Bustleholme 0 Goodrich 4
West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division
At: Tipton Sports Academy
Kick-off: 7-45 pm
Admission: £3-50; Programme: £1 (16 pages)
Attendance: 60 (headcount)
Weather: dry, mild, no wind
Duration: first-half: 46:57; second-half: 45:23
On the last day of a busy month of football, it was more West Midlands (Regional) League action as Goodrich recorded a comfortable 4-0 victory away to Bustleholme at the Tipton Sports Academy stadium.
The stadium is also an athletics venue and home of the Tipton Harriers. It boasts an eight-lane running track and a modern seated stand containing around 200 seats running for 50 yards down the home straight. Banking behind the back straight and behind one goal (Asda end) provided a sense of enclosure. An adjacent sports centre occupies the site of an old athletics stadium where I saw Tipton play over 20 years ago.
I’d visited the present-day ground twice before, first several years ago for a postponement and then in January 2009 when Tipton Town defeated Rocester 3-1. Tonight marked my first Bustleholme home game.
Goodrich (10 points from 6 games) retained seventh position in the table after six games were played yesterday but Bustleholme (3 points from 5 games) dropped one position to 21st spot.
After the teams changed ends, Goodrich (wearing all red) got the game underway attacking the Sports Centre end in the first half. The visitors soon took a 3rd minute lead with a strange goal. Keeper Neil Page produced a fine leaping save to keep out Scott Stevenson’s 20-yrad free-kick but the ball stayed in play and Michael Allen forced the ball over the line.
Home side Bustleholme (yellow shirts, green shorts and socks), yet to score at home in the league so far this season, enjoyed possession and Max Whitehouse headed Danny Bell’s deep free-kick wide at the far left post.
Goodrich doubled their lead in the 35th minute. Liam Evans squared a pass for Ashley James to drive home from the end of the area.
James scored his second goal and Goodrich’s third in first-half stoppage time. Fed by Stevenson, the striker confidently fired a low drive from the edge of the area past Page into the bottom left corner of the net.
Bustleholme created chances after the break and Bell volleyed straight at Ben Astley in the Goodrich goal. The visitors almost added a fourth goal in the 55th minute but Mathew Curley’s headed was cleared off the line by Dain Hill.
Curley did indeed add a fourth Goodrich goal in the 88th minute. James Loach sent a free-kick forward into the Bustleholme area where Curley fired home from the right into the opposite side of the net.
The win lifted Goodrich up three places over Bewdley, Stafford Town and Dudley into fourth position, five points behind leaders Wednesfield on the same number of game. Dudley could only draw 2-2 at home to Lye in this evening’s other Premier Division game.
Goals:
0-1 Michael Allen (3)
0-2 Ashley James (35)
0-3 Ashley James (45+1)
0-4 Mathew Curley (88)
