Springvale Rovers 1 Oldington United 0

SPRINGVALE had to work hard to record their sixth Kidderminster Premier League win of the current campaign in a scrappy match against second bottom visitors Oldington United.

In fairness to both teams the conditions were not conducive to good football with a difficult surface and a strong end-to-end wind.

Vale played into the wind in the first half with a game plan to contain Oldington. This worked well and the visitors failed to capitalise on the backing of the elements and were restricted to long range attempts by a disciplined and well-organised home defence.

However Vale should have taken an interval lead through Chris Slingsby. He was clear of the struggling Oldington defence only to fire straight at the advancing goalkeeper and then see his weak follow up shot cleared off the line.

With the wind at their backs after the break Vale pushed up and put Oldington under sustained pressure. They created several good chances with Adrian Lewis and Mark Downes both going close. However it took the introduction of substitute Nick Wilkinson to break the deadlock when he broke clear to beat a defender and goalkeeper to slide the ball into an open net.

Although Oldington rallied bravely and pushed for an equaliser they were held at bay by a solid home defence.