Football
Blackwood are beaten

Alvis 3 Blackwood 1

Midland Combination Division One

BLACKWOOD a rare bad afternoon on Saturday when they fell to a fourth league defeat of the season and ended the contest with ten men.

It turned out to be a classic game of two halves with the visitors having the better of the first 45 minutes before it all went wrong after the restart.

Blackwood played the better football as the game got under way with Danny Hemmings impressing and being instrumental in most of their best moments.

It was Steve Bell who put them ahead though when he was on hand to convert from five-yards after a good passing move.

The remainder of the half continued in the same manner but Blackwood were unable to build on their lead.

Ash Clarke conceded a penalty at the start of the second half which Warren Grant contested, too aggressively for the referee’s liking who showed him a second yellow card and then a red.

Blackwood remained 1-0 ahead however as Richard Mills saved the spot kick but he was beaten with 20 minutes left with an unmarked header from a corner.

Despite being a man down Blackwood still went in search of a winner but that allowed Alvis to catch them on the break and go 2-1 ahead.

They added a third to complete the scoring and condemn Blackwood to a defeat which leaves them four points behind leaders Littleton in second place, but they do have four games in hand.

Boss Jim Brogan said afterwards: “We looked in control of the game in the first half although there wasn’t much real football played.

“The penalty was harsh and the sending off is questionable. This did change the game but we should have been good enough to hold on to our lead and see the game out. We will as always look at the positives and make sure we bounce back as soon as possible.”