Market Drayton Town 4-0 Boldmere St. Michaels
Boldmere's impressive October victory against the then unbeaten Market Drayton Town seemed a distant memory as they were comprehensively thumped in the return fixture on Shropshire soil.
Any lingering title hopes the Mikes may have had before the game were firmly extinguished as the home side turned in a powerful display that bore all the hallmarks of league champions elect.
The tone of the game was set in the opening minute when Ricky Baker was left needing lengthy treatment following a crunching (but fair) tackle by Jason Francis.
Kicking up the slope with the wind in their faces, the Mikes never got going and were penned in their own half as Drayton expertly exploited both the pitch and the elements. The visitors didn't help themselves by conceding a series of unnecessary free kicks and corners.
On 12 minutes, Matt Jackson seemed caught in two minds dealing with a bouncing ball on the touchline. His volleyed clearance was charged down by Tom Ward and Jackson was forced to concede a corner as he recovered.
Stuart Ellis whipped in the resultant flag kick and Duncan Horler headed home unchallenged for 1-0.
The Mikes were clinging on desperately as the home side threatened to overrun them. An identical Ellis corner was agian headed home, but the referee had already blown for an infringement.
Boldmere were still conceding fouls in dangerous areas as they tried to contain the home side. Ellis floated in a dangerous free kick which was tipped over by Adam Jenkins. He did even better with another vicious inswinging Ellis delivery that eveaded everyone and threatened to creep in at the far post, until Jenkins clawed it away for a corner.
As the game approached half time, the Mikes finally got a foothold in the game. They forced a succession of corners, but the home side kept their lead intact at the break with relative comfort.
In truth, the Mikes were glad to reach the interval only one adrift and welcomed the chance to regroup.
The hope that the game would be different kicking with the wind and slope looked like coming to fruition as the Mikes totally dominated the opening exchanges. The agitation in home quarters was evident. Baker and Weller were getting into the game as the Mikes threatened down the flanks.
The Mikes had a good opening when an excellent cross-field move found Kirk Smith 25 yards from goal. With the Mikes contingent willing him to shoot, he slipped a well disguised lay off to the unmarked Baker in the inside left channel. Uncharacteristically, Baker's first touch let him down, allowing the home defence to recover at the expense of a corner.
It was all Boldmere, but that changed in a moment of route one football. After 10 minutes spent largely in the Drayton half, a long clearance released Horler in the inside right channel. He elected to shoot first time, firing an excellent dipping volley across Jenkins towards the bottom corner. The back-peddling Boldmere custodian produced an superb save, but the loose ball fell towards the penalty spot. Home striker Tom Ward showed greatest desire to get there first and squirmed his shot into the bottom corner past Jenkins despairing dive.
This rocked Boldmere on their heels and the home side were in the ascendancy once again. With Mikes defence struggling to deal with the succession of balls into their box, it was no surprise when Ward made the game safe, heading home another corner ten minutes later.
The Mikes sent on Juxon and Dubidat in the hope of livening things up, but the latter was caught out for the fourth goal. On 76 minutes, Dubidat tried to shepherd the ball out for a goal kick, but was robbed by Ellis, who cut into to fire emphatically into the roof of the net.
The Mikes best chance of a consolation seemed to be as a result of the wayward kicking of home keeper Pryce. First Osborne was unable to contol a wayward clearance drilled straight at him. The loose ball bounced to Dubidat, but he was clearly offside.
Pryce then totally miscued another clearnace to Dubidat, wide on the Mikes' right flank. Fully 40 yards out, Dubidat steadied hiself before floating a great effort over the retreating kepper, who was mightily relieved to see it just clear the angle of post and bar.
The game ended in a flurry of late yellow cards, but strangely the worst tackle of the game went unpunished, with Dubidat left in a heap following a nasty lunge.
The Mikes can have no complaints about leaving Shropshire empty handed. In truth, the start of the game was not unlike the fixture earlier in the season, where Drayton came out of the traps strongly. The Mikes withstood the barrage and then imposed themselves on the game and were worthy winners. This time, they conceded poor goals at crucial times, which gave them little chance.
Manager Rob Mallaband was philosophical in defeat, reminding his players the Drayton side has been built into an impressive unit over a number of years, while the Mikes squad is young in both years and experience.
There is still everything to play for, with the runners up spot still up for grabs, as well as being in the latter stages of two cup competitions.
The Mikes move onto Friar Lane & Epworth on Tuesday as they look to get back to winning ways in the league, before taking on Oldbury United at home on Thursday, in the Quarter Finals of the Walsall Senior Cup. The Mikes are also on home soil on Saturday 14th March, hosting Rocester in the Aspire MFA.
Boldmere: Adam Jenkins; Adam Swain; Matt Jackson; Aaron Hamilton; Adam Wood; Kirk Smith; Lyndon Weller; Stuart McNaught; Jason Holmes; Lee Osborne; Ricky Baker.
Subs: Anthony Juxon (Baker); Danny Dubidat (Weller); Jack Brown; Keiran Robinson; Rob Clarke.
