The Match Reports will now appear in this thread as opposed to the MapleFootball website.

Friendly Game.

Team - Evans, Terry, Hillyer, Sadler, Varley, Lewis, Mitchell, Milsom, Glover, Millership, Homer. Subs - Walker, Shingles, Kirkham, Randle & Lycett - roll on, roll off subs.

Man Of The Match - Tony Randle.

Match Report - "The first clean sheet for the Maple defence in a long time against a promoted team from last season will hopefully give confidence to the new-look Maple team. Clearcut chances were few and far between in an even game with both sides making use of their squads to the full. Half chances were the closets either side came close to scoring but good defending or keeping kept the scoreline at 0-0. Attack wise there were several opportunites to work better shooting positions - especially with overlaps and 2 on 1 situations out wide, but early crosses into packed defences were relatively easily dealt with - sometimes the easy 10 yard pass option is best. A fair result for both teams."

Friendly Game.

Team - Evans, Shingles, Hillyer, Sadler, Milsom, Lewis, Mitchell, Lewis, Glover, Campbell, Homer. Subs - Walker & Randle - roll on, roll off subs.

Man Of The Match - Rob Campbell.

Match Report - "Maple played well early on in the game and took the lead through a well worked goal coolly finished by Milsom. Sadly possesssion given away cheaply in midfield led to Shenstone equalising, and then taking the lead after an error in defence. Campbell equalised just before half-time to give a fair reflection on the scoreline. The 2nd half saw Maple under more pressure and slack play from the left led to unmarked forward nodding in a simple goal. Maple then went onto to apply pressue of their own and started to camp out in the opponents half. Campbell turned up to slot an equaliser yet again in the corner of the goal with just minutes remaining after good work from the left side of midfield. A fair result."

Team - Evans, Shingles, Hillyer, Sadler, Walker, Lycett, Lewis, Milsom, Glover, Millership, Homer. Subs - Randle for Shingles, Checketts for Walker, Kirkham for Sadler.

Man Of The Match - Adrian Lewis.

Match Report - "Despite starting well, possession lost cheaply upfield resulted in two long through-balls disecting the Maple defence making the scoreline 2-0 after 25mins. Pressure from the youthful Berkly side resulted a well worked goal for their 3rd and Milsom scoring an OG to make 4 - just before Sadler saw his penalty saved on the stroke of half time. Early 2nd half Maple hit the bar twice before Checketts was on hand to tap in from a yard, before a Randle OG made it 5-1. A well driven Berkly strike made it 6, a bad gk mistake made it 7, before Homer pulled another back for Maple. 2 further goals followed to make the final score 9-2."

Team - Randle, Kirkham, Hillyer, Sadler, Milsom, Lycett, Walker, Lewis, Glover, Campbell, Homer. Subs - Mitchell for Campbell, Millership for Glover, Checketts for Lycett.

Man Of The Match - Tony Randle.

Match Report - "A far more combative and together Maple team than the previous match took the game early on to their talented opponents. Half chances at both ends were spurned, with GK Randle in fine form kept the score to 0-0 at half-time. As Phoenix pushed on Maple looked well capable of holding out for a point, until lax defending from a corner saw Phoenix take the lead with a well driven shot from the edge of the box. Sub Mitchell equalised not long later with a rasping drive from an acute angle after quick-thinking from Lewis. Two counter-attacking moves later should have resulted in goals for Maple but the final passes was found wanting. In the final minute Checketts was ajudged to have brought down a Phoenix midfielder in the box for a penalty - which they duly converted despite GK Randle's efforts. A solid display which deserved more."

Team - Randle, Kirkham, Hillyer, Sadler, Mitchell, Milsom, Lycett, Lewis, Glover, Millership, Homer. Subs - Varley for Millership, Boakye for Milsom.

Man Of The Match - Iain Mitchell.

Match Report - "Maple started promisingly and scored through a neat Homer finish from 15 yards. Unfortunately bad defending from a corner made it 1-1. Soon after the opposition's best player was allowed the freedom of the pitch to waltz his way through to make it 2-1. Sadly, Maple at this point stopped doing the positive and simple things from last week's encouraging performances and the game fell away from their grasp. A Sparkhill forward rounded GK Randle for the 3rd and almost identically for the 4th and a similar 5th - wrong decision making costing all 3 goals. Maple did have 3 decent chances in between but was lacking in any consistant penetration, hold-up or approach play after the initial 25mins of the game."

Team - 'Randle', Terry, Kirkham, Hillyer, Lycett, 'Checketts', Mitchell, Milsom, 'Campbell', Glover, Homer. Subs - Lewis for Checketts, Walker for Milsom.

Man Of The Match - Iain Mitchell.

Match Report - "Unfortunately 7 of the 10 goals conceded were literally given away by poor defensive or midfield play - the lack of communication being instrumental in most of the goals given away. Lycett scored for Maple direct from a corner - vs a team who did not have a proper gk - yet only mustered a couple of shots at goal all game. Once again the one long ball over the top of the Maple defence caused all sorts of problems - and around 7 goals too. It's hard to imagine keeping the better players in the squad if performances and attitudes like these continue. An officious referee, who wanted freekicks moved 2 yards to the side and retaken, yet missed blatently obvious decisions for both teams did not help either side. An inadequate performance from Maple - individual players must start to take responsibility for their inactions/actions."

Team - Shingles, Checketts, Walker, Randle, Boakye, Lycett, Lewis, Mitchell, Campbell, Glover, Homer. Subs - Kirkham, Hillyer.

Man Of The Match - Tony Randle.

Match Report - "An improved performance upon recent weeks saw Maple slightly unfortunate to lose 3-1. The first half was evenly shared with half chances falling to either side but relatively few clear cut opportunities. However a typical Maple style defensive lapse let in the opposition to leave the score at half time 1-0. The second half was dominated by Maple Leaf who managed to miss 3 or 4 gilt edged chances whilst at the other end the Maple defence pressed self destruct once more with sliced clearances setting up two further goals for Bustlehome. Homer scored a late consolation with a far post header from Lycett's corner. On the plus side were a return to action for 'Shing - The Cat' in goal, a solid debut at the centre of defence for Walker and another fine performance for Mitchell. Added to this, the goal conceded by Maple from the ball over the top was eradicated, leaving a performance to build on if Maple can avoid slicing basic clearances and can get a similar team out for the next game."

Team - Evans, Hillyer, Randle, Sadler, Lycett, Kirkham, Glover, Mitchell, Homer. Sub (10th man) - Terry.

Man Of The Match - Iain Mitchell.

Match Report - "Maple started the game with 9 men against opponents who beat us last time 7-1. This was easily the best performance from a Maple team for some time - dogged defending from everyone, good calm passing and quick incisive approach play to goal. Lycett scored to make it 1-0 with a fine near post strike, and chances soon followed to increase the score, but sadly weren't taken. Phil Terry (unaware that there was a game today) was phoned 10 mins before kick off raced to the game to give a much needed 10th man. Sutton equalised after a good cross from out wide was nodded in from close range. The score at half-time was 1-1, but in truth Maple should've scored 4 or 5 goals, only tiredness of the players that managed to get in front of goal to shoot kept it level.

Obviously as the game wore on the Maple players grew even more tired, and chances came Sutton's way more frequently - yet Maple defended reasonably well as a unit, tried to pass their way out of trouble and counter-attacked on the opposition mistakes. Mitchell made it 2-1 in one such attack with a fine drive from 25 yards. Again more chances came our way, but the effort to get up field and support was taking it's toll. Sutton then equalised through a neat near-post shot after a sharp turn on the edge of the 6 yard box. Again, Maple did not lose heart and tried to persue a winner, yet it proved too much. 2-2 the final - and unlucky scoreline."

Team - 'Evans', Hillyer, Randle, Sadler, Lewis, Glover, Kirkham, Lycett, Mitchell, Campbell, Homer. Subs - Checketts for Kirkham, Boakye for Glover.

Man Of The Match - gk 'Evans'

Match Report - "An even 20 opening minutes with few chances for either side was broken when a looping shot form 25 yards got caught in the wind and freakishly beat the Maple gk. Soon after it was 2 after a poor and yet another inconsistant decision - when the referee allowed a quick free-kick to be taken 10 yards ahead of the 'foul', a moving ball, after the ref had told the attacker to wait for the whistle - which was ignored resulted in a goal.

'Top' refs favour top teams?

A combative 2nd half resulted in Maple creating several half chances, tho sadly none were taken and the game was put out of doubt when a low cross was miskicked in by an unmarked Brit forward.

Good to see Maple not overrun by their Div 1 opponents, playing with a bit of pride and could & should have pulled a couple of goals back."

Team - Evans, Hillyer, Randle, Sadler, Checketts, Lycett, Lewis, Mitchell, Boakye, Glover, Homer. Subs Millership & Walker.

Man of the Match - Sadler.

Match Report - "Maple continue to gift the opposition goals, yet Chrsitmas is still a long way off. Simple passing options ignored and the ball is hoofed 40 yards down the line - straight to the opposition, who in turn counterattack on the players who are out of position from making runs for the simple pass that was ignored in the first place.

Certain players who can't pass very well should maybe look to give the ball to those who can, instead of giving it needlessly away in a state of panic.

May have to practice taking our own kick-offs too - this season the opposition seems to get the ball within 5 seconds off out restart.

Nowhere near good enough."

Team - Boakye, Checketts, Hillyer, Walker, Sadler, Varley, Campbell, Glover, Sadler, Mithcell, Homer. Subs - Kirkham for Walker, Shingles for Checketts.

Man of the Match - Phil Varley

Match Report - "Maple went 1-0 down to a fine lobbed goal, but dominated the play in the 1st half and went in 2-1 up thanks to goals from Homer and Lycett.

Sadly Maple's soft centre returned and gifted Rubery 3 soft 2nd half goals, which helped their confidence and zapped Maple's.

Another game goes by as Maple squandered many chances in the 2nd half - esp after great work from Lycett all game who played well throughout and was the only attacking player who did so, though yet again half the defence find themselves subbed almost as an afterthought - despite the inability of the attack to threaten the goal.

The attacking players must carry more of a goal threat if Maple want to finish out of the bottom 4 this season."

Team - Evans, Lewis, Randle, Asante-Boakye (Varley), Millership, Glover, Mitchell, Lycett, Campbell, Homer(Walker).

Man Of The Match - Gary Millership

"Maple started the game very strongly and settled into a stride a lot sooner than their opponents. A well worked goal that spanned the field and ended in a sliding finish by Campbell from a few yards out. Maple's second came within a few minutes of the first. It was a corner that eluded most of the players in the box and was finished of with a overhead kick from Lycett, which prompted mass cheering from the sidelines and will definately be a contender for goal of the season at the annual awards. After this Maple seemed to lose their way and stopped doing the things that gave them the 2 goal lead. The away team came more into the game and deservedly scored a 30 yard shot into the top corner. Maple struck back within minutes through Campbell and this killed of the game as a contest. Maple scored a forth through a penalty from Homer and Real scored a second to try and put some pressure on Maple, but they worked hard for a deserved and overdue win."

Team: Evans,Asante-Boakye, Hillyer, Randle, Lewis, Millership, Lycett, Glover, Mitchell, Homer, Campbell.

Subs: Varley for Lewis, Terry for Hillyer, Kirkham for Glover.

Man of the Match: Randle.

"Maple Leaf's improvement continued despite this defeat to high flying Boldmere. After going 1-0 down with a header direct from a corner, Maple applied pressure and soon drew level. Unfortunately Maple went 2-1 due to lack of marking before having a goal disallowed for offside. Finally Maple pulled back level, only to conced two further goals from set pieces, which was disappointing considering that the general passing play of Maple continued to improve. A late Maple rally was denied with a penalty that rattled the underside of the bar from Homer.

Comment of the day: With stupidly conceded goals seeming eradicated, the boys now need to put in stronger challenges from set pieces to ensure the goal is better protected."

Team: Evans, Terry, Asante-Boakye, Varley, Hillyer, Millership, Lycett, Mitchell, Glover, Lewis, Homer.

Subs: Walker for Terry

Man of the Match: Lycett

"A very strange game charaterised by a largely anonymous midfield in the first 30 minutes offering the defence no protection resulting in Maple going 4-0 down. However things slowly turned around and from the 40 minute mark when Wake Green conceded and own goal, the Maple midfield were in almost total control, creating a barage of chances of which too many were squandered. Although drawing 6-6 was disappointing as a result, coming back from 4-0 and 6-3 down showed character which needs to be carried forward this season with the boys hopefully learning from early mistakes."

Team: Evans, Terry, Asante-Boakye, Varley, Randle, Lycett, Glover, Lewis, Mitchell, Homer, Campbell.

Subs: Sadler for Asante-Boakye, Shingles - reluctantly for Lewis.

Report: "Maple took the lead mid way through the first half with a fine strike from Lycett over the keepers head from wide on the left. Both teams followed this with some good football, but Phoenix equalised shortly before half time with a strike from the edge of the box. In the second half Phoenix dominated the game but managed to score only one goal, mainly due to some stout defending from the back four of Maple. It was a shame that Maple couldn't put into practice the 'tactics' discussed at half time. Oh yes and Barney didn't score this week."

Team: Evans, Lewis, Randle, Hillyer, Asante-Boakye, Lycett, Millership, Mitchell, Glover, Homer, Campbell.

Subs: Walker and Shingles

Man of the Match: Evans

"A 2-0 defeat where the referee played the lead role. Two goals by the opposition keeper, three penalties conceded and two Maple players sent off. Oh yeah and two of the three penalties were not penalties and the sendings off were a joke, lest we forget."

Team: Evans, Hillyer, Walker, Randle, Varley, Mitchell, Glover, Millership, Lycett, Campbell, Homer

Subs: Lewis for Millership, Shingles for Walker
Goals: Lycett
Man of the Match: Mitchell
Bookings: Hillyer

"1st game of 2004. Conceded crap goals early, no way back after that. Goals due to lack of midfield tracking back and absent defenders. Improved slightly second half but generally disappointing performance. Highlight was Matt ducking a punch which landed on Sparkhills own player."

Team: Evans, Lewis, Asante Boakye, Hillyer, T Randle, Mitchell, J Randle, Lycett, Millership, Campbell, Homer.

Subs: Glover for J Randle
Goals: Campbell 2
Man of the Match: J Randle

"Bizarre first half with great Maple football ruined by poor finishing on numerous occassions and poor final passes on other occassions. Amazingly, despite Hayes rarely managing to venture into the Maple area, the visitors found themsleves 2-0 down at half time. Guess how the goals came? Thats it, a ball over the top and a set piece. Second half saw a fightback from 3-0 down to 3-2 down, before capitulation occured via more gifted goals from slack defending. On the positive side, if we could play like the first half for an entire game, we may eventually win a game."

Team - Evans, Hillyer, Randle J, Asante-Boakye, Terry, Sadler, Homer, Mitchell, Lycett, Glover, Shingles.

Sub - Andrez for Terry.

Goals - Glover, Lycett

MotM - Lycett


Match Report - "An experimental line-up of Glover and Shingles provided Maple with a youthful look to the attack with the young whippet Sadler on the right wing. A tight game in which Maple just shaded it through thir resolute defence, maverick midfield and forcefull attack. Maple took the lead after about 75 mins when Glover challenged their GK on a cross which resulted in the ball ending up in the back of the net. A few mins later Riverside equalised through poor central defending, tho the finish was clinical.

As like all the best Maple wins and performances it was the counter-attacking play that won it - when Mitch ran half the length of the pitch and shot against the Real GK, it rebounded to the right foot of Lycett 10 yards out, and the rest is history.

(No, he did actually score with his right foot!).

Real then applied the pressure for the few remaining minutes, and even hit the bar, tho Maple held out for their first league win of the season."

Team: Evans, Hillyer, T Randle, J Randle, New Signing, Mitchell, Homer, Glover, New Signing, Campbell, Shingles.

Goals: Oh dear
Subs: Didn't have any
MOM: Evans

"Maple were crap apart from that young go getter Shingles who was without doubt the best player on the pitch, even carrying 2 injuries he was like Henry, Zidane and Ronaldo rolled into one (big lump - editors privilege). Other team fluked 8 lcky goals and will be lucky to win another match all year.

Matt did very funny thing just after half time."

Team: Evans, Hillyer, Lewis, Asante Boakye, Varley, Checketts, Homer, Glover, Millership, Campbell, Shingles.
Goal: Homer
Man of the Match: Homer
Subs: 'Milsom' for Lewis

"Yet again Maple manage to concede a hatful of goals!! In all honesty the build up wasn't great with only 10 fit players anyway and Steve 'Milsom' as linesman. The team arrived at the game Benny Hill style going a detour around most of Birmingham. Steve drove really fast on the motorway too.
Oh yeah, the game. Played well early, conceded s**t first goal again. Went 3-0 down before dragging a goal back thanks to the rebound from a very dubious penalty award to make it 3-1 at half time. First 20 mins of second half played very well dominating in the face of gale force wind. Fell away at the end of the game though, conceding a couple more poor goals along the way. Rob managed to boot one of the opposition in the face though."

Team: Evans, Varley, 'Andres', Asante Boakye, Randle, Mitchell, Sadler, 'Milsom', Lycett, Homer, Glover.
Subs: None
Goals: Lycett, Homer
MOM: Asante Boakye

"Against the odds, Maple achieved a deserved 2-2 draw with high flying Boldmere and came away feeling unlucky not to take all three points.

For the second week on the run, pre match preparation was far from good, with the team in Blackheath and the kit 20 miles away in the boot of a car in Worcs (un washed).

To the game itself. Mid way through the first half, Boldmere took the lead thanks to a scrambled goal. Showing everything the team hasn't done earlier in the season, the lads actually dug their heels in a started to knock the ball around and get tackles in and deserved to equalise through Lycetts balding head.

Maple took the lead in the second half through a well worked goal culminating in a finely placed Homer header. Unfortunately Andres left the field at this stage unable to carry his own body weigth any more, leaving Maple with just 10 men. Undeterred they calved out two more gilt edged chances before unluckily conceding a deflected equaliser in the last 5 mins.

This is the kind of performance we need if we are to avoid relegation to the under 10's division next season!"

Team: Shingles, Checketts, Hillyer, Randle, Asante Boakye, Sadler, Kirkham, Lycett, Milsom, Homer, Glover,
Subs: Andres for Glover, Evans for Milsom
Goals: Glover, Homer
MoM: Shingles

"Unbeaten in 2 games, the best run all season. This was a hard fought victory by a team with three starting players already injured and one starting player having already played 90 minutes in the morning.

A good first half display saw Maple score two nicely worked goals and create further chances. Fortunately at the other end Shingles back in his favoured position made some outstanding one on one saves.

THe second half started brightly with a couple of further missed chances leaving Maple with 20 minutes of 'back to the wall' defending where the home team hit the post and saw the ball cleared off the line 3 times in one goal mouth scramble.

Important to build upon that performance next week against same opposition, snuff out their danger players using the return of some of our 'stronger' players."

Team: Shingles, Hillyer, Varley, Randle, Asante Boakye, Mitchell, Lewis, Lycett, Milsom, Glover, Homer.

Subs: Campbell for Lewis, Walker for Asante - Boakye, Kirkham for Lycett
Goals: Campbell 3, Homer, Lycett
MOM: Campbell

"Maple started this game brightly and should have taken the lead earlier than they did through a tap in from the 'holding midfielder' Campbell. The game then turned into an end to end spectacle, with both defences ignoring the most basic marking principle and both midfields attacking and paying absolutely no attention to defending. Going forward Maple looked as if they could score at will, and defending they looked like they concede at any time. At 3-2 ahead Maple looked comfortable and started to command the game only to concede 3 quick goals and the game looked over with 5 mins to go. However an inspirational last 5 minutes from the centre of midifeld drew the game level at 5-5 with two goals from Campbell."

Team: Sadler, Walker, Randle, Asante-Boakye, Varley, Campbell, Glover, Mitchell, Lycett, Homer, Millership.
Goals: Millership
MOM: Walker
Subs: Parkes for Lycett

"A great win for Maple Leaf considering the hastely cobbled together nature of the team including the 6th choice goalkeeper. Early on the visitors were pushed on to the back foot but gradually got into the game and wasted a couple of decent chances through trying to walk the ball into the net. 'Millership' popped up late in the first half to score a fine goal and give Maple a deserved half time lead. In the second half Maple defended resolutely and attacked on the break with some success although good chances went begging. Barney capped a good defensive display with a yellow card for persistant fouling, which should please the league disciplinary committee as it wasn't for dissent.

8 points from the last 12 available shows that Maple have finally remembered how to get results, but with a two week break coming up without a game, it is important to keep attending training for fitness as a good last few performances can push us into the lower-mid table dog fight!!!"

Team: Evans, Hillyer, Walker, Asante-Boakye, Randle, Banks, Mitchell, Lewis, West, Glover, Homer.
Subs: Shingles, Varley, Campbell
Goals: Homer 2, Asante-Boakye
MOM: Mitchell

"Maple's good run of form continued with a comfortable home win against bottom side Wake Green. The home team opened brightly and played some fine football in the first 25 minutes to take a 2-0 lead with two well taken goals from Homer. Maple then started to give the ball away cheaply and let Wake Green back into the game shortly before half time.

However Maple opened the second half the brighter team and generally looked the more likely team to score. Asante scored with a well struck free kick from 20 yards to open his Maple Leaf account and from then on Wake Green looked a beaten team. The away keeper made several good saves throughout the match and was helped towards the end of the game by some memorable botched chances (Glover!) which could have made the scoreline more favourable to Maple Leaf."

Team: Shingles, Hillyer, Sadler, Randle, Asante-Boakye, West, Lewis, Campbell, Lycett, Homer, Glover
Subs: Banks for West
Goals: Lycett(pen), Glover
MOM: Shingles

"The unbeaten run continues. However Maple didn't play particularly well, giving the ball away cheaply leaving the lads with a lot of work to do against a team who were very comfortable in possession.
Sutton took the lead from a corner in the first half. Maple forced the Sutton keeper into a number of good saves before a dubious penalty in the second half allowed Lycett to level the scoring.

An error in judgement from the otherwise faultless Goalkeeper Shingles gave Sutton Utd the lead again as the ball drifted on a strong wind into the top corner. Late Maple pressure resulted in an equaliser through a powerful Glover finish from 6 yards. The ref was crap (again) and they had a stroppy player at the end who ran off crying."

Team - Shingles, Hillyer, Randle, Asante-Boakye, Varley, Campbell, Lewis, Mitchell, Lycett, Homer, Glover.

Subs - Walker for Hillyer, West for Glover, Banks for Shingles (inj - Lewis in gk).

Goals - Homer 3, Campbell.
MoTM - Lycett

Match Report - "Maple started well with several probing crosses and through-balls which the Maple attack were slow to get on the end of. Defensive positioning then cost Maple 3 quick goals, before Maple scrambled 2 goals back. Hayes then scored again, before fine strikes from Homer & Campbell pulled it back. The muddy conditions were tough on both teams, and with the scores at 4-4 with 10mins to go another defensive lapse allowed Hayes to score once more - and though Maple went close on a few occasions they couldn't equalise for what would have been a fairer result."

Team - Sadler, Hillyer, Randle, Asante-Boakye, Walker, West, Mitchell, Shingles, Lycett, Homer, Glover.

Subs - Andrez for Shingles, Milsom for Walker, Milsom for Hillyer.

MoTM - West

Match Report - "The Badness Is Back? Maple started badly and conceded a sloppy goal from an unmarked header six yards out. A 'wrong' decsion by the ref to award an IDFK for a back-pass resulted in a 2nd goal - despite the ref informing the opposition to wait for his whistle whilst he got the Maple players back 10yrds, Rubery took the free kick anyway and put the ball in the back of the net - the ref then says 'no - hold on for my whistle...' and then has a think - igonres the Laws Of The Game and ALLOWES the goal to stand.

Maple lost their heads at this stage and any hope of salvaging something from the game was gone - simple passing, working hard for each other and communication were all abandoned as time and time again Maple were caught out of position due to players waiting for Half-Time and Full-Time to have a whinge and moan aboout the ref - instead of getting stuck-in and play football like Rubery did.

The ref summed up his game by booking a Rubery defender for bringing down Lycett in the penalty box, only to go on and award initially a goal kick, then changed his mind to a corner, then a free-kick and finally after being informed on the 'Laws of the Game' - a penalty, which was then missed."

Team: Paul 'mike the goalie' Evans, Varley, 'milsom, Lewis, Asante-Boakye, Lycett, Sadler, Glover, Shingles, Homer, Millership

Subs: Reluctant booked Campbell for Asante Boakye
Goals: Doh, none again
Man of the Match: Paul 'mike the goalie' evans

"Hard to know what to make of this match really. Maple defended pretty well considering they were under pressure for a lot of the game, but created very little at the other end.

The first half was an even encounter with chances at either end few and far between as both midfields closed the opposition down quickly. Sporting took the lead through a bizarre goal when the ball skipped over the stranded Maple keeper when it more likely it would bounce to chest high. The away team capitalised as a jubilant forward ran in to poke the ball home.

Unfortunately the second half started badly with Maple conceeding a second within the first couple of minutes after which the home team rarely got back into the game despite defending resolutely. The third goal was disappointing as an unchallenged header was converted from one of the numerous Sporting corners.

Considering the amount of players missing and the amount of walking wounded who played, the result probably wasn't too bad. However the recent bad run of results needs to stop at the weekend with a 'six pointer' against Riverside."

Team: Shingles, Banks, Varley, Randle, Lewis, Lycett, Campbell, Mitchell, Andy 'Colin' Kirkham, Glover, Homer.

Goals: Homer, Campbell 3, Glover, Milsom
MOM: Campbell
Subs: Walker for Varley, 'Milsom' for Banks

Report: "A comfortable Maple victory against what was in all fairness a weak opposition.

Maple took the lead early on when Homer converted an accurate cross. The oppostion were soon back in the game following Maple giving the ball away on the edge of their own penalty area trying to 'play the ball' out of defence.
Brief pressure from the home side created three corners and fortunately the giant central defender of Riverside failed to convert the rsulting three unchallenged headers.
From then on in it was all Maple Leaf who dominated the game.

The only chances that Riverside had came more from Maple misplacing passes from the back rather than good attacking play from the home side.

All in all a good performance that needs carrying over to Tuesday night against title chasing Smethwick."

Many thanks to the 'league' for switching the venue of this game at such short notice - and making sure Maple Leaf will be substantially out of pocket as to finding a venue for the return game vs Smethwick after the goalposts have been taken down on the home pitch by the local council.

There was a time it was a privelige to play in the B'ham AFA - seemingly that is no longer the case.


Team - Shingles, Walker, Lewis, Randle, Varley, Campbell, Sadler, Mitchell, Lycett, Glover, Homer.

Subs - Milsom for Lewis, Millership for Glover.

Goal - Mitchell

Man of the Match - Iain Mitchell

Match Report - "Another game in which Maple gifted the opposition the result. Good opening play resulted in a fine Mitchell run and goal, followed by several good chances going amiss - mostly created by the evervescant Lycett, along with cynical 'professional' fouls by Smethwick going unpunished.

2 typical Maple balls-up in defence resulted in an undeserved 2 goals for Smethwick, who had shown little until then.

Maple changed formations and brought on their attacking subs, but sadly to no avail - it seemed there were too many players out of position to have an effect on the game - yet something was needed to atone the harsh 2-1 scoreline.

Smethwick scored on the break to make it 3-1 late on with Maple still frustratingly struggling to make an impression in the Smethwick half. Must do better on Saturday vs Bustleholme - a team who Maple gifted the result to last time too."

Team - Shingles, Banks, Randle, Lewis, Asante-Boakye, Campbell, Sadler, Mitchell, Varley, Homer, Glover.

Subs - West for Asante-Boakye, Nick for Glover.

Goal - Varley


MoTM - Shingles


Match Report - "Maple started brightly and took the game to the opposition defence. However more baffling reffing (seems the laws of the game do not apply with some refs in this league) and tepid defending did for Maple as Bustleholme went in at half-time 2-1 ahead - despite a fantastic 25 yard Varley lob.

Though starting well in the 2nd half, Maple could not find a way past the packed opposition defence who were content to sit back and counter-attack in the soaring heat. As Maple pressed, more gaps appeared and Ath scored again, before an inspired Shingles penalty save (and rebound too) gave Maple something to fight for. Sadly it was not to be as a superbly flighted freekick and late goal made for a harsh 5-1 scoreline."

One game left - at Home vs Smethwick Utd.

The 34th and Final game of the season for Maple Leaf saw the permanant (hopefully) retirement of stalwarts Shingles & Sadler. Both players were played upfront in this game.

Team - Asante-Boakye, Hillyer, Evans, Banks, Campbell, Mitchell, Glover, Homer, Lycett, Shingles & Sadler.

Subs - Walker for Shingles.

Goal - Glover

Man Of The Match - Glover

Match Report - "Maple's came under early pressure from Smethwick's long ball with Smetchwick opening the scoring after 15mins. A super Shingles flick-on to a timely Glover run was coolly headed in - along with a very soft Smethwick penalty to make it 2-1.

At this point certain Maple players gave up the ghost and decided that only token efforts were required to get goal goal-side and do the simple things like tracking back, marking opponents, passing to team-mates and getting stuck in - resulting in more pressure and efforts on an overworked Maple defence and inspired goalie.

Maple did have half chances tho, denied a stonewall penalty after Sadler was scythed from behind in the box, a Shingles header, Sadler's 2 snapshots, Evans' mazy run and an acute Campbell shot, before Smethwick's possessional play some them score three more".


Pld 34
Won 6
Drew 7
Lost 21
Goals Scored 60
Goals Against 131