Telford & Wrekin men earn promotion to Midlands Premier Division

With a point needed to clinch a step up in standard, Telford served up an impressive display to see off visiting Sutton Coldfield 4-1 at St George’s.

Sutton dealt with a number of early penalty corners, but they could not keep out top scorer Tom Mallett, who set the hosts on their way when he unleashed a shot into the top corner.

The visitors hit back to level from a penalty corner, but it was Telford who led at the break when Callum Nightingale fired home.

Telford controlled things in the second half and a clever finish from Dave Tracey made it 3-1.

Tom Mallett then wrapped up the win from a short corner. Telford’s second string also had cause for celebration as they achieved promotion from Midlands Six North West with two games to spare.

Elsewhere, Ludlow overcame some availability issues to pick up a point on the road at Burton in Midlands Four West.

Two penalty corner goals from Sam Pratt and Matt Blount secured a well-deserved reward for the visitors.

The second team’s game was cancelled due to the opposition being unable to field a team, while Ludlow Ladies couldn’t raise a side and were forced to call off their scheduled fixture.

Newport got their Midlands Eight North West promotion push back on track with a 4-0 success at Shrewsbury thirds.

The victory ensured they remained three points behind leaders Stone and two ahead of Keele with three games left.

Ferdie Brooks (two), Sam Haigh, Ash Williams netted.

Newport’s second team suffered their first defeat in over a month as they went down 3-0 to a well-organised North Stafford side.

The Badgers got back to winning ways with a fantastic 4-3 victory over Cannock. The goals came from Nathan Evans (two), Ollie Dix and Isaac Johnson.

In other news, Whitchurch toppled North West Ladies League Division Four South (Central) leaders Cheshire Blue 2-1.

Several short corners were won and their work paid off when Hayleigh Busby tapped past the keeper after a battle on the line.

The Blues equalised from a scrappy short corner, but Whitchurch had their win when Amelie Morris received the ball from India Freer and scored a second.

The ladies seconds were 5-0 winners at Crewe fourths in North West Six South (Central) thanks to goals from Phoebe Jones, Bella Morris, Lydia Jones, Lucy Hearn and Jas Williams, while the ladies thirds lost 12-0 to Macclesfield thirds.

Whitchurch men’s seconds went down 4-1 at Knutsford, despite a strike for Craig Hockenhull.