Coleshill Town 2 v 3 Sutton Coldfield Town Reserves

[Alan Beckett]

Saturday 7th November 1970
Midland Combination Division Two
Coleshill Town 2 v 3 Sutton Coldfield Town Reserves
Scorers:
Coleshill: Roy Phelps pen, Clive Lyons.
Sutton: Cashmore 3.


Team: Peter Garnell GK, Steve Ward, Oscar Deeming, Tim Rawlings, Geoff Statham, David Back (Butch Bradley), Clive Lyons, Malcolm Stokes, Roy Sanders, Roy Phelps, Eddie Hanlon.


COLESHILL CHRONICLE WROTE
Coleshill Beaten And Championship Hopes Fade
Coleshill Town's hopes of retaining the Midland Combination Second Division title appear to be fading. On Saturday they slumped to a home defeat against Sutton Town. Coleshill showed plenty of promise and had an early opportunity of snatching the lead when Stokes, put through by Sanders, had Cox at his mercy, but the ball flew wide of the goal. From this point on, the visitors took control and always looked the better outfit. Sutton moved with controlled football that Coleshill managed to keep in check until the 28th minute when Garnell was beaten. It followed a harmless looking free kick that bobbed around until pounced upon by outside right Cashmore, who gave Garnell little chance of stopping. Coleshill showed flashes of improvement but when Hanlon broke clear, his high centre eluded Sanders and it was a good effort by the latter that saw the ball beat the keeper only to cruise just wide. Sanders was doing his best in the absence of Colin Davis to infuse some life in the Coleshill attack, and supported by Clive Lyons, had rank bad luck when his shot saw the ball move inches past the post. The game re-started with Sanders getting in a promising run that finally petered out and Sutton again gained control and fully deserved to extend their lead in the 60th minute. The ball came in from the foot of Holder and Cashmore was positioned perfectly to beat Garnell with a well placed header. Oscar Deeming was giving a stout display in an effort to avert further danger from the visitors well drilled spear-head and found support in Rawlings and Steve Ward but for all this Sutton went further ahead. Coleshill found themselves 3-0 down after 70 minutes when a ball from the right was mis-kicked by a Coleshill defender and was arrested by Cashmore who went in to complete his hat-trick. Dave Back recieved an injury just after this and he was replaced by Butch Bradley, who certainly managed to infuse some life into the home side's ranks and in fact earned them a goal. The sub chased a long ball that his colleagues had given up for lost and after collecting was brought down to give Roy Phelps the chance to improve on his list of penalty goals. As in the previous game at Coles Lane, Coleshill were finishing the stronger and although trailing 3-1, there still remained sufficient time to force a draw. Coleshill went hammer and tongs for the goals but the Sutton defence held on until the very last minute when Lyons netted from a Sanders corner kick. So Coleshill were booked with another defeat and their form now looks most unreliable that their remaining hopes of success this term appears to be left for the various cup competitions.



P16 W6 D5 L5 F28 A20 Pts17 Pos 4/18