Boldmere St Michaels 1 Anstey Nomads 4
Northern Premier League Midland Division Saturday 11 April 2026
In the absence of the injured Aris Christophorou, young Ben Croot started at centre half, while newcomer Liam Kirton began on the bench. A twenty-yard curler that skimmed the Boldmere goal’s corner sent out a warning inside the first minute; and the visitors, finding their men with their passing, and incisive and accurate with their long through balls, kept up the early pressure. A double corner was conceded on eight minutes: from the clearance of the second one, the ball was swept straight back in…and there was Tendai Chitiza to head Anstey ahead. Charlie Manners gained a yellow as the Nomads’ siege continued, but soon the Mikes were forcing their guests into conceding free kicks, one such accompanied by multiple Fs from keeper Conrad Logan!
It soon needed a classic Pedro Lima rescue act to keep the lead from being doubled. The rain and wind now swept across Church Road, and as the Mikes continued to strive for an equaliser, the second goal appeared from nowhere. From a dropped ball, three passes down the middle of the park ended with Courey Grantham hooking the ball over a stranded Jonathan Brown’s head. The sun shone from hereon…but not on Boldmere’s fortunes. With three minutes to the interval, that man Chitiza powered through, to put the result beyond doubt. It had been a tough forty-five minutes particularly for the two young debutant starters.
Boldmere made a triple substitution at half time, and a more equal (though less enthralling) second half emerged as a result, our guests able to sit back and defend their lead, when necessary. Even so, as we were nearing the hour, Luis Rose was able to seize on over-elaboration in the home left corner. Tristen Thomas slammed home the resultant centre, to score Anstey’s fourth. Multiple substitutions now followed as, with the result now beyond doubt, everyone was given game time. Despite their doom now being evident, the Mikes kept gamely plugging away, and the biggest cheer of the afternoon came with eleven minutes to go. A replica of Anstey’s second goal saw Tolani Omotola chest down the third route one pass forward, to give the scoreline just a little dignity. Boldmere now hit the bar following a post-free kick goalmouth scramble, and two yellow cards following some light handbags took us towards full time.
As we reached the final whistle, good news arrived via the internet. Carlton Town had scored a late goal to beat Bourne Town, and so keep themselves equal on points with our visitors. More significantly, it means the Mikes cannot now, mathematically, be relegated.
Boldmere St Michaels: Jonathan Brown; Kye Bilton (Liam Kirton 46); Pedro Lima; Daniel O’Callaghan; Ben Croot (Jordan Gough 46); Connor Armstrong; Jack Burgess; Jaiy Leydon (Kyle Byrne 46). James Tague (Tolani Omotola 62); Charlie Manners (Harry Crook 62); Frankie Ealing.
Anstey Nomads: Conrad Logan; Kyle Tomlin; Oscar Tonge; Jordan Annable; Lewis Gibbens; Tobias Liversedge (Luke Redfern 78); Tristen Thomas (Ronnie Kokkinos 69); Henry Bestwick (Rubyn Gill 70); Courey Grantham (Liam Murphy 57); Tendai Chitiza; Luis Rose (Josh Burniston 69).