In a week where we saw Brighouse Town move to the top of the North Division and three teams are now level on seven points at the top of the South Division, we review all the fixtures from #MatchweekFour.
In the ‘Key Matchup’ of the week, Brighouse Town welcomed Witton Albion in search of their fourth win from as many games. A point would be enough to send them to the top of the table with Runcorn Linnets not playing this week whereas Witton are yet to win this season. In Football you often hear the old cliché, “A game of two halves” but this fixture was quite literally that, with Brighouse Town claiming the points with a 4-2 victory. The hosts came flying out of the blocks and were 2-0 up after 15-minutes and Paul Ikoe had scored both. At half time the home side were 4 goals up after Ikoe had completed his hat-trick with an excellent solo goal and Elliot Haigh scored his first of the season. Ikoe admits his side took their foot of the gas in. the second half but is pleased with the win. He said: “First half we were brilliant, we really went out in the first 15 minutes and kept on pressing, kept on doing what we usually do and what we practice in training but then in the second half, we kind of slipped up a bit but overall, it’s still three points”.
Witton Albion looked a completely different side in the second half and thought they had cut the deficit just 3 minutes into the second half after Dan Williams had the ball in the back of the net, but it was judged to be offside. Zach Williams did manage to get Witton Albion on the score sheet not long after and Mike Eleftheriadis scored Witton's second goal, but it was just a case of too little too late for the visitors. After the game, Witton Albion’s Keegan Porter was keen to praise his sides work ethic in the second half, but knows they need to start better in games. He said: “In the first half we were awful, and we know we can’t start games like that. When we came out in the second half we performed to the best of our ability. We nearly brought it back, we hit the post, we hit the bar, we had a disallowed goal. The team came together, and we know that’s how we should play and we need to start every game like that.” You can hear the rest of Paul Ikoe’s and Keegan Porters thoughts in the post-match interview.
Mickleover recorded their second win of the season with a 3-1 victory against Ossett United. Lennon Higgins scored twice for Mickleover to help them remain in midtable on six points. Belper Town welcomed Skelmersdale United to Christchurch Meadow in search of their first win of the season. It wasn’t to be as the visitors left with the points after a 2-4. Dom Evans scored twice to help his side to the victory but a sweet strike from #ESPFADerbyshire student Fynn Marshall was the pick of the goals.
In the South Division, Kidlington hosted Rushall Olympic (Amber) and played out a stalemate 0-0 draw. A point for each side takes them both to seven points, but Rushall Olympic (Amber) pip Kidlington to the top spot with a better goal difference. Yate Town also join them on seven points after a 4-2 victory over Frome Town. After a closely contested first-half which saw the sides level at 1-1, Yate Town put together an excellent second half display to win the game and keep up with Kidlington and Rushall Olympic (Amber) at the top of the table. In the final game, Rushall Olympic (Black) faced a Chesham United side that hadn’t won since the first game of the season. They were made to wait longer for another victory after the two sides drew 1-1. Chesham were leading at half time through an own goal, but Elias Myers levelled things up in the second half for Rushall Olympic (Black).
Team of the Week - #MatchweekFour
Congratulations to all the students who made it into this week’s #TeamOfTheWeek and also a special mention to #ESPFASouthGloucestershire student Harvey Jasper, who’s excellent performance in the middle of the park helped Yate Town to a 4-2 victory and was also named as the #PlayerOfTheWeek.
The Highlights Show
You can catch all of #MatchweekFour’s goals and match highlights in this week’s edition of The Highlights Show.