Fairfield Villa 2 Littleton 1

STRIKER Lloyd Dawkins marked his return to the Recreation Ground by scoring the winning goal in January 3's battle.

Dawkins, on his debut since returning from his unsuccessful move to Barnt Green Spartak, fired home the winner to hand Villa an important win in the Midland Combination Division One.

Fairfield though had to show some character to win the match after a defensive mix-up allowed Littleton to open the scoring in the second half.

Confusion between goalkeeper Dave White and defender Neil Tinkler allowed an alert Litteton player to score.

This only forced Villa into a higher gear and they wasted little time in pulling a goal back.

Tinkler made up for his earlier error when he headed in a corner five minutes later.

New signing Mark Ingram then sent Dawkins through on goal and with only the 'keeper to beat he calmly slotted the ball home.

Villa did not take their chances, despite making several fine opportunities to score, but held on for victory.

Manager Neil Gallagher said: "We should have won by more, but we made it a bit harder for ourselves by not adding a third goal.

"Still, I was pleased with the way we responded to going a goal down."

The Villa boss has also been busy strengthening his squad so they can build a strong run in the second half of the season.

The manager is confident that new additions Ingram and central midfielder Richard Miller can help Fairfield avoid their early season relegation form.

He said: "The new players I have brought in can really help us for the rest of the season.

"Lloyd coming back is a big step for us."

Fairfield take on Burntwood Town away from home on Saturday (2pm kick off).

Gallagher said: "I think we should go to Burntwood and get all three points."

Cadbury Athletic 1Fairfield Villa 0

SHOT-SHY Villa failed to take their chances as their Birmingham opponents edged the game on December 28.

Neil Gallagher's side were shot down by a second half goal, despite having a large share of possession.

Injuries to wide men Paul Matthews and former Cadbury man Michael Vaughn had disrupted Fairfield's tactics and knocked them out of their stride.

However, striker Leon Mooney could have levelled the scores, but he blazed over late on.

Chairman Paddy Eades said: "We played incredibly well and we shouldn't have lost the game.

It's just one of those things, we didn't really take our chances but we never deserved to lose.

"Losing two important players really affected us."