19/11/17 Winter Shield against old rivals Hartshill.
Due to injuries and unavailability Birmingham had a much changed team with 4 players Birmingham Over 60s travelled to Kingswinford for the first game in The making their first appearance in the series and with only 6 players had no subs.
Birmingham took time to settle against a confident and well organised Hartshill side. The game settled into a stalemate with both teams cancelling each other out and Les in goal well able to deal with any long shots that came his way. The Hartshill keeper also looked assured despite a pre-match injury that had left him with a bandaged head. Hartshill were pressing high up the pitch and a 'comedy of errors' or 'balls up' led to the only goal of the game. Frank H attempted a pass across the pitch but managed to connect with Steve W on the edge of the area who was poleaxed as the ball hit a 'tender area'. Unfortunately the ball dribbled to one of the Hartshill players who poked it home.
Birmingham continued to work hard but chances were at a premium but some dogged defending kept the Hartshill attackers at bay keeping the game tight and all to play for in the second game. Well done to Steve E and Roy who competed well in midfield against their more experienced opponents and Dave W for battling hard to keep their defence occupied. The game was sensibly refereed by Barry and was played in good spirit.
