STUDLEY (The Beehive)

It was the fickle finger of fate (well my finger anyhow) that pointed me in the direction of Warwickshire for today's Midland Alliance clash. Top of the table, and unbeaten in the league, Tipton Town were visiting The Beehive, the home of Studley FC. There was nothing really 'jumping out' of the fixture list this week, so I thought there was a chance of a decent game here today. Hmmmph!

The ground is a pretty basic affair with a single seated stand on one side of the ground, the other three sides being hard-standing. One thing I can say is that you won't go thirsty as there were two bars in the ground, and today they were doing a roaring trade as there was a large-ish crowd due to a family fun day, for the opening of the adjacent 3G pitch. So whilst the adults were having a drink, the kids were having their faces painted or were on the bouncy castle.

The game was not the most enthralling of affairs in all honesty. Tipton slumped to their first league defeat of the season, conceding a solitary first half goal. After 15 minutes the ball was launched into the box, and was flicked on to the far post, where Mark Gardener (not the former lead singer of Ride!)  headed home, just beating the goalkeeper to the ball.  Other than that neither goalkeeper was troubled as Tipton's superior passing play hit  a brick wall with some stubborn Studley resistance. This result knocked Tipton off top spot and consolidated Studley's position in mid-table.

Saturday 16th October 2010

Midland Football Alliance

Studley 1-0 Tipton Town

Attendance: 74