Yardley 0 Redditch 1
West Midlands Division One
REDDITCH maintained their unbeaten record on Saturday but were made to work hard for victory against a Yardley side still searching for their first points of the campaign.
The visitors were quickly reminded of the strength and commitment of Yardley, who made it a much tougher game than first anticipated as the visitors found it difficult to break down the home defence.
Redditch controlled the game for the majority and forwards Dan Waite and Harry Capewell created numerous chances, but were unable to finish any of them off.
Redditch finally took the lead in the first half when a flick across the face of goal from Callum Pace was directed into the goal by Will Moss, who was named man of the match.
Wary of falling victim to a second half sucker-punch, the visitors went in search of another goal and more chances came and went for their forward duo, as well as skipper Pete Dawson and midfielder Jacob Beard, who all narrowly missed.
This left a constant threat of a possible retaliation from Yardley and increased Redditch’s anxiousness as the half continued, but the defence stood firm and the visitors sealed an important three points which leaves them second in the table, two points behind leaders West Bromwich, who come to Bromsgrove Road for a crucial game on Saturday.
Redditch 2nds 5 Streetly 2nds 3
West Midlands 2nd Team League Division Two
REDDITCH 2nds were also victorious as they secured their fourth league win of the campaign to leapfrog the visitors into third place.
With Lee Beedon and Andrew Brooks both returning to strengthen a team without skipper Richard Sellors, the home team had renewed optimism which showed seconds after the pushback when Beedon scythed his way through a bemused Streetly defence to put Redditch 1-0 up.
However, Streetly rallied and took a 2-1 lead which they threatened to take into half time until the ball was played quickly out of defence to Matt Walton on the right and he combined with George Haslam to set up Beedon to level with his second goal of the game.
The hosts were not done there though and led 3-2 before the interval when Brooks scored with a trademark drag flick from a short corner.
The second half started well for the hosts when another short corner was converted by Ben Husband to make it 4-2 and the lead was extended to three goals when Brooks and Walton were again involved in the build-up as Brooks was afforded too much time on the ball and was able to pick out Walton inside the box and his deflection was pounced upon by Beedon to complete his hat-trick.
The visitors managed to pull a goal back past impressive Redditch keeper Joe Cardy but the hosts prevailed and are handily placed as they prepare for their next game at home to leaders West Bromwich on November 21.
Bromsgrove Ladies 2nds 5 Redditch Ladies 5
Worcestershire League Division One
REDDITCH Ladies were full value for their point as they fought back from 5-3 down late on to earn a share of the spoils.
The first half proved a struggle for Redditch as they took their time to find their shape and found themselves 4-2 down at the break, with the prolific Anna Stafford netting twice for the visitors.
Lucie Mottet made it 4-3 but Bromsgrove struck again to seemingly make sure of maximum points, only for player of the match Amy Youster to give Redditch hope with ten minutes remaining.
Youster was not finished there and bagged her second goal with a few minutes remaining to give Redditch something to build on heading into Saturday’s visit to bottom of the table Harborne 4ths.
REDDITCH Badgers hosted Old Halesonians on Saturday and a young side with an average age of 13 performed well despite suffering a 3-1 defeat as they did the club and their coach Sharon Smith proud.
Captained by 11-year-old Callum Jones, Redditch started well with lots of attacking play coming from centre forward Alfie Wheeler, who had a fine game and went close on a number of occasions.
It was Old Hales who broke the deadlock with a fine goal after 21 minutes but Redditch continued to battle with excellent defensive play from Eugene Reed and Jack Drysdale.
After falling 2-0 behind, right midfielder Ben Tominski produced some excellent skill to set up Ben Morris to reduce the deficit, but Old Hales struck again to seal victory.
