17/10/2026
🏆 QUARTER-FINAL RESULT! 🏆
AC Rovers Bellshill 6–3 Villa Park
Goals, drama and a red card! The boys welcomed Villa Park in the CLYFA C Challenge Cup today, and what a game it turned out to be!
Villa Park went direct from kick-off and looked to impose themselves early. Just two minutes in, a corner found an unmarked player at the back post, who poked home the opener.
Six minutes later, our preparation paid off. A ball in behind released Lewis Rodden, who calmly placed his finish into the corner to bring us level.
Lewis struck again in the 15th minute, taking a pass from Caden Quinn, driving into the box and slotting past the goalkeeper to put us ahead.
Three minutes later, Lewis showed his immense work rate by winning the ball back before lifting a delightful pass over the top for Caden. He controlled it and smashed home from close range to make it 3–1! ⚽
Villa Park responded with a good move in the 27th minute to pull it back to 3–2. They were then reduced to ten men in the 32nd minute when their number nine was sent off for foul language. We went into the break with a narrow lead.
The boys started the second half brightly and created plenty of chances, but we couldn’t find the finish. Villa Park punished us in the 45th minute when we failed to deal with a long ball, allowing their striker to finish neatly and level the game at 3–3.
By the 52nd minute, we were beginning to take control again. Bilal Saleudeen collected the ball on the right and danced into the box, beating several players before seeing his shot pushed onto the bar. Conor Kelly reacted quickest to poke home the rebound and restore our lead, capping a fantastic performance from the captain! 👏
Five minutes later, Bilal wasn’t about to be outdone. He pounced on a poor touch, allowed the ball to drop and unleashed a volley into the top corner! He’s practically running his own Goal of the Season competition at this rate! 🚀
Bilal rounded off the scoring in the 66th minute with a brilliant team goal. Luca Nicoletti found Zac Simpson, who moved it on to Bilal. Bilal found Zac again, took the return pass, cut inside and smashed his finish into the roof of the net. Free-flowing football to make it 6–3! 🔥
A fantastic game of football and a thoroughly deserved place in the semi-finals for the boys.
From a squad built for the D League to CLYFA C Challenge Cup semi-finalists. What a journey this group is on!
Onwards and upwards! 💪💙🤍
