleshill were down to a bare eleven players and the list of missing men were Tony Seddon, Dave Back, Tim Rawlings, Butch Bradley, Joe Bridgewater and to cap it all, star performer, “keeper” Peter Garnell, was assisting Birmingham City “A” against Stoke. Deputy keeper John Comley made another of his brief appearances and kept a clean sheet with the aid of at least two first class saves at a time when Alcester were making a bold bid to save the game. Back after a long lay off, Steve Ward took over at left back while Eddie Hanlon helped to form the back four thus allowing Frank Baird to slip on shirt number eleven. This strange Town outfit gave a first class show and with Geoff Statham giving a superb performance as strong man and general, Alcester could not quarrel over their defeat. The game opened with a surprise attack from Alcester from which they could have so easily taken the lead, Robinson crossed the ball to Lakin who, with Comley at his mercy, shot high and wide. Coleshill quickly recovered from this let off and it was Phelps who began to cool things with honest to goodness stuff that often had the Alcester defenders on the wrong foot while his work allowed Oscar Deeming to do the foraging up front. It was not, however, to be one way traffic and plenty of good work was being put in for Alcester by their right flank, Robinson, Hawkins and Lakin and Comley, who at the start looked a little uneasy, brought off a fine save from Swinbourne. This effort appeared to instill confidence in both Comley and his colleagues and from here on Coleshill never looked back and always believed in themselves. Coleshill won a number of corners and after Phelps had headed inches over the top Chatterley saved brilliantly from Clive Lyons, he will absent from the game with Solihull Borough this Saturday as he is getting married. Alcester made spirited attacks and dangerous openings made by Robinson and Hawkins were nipped in the bud by Statham and after 33 minutes Coleshill took the lead. The ball was flighted down the right wing and lofted into the middle where Deeming took the attention of both centre half’s Barrett and Chatterley for the ball to move on to Baird who promptly steered it neatly into the net. This success added more weight to Coleshill’s mounting confidence and with Lyons and Martin Curtis handling firmly midfield operations, all was well. The first half ended with Barrett preventing Sanders from scoring with a hefty clearance at the expense of a corner while Alcester’s final effort to get on terms were foiled by now confident Comley. Alcester resumed with an attack identical to the one they opened the game with and again it was Robinson who made the opening only for Swinbourne to crash the ball over the bar. Alcester surged forward and the Town defence was kept under heavy pressure but strength was shown by all members with Statham adding the finish to the home team’s relentless attacks. Both sides created a further number of scoring chances with Chatterly saving well a Deeming header while an Alcester move ended with the ball being headed over by Walters. Alcester’s fate was sealed 2 minutes from the end when Baird came into the picture with a firmly planted pass to Deeming who carried the ball through to meet Sanders whose first time shot gave Chatterley no chance. Man of the match was without question Geoff Statham, while full credit must be awarded to the remainder of the Coleshill outfit, who, this week had the will and the heart to keep going and secure both points.


P26 W13 D5 L8 F51 A33 Pts31 Pos 4/18