Darlaston Town 1 – Boldmere St Michaels 2
Northern Premier League Midland Division
Saturday 8 March 2025
After the disappointing home result against AFC Rushden & Diamonds the previous Saturday, the Mikes travelled to play off seeking with perhaps more hope than expectation. Ben George (at a wedding), Steve Palmer (ill) and Taylor-Jay Hart (not selected) made way for Oliver West, Mason Rees and Nathan Oyemade and they all played a full part in a workmanlike if at times fortuitous performance.
An even opening ten minutes ended with Pierre Phillips getting booked as he tried to retrieve a poor clearance by Jonathan Brown. Minutes later after a good build up, West was foiled by an excellent Stan Amos save. The ball ran loose and as Kevin Ngombi looked to recycle the ball, he was tripped by Bailey Storey resulting in a penalty. West stepped up to take the spot kick but shot tamely wide of the left-hand post. As the twenty-minute mark approached the miss looked costly, Aaron Bishop rounded Brown and should have scored. It was from an angle and the ball hit the post and rebounded out to Phillips. Taking his time attempting to clear his effort was blocked by Kieran Cook but fortunately the ball trickled past the post.
Darlaston must have rued this profligacy as Demico Burton set off on a left wing run past three players, hitting the bye line and crossing the ball for Ngombi to head powerfully home from twelve yards. Matters got even better just six minutes later when Burton was felled inside the box resulting in Boldmere’s second undisputed penalty award. West stood down after his earlier miss and Oyemade scored to the delight of the sprinkling of Mikes fans in attendance.
A comfortable two goal cushion lasted all of three minutes as Cook turned home a left-wing cross to reduce the deficit. The home side’s Storey was removed from the action and replaced by Hayden Carson well before the interval.
As expected Darlaston came out looking to even matters up and Boldmere had to dig deep to defend their lead. Manager Ben Roberts decided to replace Frankie Ealing with Jake Wilkes shortly after the hour mark. It certainly gave the Mikes more bite in both defence and attacking situations. Fouls were aplenty at this stage and West and Darlo’s Jake Pearson entered the referee’s notebook. Oyemade came closest to a second half score but his brilliant effort was foiled by Amos. A flurry of Boldmere substitutes appeared in the closing ten minutes and it was Kieron Berry who probably should have sealed the victory after an Amos error.
Fortunately, it did not matter as the minutes ticked away and the Mikes held out for a valuable three points. This was a workmanlike performance throughout the team and the ninety minutes and is hopefully a starting point for a decent end to what has been a quite disappointing season.
Darlaston Town: Stan Amos, Bailey Storey (Hayden Carson 34), Harry Chesterton, Ryan Winwood, Alexander Forshaw (Joshua Jones 80), Ben Podmore, Jake Pearson (Ewan Edwards 90+1), Mitch Botfield, Aaron Bishop, Kieran Cook, Rivel Mardenborough (Leo Wood 68). Sub not used: Leo Gill
Boldmere St Michaels: Jonathan Brown, Lewis Allison, Pierre Phillips, George Cleet, Mason Rees (Kye Bilton 85), Frankie Ealing (Jake Wilkes 63), Nathan Oyemade (Theo Rowe 89), Oliver West, Kevin Ngombi (John McHugh 90+3), Charlie Manners (Kieron Berry (80), Demico Burton.