West Midlands Regional League

Premier Division

Dudley Sports 0

Wem Town 4

Wem Town started 2020 in the best possible way as they climbed out of the West Midlands Regional League Premier Division bottom three.

The Bowensfield men are now fourth from bottom – albeit having played up to seven more games than the teams around them – after they thrashed one of their nearest rivals, Dudley Sports.

The win is a culmination of their recent good form and joint-managers Lawrence Wilson and Josh Gogh will hope it will act as a springboard for Town moving up the table towards safety.

It was a perfect way to bounce from their last game of 2019 when they were thrashed at home by Sport’s main rivals, Dudley Town.

The management team acknowledged the performance, stating: “[We] bounced back after last week’s result.

“Nearly a complete performance.”

The win was delivered through goals from Dan Cohen, Chris Peel, Cal Briscoe and Harry Thelwell, and sets up a six-pointer with near rivals Shawbury United, who replaced Wem in the bottom three.

The win marks the first time in a number of months that Wem have moved out of the relegation zone.

The next six weeks will still prove to be a difficult month but the management team will be targeting wins against Cradley Town as well as one from two clashes with Wolverhampton Casuals, trips to Littleton and Smethwick, plus a home clash with Pershore Town.

Meanwhile, the longest unbeaten run in the league came to an end as Shifnal Town suffered their first defeat of the season at home to Black Country Rangers, who are in fourth place.

The league leaders were going for 16 wins from 16 games but lost by the odd goal in five.

Bewdley Town closed the gap to nine points with a crushing 5-2 home win over AFC Bridgnorth but the gap between third and second lengthened as Dudley Town failed to beat Worcester Raiders, drawing 1-1.

Shifnal will look to have started another winning run last night (Tuesday) as they made the trip to Bewdley for a clash between the top two.

On Saturday, they host Pershore Town as Bewdley – who by then could be only six points behind – travel to Worcester Raiders.