TWO vital weekend matches saw Bridgnorth pull away from the relegation zone with a scrappy win while a home defeat for Shifnal ensured they remained in the bottom two.
An unconvincing 2-1 win for the Crown Meadow men at home put seven points between them and second from bottom Shifnal, who could not repeat last week’s derby heroics going down 3-0 Biddulph Victoria. Bridgnorth secretary Mark McIntyre said with games running out for both sides it was looking more likely the Phoenix Park men would be the side dropping a division.
“It would be a real shame to see them go down, but when they lose and we win it’s a six point difference,” he said. “I think if we get to the 40 point mark we should be safe and then it’s a case of looking at the season and planning ahead for next year.
“Winning 2-1 against a team who have not won all season was very disappointing, but defeat would have been terrible. We’ve got Rocester tomorrow who are one place above Shifnal so another win would start to see us moving to safety, but it’ll be a very tough match.”
Town 2 Cradley 1
KNOWING defeat was unthinkable against a side who have picked up just six points all season, Town started brightly. The breakthrough came on 12 minutes when Jason Pike went down in the box and he converted the penalty himself.
Horler had several more chances to add to his goal tally, but couldn’t find the net until he was first to react to a goalmouth scramble, grabbing his and Town’s second on 32 minutes. Going into half time relatively untroubled, the wheels suddenly began to come off as a resurgent Cradley attacked up the Crown Meadow slope.
Seemingly content to hold on to their two goal lead Town were reduced to 10 men on 85 minutes when a frustrated Zak Jackson was given his marching orders for a second bookable offence. Luckily Jackson’s suspension will not come into effect until after Town’s next few fixtures, against teams in and around the relegation zone.
With their tails up and nothing to lose the visitors pushed on and pulled a goal back on back on 87 minutes when Robert Radford’s shot was deflected passed Darren Walters. Suddenly it seemed Town were going to throw away three vital points as they struggled to contain the Cradley attacks, thanking their luck when Radford somehow managed to rattle the cross bar twice in the final minute. But the home side hung on to come away with a vital three points.
Town, lying in 17th position, now enter a run matches which could realistically save or condemn their season, with games away to 20th placed Rocester tomorrow (February 27), 19th placed Malvern Town on Tuesday and 13th placed Coleshill Town on Thursday, before welcoming 14th place Friars Lane to Bridgnorth on Saturday.
Shifnal Town 0 Biddulph Victoria 3
A poor first half display, coupled with defensive lapses, condemned Town to another home defeat. An injury to first-choice ‘keeper Dave Jones during the warm-up did not help Shifnal’s cause, and when they lost leading scorer Andy Rich after less than a quarter of an hour, it became an uphill struggle.
The visitors took the lead after five minutes when Daniel Smith’s free kick was caught with both hands by Leigh Skellern, who then dropped it before smashing the ball home from six yards. The referee and his assistant seemed to be the only people who did not see the hand ball.
The second goal came on 21 minutes when Town failed to clear a corner and the ball fell to Shaun Mould, whose drive beat Jay Nash inside the left hand upright. Nash was at fault with the third goal a minute before the break when his poor clearance fell straight to Skellern, who hit an unstoppable shot.
Shifnal raised their game after the interval and an Alex Bloomer back-header from Wayne Vaughan’s cross sent the Vic’s ‘keeper scrambling to turn the ball wide of the post. Pete Bromley forced Smith into a fingertip save with a 25-yard free kick in the 80th minute.
The referee evened things out by dismissing Vaughan on 83 minutes for his second bookable offence. Kieron Ellis was injured in the incident and did not return, meaning the last 10 minutes saw nine men play 10.
Shifnal face a tricky away match at Coleshill Town on Tuesday before a cup tie against Market Drayton Town a week later.
