Saturday March 7th

Stratford 2nds 2 - Kings Heath Pickwick 1
With just 4 games games left to go and the race for promotion coming down to the wire, stratford 2nds started nervously in the must win game against Kings Heath Pickwick. It was certainly against the run of play when stratford scored the opening goal, a poor injection from a short corner turned good when the ball was slipped left to Hyatt who hit a first time shot, collected the resulting rebound off the keeper at the edge of the D, and struck the ball, reverse stick, across the face of goal in to the top right hand corner. Getting in front appeared to do nothing for Stratford's nerves and shortly after the restart some unusually slack marking let Kings Heath through on goal, a desperate lunging challenge from Hyatt, saw him not only concede a harsh penally flick, but also receive a green card for his trouble. Kings Heath converted the chance to draw level. Stratford eventually managed to up their game, with some great distribution from Howkins, finding the darting runs from, Brookes, Reynolds and Havers. Kings Heath struggled to make inroads in to Stratford's midfield as Jones blocked them off at every turn, proving again he's the main engine room of the team. Shortly before half time with the game carefully poised, Stratford's second goal came from a piercing drive from Reynolds which resulted in a short corner. A solid routine brought about a good save from the Kings Heath keeper with the resulting goal mouth scramble only cleared to Howkins who flicked it firmly in to the back of the net with a little help from the underside of the cross bar. Stratford started the second half brightly, but failed to take advantage of their superior possession, the best chance of the half came when a cutting run from Brookes saw him one on one with the keeper whom he beat only to be bundled over by the kings heath center back, giving stratford a penalty flick and a chance to put the result beyond doubt. Brookes stepped to up take, but disappointedly missed with what can only be described as an uncharacteristic error. Stratford panicked again and started playing deeper and deeper in their own half, and with five minutes to go had there entire team in there own D when a deflected free hit nestled in the net, after a some confusion and a long pause, the ref awarded a long corner and not a goal, the correct decision as the ball had deflected off a stratford stick. Stratford continued to play far too deep for the rest of the game, however their defense of White, Bowen, Gray and Garret, stood firm, proving once again why stratford has the best defensive record in the league. A well battled result, but a much improved performance required next week against the league leaders Olton & West Warwick


Stratford 3rd XI 4 - Wednesbury 2

A typically feisty Wednesbury side came to Stratford intent on using marginal tactics to spoil the game. Stratford, bar a moment or 2 where they let themselves sink to their level, let their passing game take control of the game and ensure another 3 points, leaving them requiring just 1 from their last 3 to ensure they win the league.
The game started well but Wednesbury were reduced to 10 when their centre back took out Blackwall. In a Nick Stokes inspired reconscilliation their center back continued his usual tirade so was rightly sent off. In the mean time Beefy roaming in the D gave Stratford the lead with a crisp finish. Pug then made it 2 with a clean strike from a short corner. The pace of the game was good, with Furby, Rigby and McBride providing some good balls through from the defence. Blackwall was then given a 10 minute break himself for a mis-timed tackle. During this period Wednesbury got a goal back with a dribbler that somehow found it's way through.
Back to full strength the halves began to dominate the play again with Coache and Black combining well, Coache in particular running their left back ragged. The pressure told with Blackwall, clearly relishing his Striker label, thumping the ball home to make it 3-1.
The game continued to dominated by Stratford in the second half but their centre back who had not returned to the pitch since his initial sending off was then given a red card for a continued foul mouthed tirade. Despite this Stratford got a 4th when Furby put Hyde through who shot very cleanly for a classy goal. Wednesbury got one back but the result was never really in doubt.

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