West Midlands Regional League Division One

Tipton Town 1

St Martins 2

The Saints picked up a huge win in their fight to avoid relegation as they beat high-flying Tipton Town.

St Martins had the luxury of naming a near full strength team; Ryan Mondiwa was missing out for personal reasons and Callum Bennett replaced him. Shin Miah came in for George Durell, who was working.

The first goal came after 15 minutes when a free-kick from the left was flicked on by Matty Walters and James Durman scambled home the opener.

From there, the Saints had keeper George Austin to thank with two outstanding saves and a third save with his body, after the whistle had gone for offside.

The referee was a running theme in the game, some of his decisions seeming to favour the home side.

But in the second half the Saints where thankful to him when there was a skirmish which led to bookings for players on both sides.

In the 70th minute, the away side doubled their lead after a corner fell to David Easthope on the back post and he smashed home from close range.

Tipton introduced three substitutes at once from the restart and within 10 minutes they made an impact after a cross came in, Austin was in no-man’s land and a forward flicked into an empty net.

The Saints comfortably saw out the remaining 15 minutes, showing discipline and know-how to kill the clock and secure all three points.

The committee’s star man was Austin for key saves at key times but it really was a great team performance from everyone involved. The Saints sit out this weekend, but return to action on March 4 in the cup against Wednesfield.

Premier Division

Ellesmere Rangers were without a fixture last weekend, but return to action this weekend when they visit lowly Dudley Town (3pm).

Results over the weekend meant the Meresiders stay in sixth spot, but with games in hand over their rivals