Well this could have easily been an away walkover if the club didn't confirm the match before the cut off day. Anyway, Armada travels away to Cofton Park, 8 miles south of Birmingham. The weather is beautiful, however the pitch conditions were shocking, uneven ground waves appearing through the pitch and some divots that really need addressing.

So the game kicks off with Armada taking first kick, with the sun glaring in the eyes of Jordan McDonald, it was going to be one of those route 1 games that Kings Heath Rangers (KHR) like to play. Quite clever to blind the opposition from the get go.

KHR signals an intent on Armada as they miss the first shot at goal, it sails high and wide but the intention is there. KHR then come again only this time the Armada offside trap is sprung but the referee says carry on and this catches the Armada defence out and KHR scores there first goal. Armada now realising that this will be a game won on the floor, start a passing game and a shot from Harry Hawkins goes wide of the goal post as he takes a shot from right midfield area of the opposition's half. Armada continue to push forward and have several chances with the first from Stephen Cudjoe Yankson who tries a 40 yard shot, it bounces in-front of the keeper who miss judges the bounce and just about tips it over the bar. Ali Akhlaq then tries a shot of his own however this goes wide of the goal.

KHR then hoof the ball over the Armada midfield and try an attempt on goal, it does go over the bar by quite a distance, nothing to trouble the keeper.

Armada straight back at KHR, they take the ball wide where Mohammed Siddig is fouled, the free kick is taken but nothing dangerous enough in front of the goal. Its a terrible goal kick from the keeper and Harry Hawkins gets to the ball, a quick one two with his Stephen Cudjoe Yankson and Harry Hawkins takes a shot, the keeper is tested as he has to make a save. Armada still pouncing on the ball and a through ball to Viqas Yusaf sees him fouled in the 18 yard box by the goalkeeper, the referee awards a penalty, up steps top goal scorer Mohammed Siddig to take the penalty. He misses the penalty, that's the second this season, that must really hurt. Chance not taken by Armada to level the game.

Just before halftime Armada go on to concede another 3 horrible goals, a mixture of poor passing, lack of discipline and also no effective decision making from the keeper. Half time couldn't come sooner for the team as they have really been caught out here after such a performance.

KHR restart and we see that Armada have made 2 changes, a striker and a right back. New signing Lamine Mekideche joined the club earlier in the week and we understand that a clear bill of health was granted for him to play today. KHR now have the sun in their eyes as they struggle with Armada pressing them on the ground and also in the air. Its a mountain of assault that Armada place on KHR, with an early shot which fractionally misses the target by Tere Pavy-Roban, Armada looks seriously focused to turn this fixture around.

Armada right midfield Arnaud Fournier, takes a run down the right wing, he goes past two players and delivers a cross only to find Lamine Mekideche, he opens his goal scoring account that was a beauty, keeper was left standing, they gather the ball to start again. In all the build Mohammed Haares takes a knock to his ankle and he is subbed off. Its been Armada pressure for most of the second half as substitute Thabo Mbeha misses a left footed screamer past the right post, it looked like a certain goal but the curl takes it away. Ali Akhlaq makes way for the returning Bayley Brigg, evenmore more pressure builds up on KHR as they start to make the same mistakes that Armada was making in the first half. With Daniel Allen pushing forward he is able to send a nice ball in the air towards Lamine Mekideche who puts his head on hit, only to beat the keeper and leave him standing again. Thats his second within 45 minutes, the same as Viqas Yusaf. Armada definitely got hungry strikers that want to score goals.

Not much else to report on the last 15 minutes as KHR park the bus and it becomes difficult for Armada to break down the KHR defence, a small opportunity opens for Mohammed Siddig in the 84 minute but he can't steer the ball into the back of the net.

So, the new striker Lamine Mekideche scores 2 goals on his debut, the striker has opened his account nicely and even though their wasn't a win today, the fact that our new striker scored twice on his debut signals the battle for the first spot.