Express & Star

Wulfrunians lose at Stone in last game of season

Stone Old Alleyians rounded-off their Midland League Premier Division campaign with a 1-0 win over AFC Wulfrunians.

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On a weekend that only saw two games take place in the league, Stone were victorious at home.

In a tight game, a penalty was awarded in the 69th minute when Jack Bowater was brought down, allowing Dave Ablewhite to step up and send the goalkeeper the wrong way to win all three points.

Stone now play their final league game this week, while AFC Wulfrunians have completed their fixtures and finish mid-table.

The other game saw bottom club Bewdley Town finish their season with a 3-0 loss at home to Northwich Victoria.

Following a 12-0 defeat to Highgate United in mid-week, Bewdley finished the campaign on four points from 34 games.

Dudley Town, Tividale and Wolverhampton Casuals did not play and have completed all 34 games.

Darlaston Town will now face off with Stourport Swifts in the play-offs, while Lichfield City play Highgate.

In Midland League Division One, OJM Black Country battered Chelmsley Town 6-0 in their fight for a play-off place.

Bilston Town also hit six, beating Shawbury United 6-1 with goals from Adam Nazir, Jake Short, Dan Danks, Haydn Hall, Ethan Pearce and Soms Sibanda.

Cradley Town ended their season with a 1-0 home loss to Wednesfield, while Smethwick Rangers beat Hinckley AFC 1-0.

Elsewhere in the league, Wolverhampton Sporting Community lost 3-0 at Nuneaton Griff.

Only nine teams from the 20 in the division have played all 38 league games, with the remaining fixtures coming in the next week to determine the outcome of the league.

In the North West Counties League Division One South, league champions Brocton faced off with St Helens in the Champions Cup Final.

An early goal and a red card before half-time for Brocton was enough to condemn them to defeat.

The 10 men were the better side on the day but were unable to get back into the match after conceding just 42 seconds into the game.

Thomas Scarborough raced away down the right and his low cross was tapped in at the far post by Ethan Van-Aston.

On the stroke of half-time, Reg Smith was shown a second yellow card and was given his marching orders.

Manager Alex Curtis said: “I thought we were superb particularly in the second half. They caught us cold for the goal and it took us a little time to settle. They threw everything in the way to stop us and they managed the officials in such a way that they seemed to get most of the decisions. The red card was a shocking decision, but we rolled our sleeves up and gave it everything.

“It doesn’t take the shine off a super season. We’ll rest and take stock, but the lads are itching to get started at Step five, whichever league the FA put us in."