Swifts win Trophy on Penalties
Stourport Swifts 2 Bewdley Town (Swifts win 4-2 on penalties) Att: 65
Stourport Swifts won the inaugural John McDonald Trophy on penalties after a late equaliser from Ben Priest.
Bewdley missed the chances to sew up this match early on as Swifts experimented with a different formation. Lewis Pountney hit the bar with a fierce shot after just two minutes, but Lyle Hickman put Bewdley in front a minute later when he raced through and took advantage of a hesitation between Aaron Lloyd and keeper Brad Flude to score.
Bewdley hit the woodwork for a second time when Luke Morris curled a 20 yard shot against the post after 11 minutes.
Joe Siddaway saved well at Alex Perry’s feet to deny Swifts best chance of the half, and Pountney shot wide on 35 minutes when he perhaps should have done better.
Swifts introduced skipper Sam Beasley, Dan Sweeney, Paul Hurrell and Ashley Parsons-Smith at half time, and looked a different proposition going forward as Lloyd was pushed back into his usual strikers role.
Eleven minutes into the second half Swifts were level when Parsons-Smith crossed from the left, Perry dummied, and Lloyd blasted home on the half volley from 12 yards out.
Matt Fulloway just failed to connect with Lloyd’s cross with 6 minutes left, then Pountney looked to have won it for Bewdley with a superb 40 yard lob over Brad Flude.
Priest had other ideas just 3 minutes later when he produced some neat footwork on the edge of the box to evade two defenders and rifle into the top corner to take the game to penalties.
After Dan Sweeney missed Swifts first kick, Jones and Pountney missed for Bewdley, with Flude saving brilliantly, and Beasley,Parsons-Smith,Lloyd, and Joel Caines with the decider, all scored to give Swifts the Trophy.
SWIFTS:Flude,Clark,Lloyd,Fulloway,Caines,Hudson,Priest,Colley,Maund,McPherson,Perry.Subs Used:Beasley,Hurrell,Smith,Sweeney,Parsons-Smith
Swifts get tough draw in FA Cup
Stourport Swifts have been drawn away to Sporting Khalsa in the Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup in their first match of the season on 6th August.
Khalsa finished third in the MPL last season
Premier League welcomes new faces
The Midland Premier League will have a fresh look for the new season, with a total of five new faces making up the 22 members for the 2017-2018 season.
Promoted from Division One of the Midland League are Bromsgrove Sporting, who romped to the title without losing a match, and scored 132 goals in the process.
From the East Midlands Counties League, South Normanton Athletic are the promoted team, who finished runners up to West Bridgford in their League, some eight points behind. They had the meanest defence in the division, with only 46 goals conceded.
Haughmond F.C. were promoted as champions from the West Midlands Regional League.
Rugby Town come down from the Evo Stik South League, where they were replaced by MPL Champions Alvechurch.
Our illustrious neighbours Worcester City complete the list of new teams in the MPL, having elected to drop 3 step levels instead of the one dictated by their eventual relegation from the National League North. We look forward to some memorable matches this coming season.
Full list of teams for 2017-2018:
AFC Wulfrunians, Boldmere St Michaels, Bromsgrove Sporting, Coleshill Town, Coventry Sphinx, Coventry United, Haughmond, Heanor Town, Highgate United, Long Eaton United, Loughborough University, Lye Town, Quorn, Rocester, Rugby Town, Shawbury United, Shepshed Dynamo, South Normanton Athletic, Sporting Khalsa, Stourport Swifts, Westfields, Worcester City.
Swifts announce pre season friendlies:
Saturday 15th July – Kidderminster Harriers (H) Kick off 3.00pm
Wednesday 19th July - Droitwich Town (H) Kick off 7.45pm
Saturday 22nd July – Stourbridge (H) Kick off 3.00pm
Tuesday 25th July – Bewdley Town (H) Kick off 7.45pm
Saturday 29th July - Evesham United (H) Kick off 3.00pm
Swifts win Worcester Infirmary Cup
BACK ROW (left to right) Jack Pearlman,Jack Bailey,Joe Phillips,Matt Fulloway,Rion Francis-Mills,Joe Colley,Jim Hanson,Callum Grant,Paul Hurrell,Ben Priest,Dan Sweeney,
FRONT ROW (left to right) Alex Perry,Sam Beasley,Reece Wager,Alex Smith,Harry Beaumont
Swifts fans Martin Shannon and Keith Roberts with the Worcester Infirmary Cup. The Cup is the one on the right!
STOURPORT SWIFTS - Club Officials
President :
Chairman: Pip Hanson
Treasurer:Pip Hanson
Secretary: Graham Haighway
Commercial Manager: Nigel Wager
Committee Members: Ian Sword, Margaret Sword, Laura McDonald, Brian Hewitt, Tony Lavery, Stuart Adey,Paul Reynolds, Ian Johnson
Life Members: Ian Sword,Sylvia McDonald
1st Team Manager : Mark Phillips
Assistant Manager: John Dowdeswell
Sunday Team Manager: Ian Johnson
Official Club Sponsor
Official Club Partner
