Bourne Town 2 Boldmere St Michaels 3
Northern Premier League Midland Division Saturday 18 April 2026
Kye Bilton, Aris Christophorou and James Tague were all absent from the Mikes’ ranks, as a hard physical season took its toll. A grinding, lifeless first half gave way to high drama after the break, as the Wakes (needing two wins from their last two games to stand any chance of avoiding relegation) nearly snatched all three points, after being two goals down. This being their last home game of the season, the pitch was hard and bobbly, making conditions underfoot difficult for all concerned.
After the hosts came to shake hands with a wheelchair bound supporter (nice gesture!), they started on the front foot; but the Mikes looked dangerous on the break, on a surface which favoured route one football. Charlie Manners in particular was causing problems, and contributed to Bourne conceding six fouls in the first sixteen minutes. A strange twist of events happened on nineteen minutes, however. The homesters gained their first free kick…and had Robbie Ellis booked for dissent! It then got odder: Aaron Eyett was sent off for foul and abusive language. What he said, your correspondent knows not; but Secretary Neil assures him it was not fit for respectable ears!
The referee (in our opinion) had a good game, not allowing things to descend into the kind of all-in wrestling match we’ve witnessed at times this campaign. Needless to say, from now on he became the pantomime villain, as the crowd of nearly five hundred awoke from its early pensive trance, and lustily booed him at any and every opportunity.
From the half hour, Boldmere looked to be running out of inspiration, passing the ball across the back…and back again. They regained momentum as we moved towards the break Firstly a Jac Burgess pass fed Jaiy Leydon who raced forty yards down the right, his cross put disappointingly wide from close range by Toli Omotola. However, fate then took a hand; as half time neared, Omotola burst through the middle, attended by the equally sizeable Bradley Marshall. The ball bounced up…hit Marshall’s hand…and our official had little option but to award a penalty. Omotola hit it, accurately rather than speedily, into the bottom right-hand corner.
The second half was only four minutes old when the visitors doubled their lead. Kyle Byrne set off on one of his trademark solo runs from half way…evaded his final marker, Kallen Hickson (who had to go off with a twisted left knee) and slid the ball home, clinically.
Just when you might have thought, “That’s that: play out the last forty minutes”, Bourne came back with commendable spirit, direct play gaining a string of fouls at the Mikes’ expense. As the hour neared, it needed Jonno Brown’s advancing knees (once again) to deny a marauding Lewis Darlington. Pedro Lima was now having an interesting afternoon, getting a yellow card for a foul just outside the box. Despite facing a four-man wall and a massed defence, an Ellis thunderbolt flew past Brown, to halve the deficit.
The admirably loyal home support was now in noisy full cry, their volume reaching stentorian proportions two minutes later, when yet another conceded foul by Lima was eventually headed home by Callum Milne, from close in. It only took another three minutes to give away another free kick, twenty-five yards out, and we saw the ball in the Boldmere net once again. A bullet header by Bradley Marshall and exultant cheers turned to hearty boos, as “the villain in black” responded to the linesman’s flag. Subsequent film showed Lima was blatantly pushed to the ground as the centre
back went for the ball.
With a quarter of the contest left, the Mikes were holding on for a draw, the Wakes throwing men forward in search of a winner. Brown was carded for time wasting (home cheers), and the teams exchanged close shaves, with the game now opened up. Three minutes before the end of standard time, things boiled over, as Boldmere substitute Lewis Capper-Imms gave away another freebie, nineteen (?) yards from home. Following Bourne protests, our referee consulted his linesman…and pointed to the spot. Once again, the Lincolnshire men couldn’t keep their mouths shut…and the fouled Ellis was sent off for a second yellow…leaving to rapturous home applause. Zacorie Allen hit the penalty to Brown’s left, a smart save and the follow up effort well wide of the target.
Were Boldmere going to turn out to be Bourne’s bogey team, once again? So it turned out. A succession of substitutions and injury breaks (one at least of a tactical nature, to issue instructions to three home combatants) meant we had seven minutes’ added time. With five of them gone, a Danny O’Callaghan through ball to Omotola saw the big centre forward evade his marker, to push home the winner. Thus ended a game which could have gone either way, and (unless the vagaries of F.A. allocation deems otherwise, this summer) places the well supported Wakes in Level Five. You were left wondering whether they’ll end up there through lack of talent, or lack of self-control.
Bourne Town: William Lakin; Callum Milne; Freddie Allen; Robbie Ellis; Bradley Marshall; Richard Jones (William Bird 89); Connor Furey (Joshua Burrows 74); Kellan Hickinson (Sam Bayly 52); Lewis Darlington; Aaron Eyett; Zacorie Allen. Subs. not used: Thomas Siddons: Theo Hudson.
Boldmere St Michaels: Jonathan Brown; Frankie Ealing; Pedro Lima; Daniel O’Callaghan; Jordan Gough (Ben Croot 89); Connor Armstrong (Nathan Allison 84); Jack Burgess; Kyle Byrne (Lewis Capper-Imms 84); Tolani Omotola; Charlie Manners; Jaiy Leydon (Lewi Burnside 75). Sub. not used: Liam Kirton.