Ten teams were in action in #MatchweekThirteen where we saw Runcorn Linnets take another step towards the North Division crown, whereas Rushall Olympic (Amber) and Kidlington still lead the way in the South Division.
NORTH DIVISION
Runcorn Linnets edged closer to the North Division title after a professional 3-0 win against Brighouse Town. Two first-half goals from Layton Lee and Jamie Whittaker put the home side in a comfortable position before Lucas Wilson sealed the game on 60 minutes. A win in their next game would crown them as back-to-back North Division Champions. Also in the North Division, Witton Albion came from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Belper Town. Tyrell Evans got the #ESPFADerbyshire side off to a flyer and scored the first goal of the game just 25 seconds into the first-half before Harry Clements doubled the visitors lead on six minutes. Witton Albion pegged a goal back after an hour played when they were awarded a penalty. Zach Billinge stepped up to convert the penalty and was given a chance to double his tally from the spot when the home side were given another penalty in the 90th minute. Billinge once again scored his spot kick to earn his side a point and shatter Belper Town’s dreams of a first win in the North Division this season.
SOUTH DIVISION
In the ‘Key Matchup’, Yate Town travelled to Frome Town looking to make up ground on Rushall Olympic (Black) who are above them in third. Frome Town have played the least number of games in the South Division so were hoping to kick-start 2022 with a win. It was Yate Town who came out on top in this very evenly matched contest, after a late penalty led to a 1-2 victory for the visitors. Frome Town started the contest on top and found themselves one goal in front early on after a mix-up at the back gave Lucas Schwalbe-Goodwin the chance to open the scoring, which he calmly took. Yate quickly replied and Natalio Stella evened things up after he slotted home a chance made by some bright play on the right-hand side. The hosts fought back in the second half and were seeing a lot of the ball, but Yate Town were hanging on and defending well. A swift counterattack late on in the game saw Dylan Venn stride through the middle of the pitch only to be brought down in the box by Frome’s keeper. Venn, the captain on the day for Yate Town stepped up and slotted home the late penalty to earn all three points for the #ESPFASouthGloucestershire team.
After the game, #ESPFASouthGloucestershire student and the eventual match winner for Yate Town, Dylan Venn was pleased with the way his team stuck to their game plan today. He said: “I’m buzzing to be fair. We did deserve that in the end, it was quite a difficult game though, but we definitely deserved the win. We were a lot more drilled in, which I think is down to the coaching. We knew what we were going to do before we came here, we knew how to plan it out and we definitely put it into effect. Not as well as we wanted to as I think we should have scored a few more goals, particularly in the first half, but it worked out in the end.”
On the other hand, #ESPFASomerset student, Filip Borek thought Frome Town were unlucky to not come away from the game with at least a point. He said: “I thought we were the better team on the day, I just thought we got unlucky. That’s the best football we have played in a while so I’m happy with the boys. We’ve just got to build on this performance and take it from there and if we keep going, I think we can still do well in the league.”
Rushall Olympic (Amber) stayed at the top of the division with a convincing 4-1 win over Chesham United. Kristian Storer and Trafford Woolery scored in the first half to give Rushall Olympic (Amber) the lead and Kaylen Stacey scored a second half brace to earn the #ESPFAWestMidlands side the win. Kidlington managed to keep themselves in the hunt for the South Division title with a hard fought 2-3 win away at Carlton. The home side opened the scoring through Tiago Mata but Kidlington answered back with two first-half goals from Zach Evans and Brandon Bowerman. Kidlington were on top in the second half and made their possession count by adding a third goal through Chandra Limbu. Carlton quickly erased the two-goal lead and hit back with another of their own from Dominic Price to set up a nervy ending for the visitors. Kidlington managed to hang on and see the game out to remain in second place, level on points with the division leaders, Rushall Olympic (Amber).
Team of the week
Well done to all the students who were nominated by their coaches for this week’s edition of #TeamOfTheWeek and also a special mention to #ESPFASouthGloucestershire student Dylan Venn who was chosen as the #PlayerOfTheWeek for #MatchweekThirteen after his excellent performance in the middle of the park, and late winner from the penalty spot earned his Yate Town side three points.
The Highlights Show
You can catch all of #MatchweekThirteen’s goals and match highlights in this week’s edition of The Highlights Show.