Widdas hold their nerve again to reach final of the Charity Cup

Having earned a last-four spot with a win on penalties in the last eight of the NDT Midlands Lester Charity Cup against Gornal Rangers last month, Widdas emerged penalty kings once again when edging home against Dudley Rangers United in a thrilling semi-final clash.

With a first cup final ticket at stake, Widdas opened strongly against their Concentric Sales & Lettings Championship rivals and grabbed a 10th-minute lead through Mike Foster.

It looked as though one goal would decide the outcome, until battling United grabbed a dramatic last-minute equaliser when Jelani Roy rose above the Widdas defence to head home a corner and send the tie to penalties. Spot-on Widdas finally took the spoils 4-1.

This was in fact Widdas’ third penalty shootout success of the season. Back in January they reached the last eight of the prestigious Birmingham FA Sunday Vase in the same manner, before eventually bowing out in the final four stage.

In this season’s Lester Charity Cup final, to be played at AFC Wulfrunians’ ground on Thursday, April 28 (7.45pm), Widdas will take on Trysull Athletic.

Trysull kept up their excellent form when emerging 2-0 victors over AFC Bloxwich in Sunday’s other semi-final with first-half goals from Cal Kearney and Aaron Bolton.

On the Concentric Sales & Lettings Championship front, third and fourth-place outfits, CTS United and Blades FC had to settle for a point apiece in a 1-1 stalemate. Jack Kelly gave CTS a first-half lead, before Ben Morris earned a point with a 70th-minute equaliser.

In the Cater Cup group qualifiers, unbeaten Gornal Rangers boosted their hopes of progressing to the semi-final knockout stage when inflicting a first defeat on Brandhall Colts 2-0. Goals either side of the break from Rhys Webb and Liam Cullen enabled Gornal to move second in the group. Sedgley Rangers remain favourites to top the section after winning their opening three fixtures.

Qualification in the Clinton Cup group remains wide open after all eight teams saw action this week.

AFC Goldthorne top the ladder on goal difference from Kewford Eagles, who were held to a 1-1 draw by visiting Hagley United. In a tight affair, the visitors took an early lead through Baba Mohammed, before Dan Ross secured a point for Kewford

Goldthorne made it four wins in five, running out worthy 3-1 winners against visiting Lane Head Titans, efforts from Alex Duffield and a Kie Matthews double. Titans’ reply was a excellent long-range free-kick from Adam Shorto.

Wombourne Athletic kept up their push for a spot in the last four knockout section with a 4-1 success at home to Bushbury Hill as the scoring was shared by Brandon Malpass, Will Fellows, Ben Harper and Dan Crowther. Jack Harris hit a late consolation for Bushbury.

In the remaining fixture of the week, AFC Sporting Gornal took the lead at Sedgley & Gornal United East before having to settle for a late share of the honours.

Without kicking a ball, Casuals Vets FC have secured the Mini-Pro Golf Parks (Wolverley) Over-30s Eastern Division title at the first attempt.

Their scheduled fixture against Collective Veterans was conceded by their opponents, enabling Casuals to claim the prize.