STAFFORD TOWN 1-3 BROMSGROVE SPORTING: light-hearted match report by The Mowdog...

Scurrying Sporting’s Steely Speed Sees Seething Stafford Slump…

Stafford Town 1-3 Bromsgrove Sporting

Bromsgrove began in a hurry. And never stopped. Utilising what appeared to be three centre-backs, with the inclusion of Sam Delaney, and Will Tibbetts seemingly attacking as a free agent, the Rouslers fashioned a number of chances and it was a surprise that only three were taken. Josh McKenzie was the focus of the offense and he weighed in with a brace of goals, Tibbetts deservedly grabbing the other. Home midfielder Grant Winwood, one Winwood who was not part of the Spencer Davis Group, was all meat and beard and he attempted to force some steel, stoutness and scariness into his own team, bellowing lots of things at his colleagues like ‘Keep On Running’ and other orders starting with the ‘f’ word mostly, but he exemplified what he wanted from Stafford: heart and effort. Both goalkeepers made errors, both conceding from them, but on a cold Evans Park evening, the players kept the generally watchable contest rumbling on until the bitter end. Fewer Bromsgrove supporters had made the journey than usual, I am certain, possibly resulting from the team’s two recent, damaging defeats but there was a fresher look about their ‘bare bones’ line-up and although Town battled hard, they were well beaten, in truth. 

Let the activities begin...

Sporting looked lively from the start but on their first foray forward, Stafford nearly scored. Richard Greaves robbed Rousler Scott Smith, fed Adam Cunningham, whose centre from inside-left looped over Sam Delaney’s head and only a shoulder-charge by Jack Wilson and a brave fall at the feet of home skipper Morgan Hurley by Rousler ‘keeper Jake Bedford saved the day. Almost immediately, the Bromsgrove net-minder prevented nippy Town striker Craig Hulme from scoring at the near post, following a cross by the impressive Greaves, but Hurley was unable to capitalise. Incredibly, Sporting attacked down their left through Wilson, home goalie Chris Marques attempted to deal with the subsequent long pass but missed the flight of the ball and there was McKenzie to finish into a gaping net from an angle and Sporting led. 

0-1: McKenzie has netted for Bromsgrove...

McKenzie soon did well on the right flank but the move fizzled out, before a Tibbetts free-kick was cleared for a left-wing corner but when the flag-kick was knocked out to him, Jack Wilson fired a shot horribly wide. A free-kick to Stafford was well thought-out though, Hurley deciding not to shoot but feed Nathan Cooper, who had slipped into a channel on his right but the midfielder failed to shoot on target from a promising position.  

James Cresswell looked uncomfortable, no doubt hurt, for Town and he was soon replaced by James Price, but his welcome included being forced to watch a silly scuffle, as Sean Brain of Sporting and home left-back Greaves became embroiled in a playground hustle, surrounded by pushing friends and lots of nasty words like “Dolt…”, “Silly fellow…” and “Gosh…” Brain and Greaves were duly cautioned, for the officials simply had to punish a couple of the combatants, of course… The officials were certainly proving unpopular for the home followers, who vented their fury near me, but Bromsgrove attacked soon afterwards and it almost looked as though Tibbetts AND McKenzie kicked the ball goalwards at the same time, a low, trundling effort, which Marques had real trouble in ushering away as he floundered on the turf. Marques conceded a corner on the Sporting right, as he smothered the ball away from Brain, but Scott Smith’s powerful header from the flag-kick was too high. 

A problem on Damson Wood Infants School playground, perhaps...

Quite remarkably, it was an accurate left-side centre from Greaves, which brought a surprise equaliser for the hosts. Bedford, under no pressure at all, no jumping needed, simply mishandled the cross and fumbled the ball towards the far post, where Cooper lurked to fire a low and simple finish into the gaping net. Bedford was crestfallen, curling up like a hedgehog fearing a fox, inside his 6 yard box. Cooper, however, was rather pleased…

A whole lotta marking going on...

1-1 and Cooper, in the distance has equalised for Stafford...

It wasn’t long before Wilson made a strong run for Bromsgrove, left of centre and Reece Hewitt’s low drive towards the near post was saved, but spilled by Marques, right into the path of the predatory Tibbetts, who gleefully restored his team’s lead from a central position, a few yards out. 

Looks like an UFO has been sighted...

Tibbetts has edged Bromsgrove into a 1-2 lead...

More Bromsgrove attacking, through Reece Hewitt and Wilson on the left, ended when Brain cut inside and drove wastefully high but Stafford countered when Hulme’s left-wing cross was headed clear by Delaney but only to Cooper who took a 20 yard potshot, which rose well over the visitors’ crossbar. McKenzie, showing strength on the ball, worked a shooting opportunity at inside-right but Marques fell right to shuffle the low effort wide for a left-wing corner, which Tibbetts took short but Brain again wasted the offensive chance by firing well wide of the left upright, with the words of a coach reverberating around the ground, something to the tune of “…playing for the team…” Wilson, beginning to relish the freedom of left wingback, set up Tibbetts for an angled shot inside the penalty-box but Marques did well to block the shot, possibly with a shoulder. At the opposite end, Hurley managed to get to the right byeline but drove his cross straight at Bedford, who was covering his near post.

Winwood, bearded, one knee, displays the fight...

After some lax Bromsgrove defending, Hulme powered a good 19 yard shot, which was acrobatically turned over the goal-frame by the leaping Bedford, before a decent pass by Winwood led to a side-foot volley by Cooper, who was unmarked, due to the lack of a usual left-back, which Bedford clutched, falling left, like he wasn’t allowing anybody to have one of his Easter eggs. A promising free-kick position for the guests ended when the ball was played backwards by Wilson and thus possession was duly surrendered. Before the interval, Chris Duggan, the right wingback for Sporting, who had been underused, got across to the left to deny the opposition with a fine challenge and the referee blew his whistle to signal the opening half’s end. 

Hulme had always been busy for the hosts and the vociferous, sturdy presence of Winwood had usually been seen and heard, but the busy Tibbetts and the foraging McKenzie in the Bromsgrove attack had proved to be very threatening to the battling home defence. The evening became colder, the sky clearer and Sporting kept up the pace after the break. The second period began with Stafford’s replacement of Hurley by Seth Ellis.

Josh McKenzie, right, impressed for Bromsgrove much of the time...

The pattern of play remained the same, with Bromsgrove’s offense rushing at the Town defensive zones like wasps at a jam sandwich and Wilson was proving to be a good outlet on the left, when he ushered himself into those wider positions. He struck a fine delivery from the flank onto the inside of the upper regions of the right post, leaving Marques scurrying, tarrying and worrying but the visitors didn’t have too long to wait before the third and devastating goal went in. It came from a left-flank Hewitt centre, Brain was involved, jumping with Tom Vaughan and the ball ran loose towards the right stick, wrong-footing Price, where the looming presence of McKenzie hovered to smash it into the roof of the net from 3 yards or so, with spectacular venom, over the totally helpless covering and sliding Marques.

1-3: McKenzie again...

McKenzie maybe had thoughts of a hat-trick rattling through his brain when he received the ball from a left-wing throw and cut inside, only to sky his attempted cross-shot. A long, unchecked Wilson run ended with a poke past Marques AND the left upright, Brain missed the target again, then fired another shot straight at Marques. Bedford then became involved in a chaotic few seconds, as the hosts attempted to mount some offense of their own. On the ground, like he was rehearsing a mud-wrestling free-for-all on a beach in Marbella, he managed to slither and stop a low centre from the right by Cooper, but lost possession, rolled about, dived and pushed the ball away from the foraging feet of Hulme, then won it back off Smith’s unsuspecting shins and finally held on. Marques, on the other hand, showed a clean pair of hands to catch a delicate, smart left-side centre by Rousler skipper Scott Smith. Chris Conway replaced Brain for Bromsgrove, Wilson was involved again as Hewitt made a run but shot straight at the grateful Marques, then Cooper was replaced for the hosts by Jake Turner.

Life's hard in the trenches...

Hulme shot wastefully wide for Town, Ross Dempster replaced the tireless Tibbetts for Sporting, who seemed to have relished his role on the night, before Conway cut inside from the right, saw his angled effort blocked but not held by Marques and Dempster’s close range rebound effort deflected off the ‘keeper for a corner. Danny Ludlow replaced Wilson, who had put in a decent shift for the team but it was the tall and industrious Red, Tom Vaughan who threatened next, with a 26 yard drive and Bedford seemed aware of his earlier handling error, as he demonstratively batted the ball away, falling to his left. Dempster lifted another close-range near post effort too high off a defender, twice, from McKenzie’s work and feed from the right byeline, a Bromsgrove corner was cleared for McKenzie to shoot from 19 yards but Marques’ handling was sound under his crossbar, then the referee brought the match to an end.

After the third Bromsgrove substitution, Stafford attempted to push forward more, to their credit, but in the end, with Conway and Dempster supporting McKenzie and each other well, Bromsgrove finished the stronger of the two outfits. Craig Jones, Delaney and Smith were not too taxed on the night in the Sporting defence and the recent pair of defeats were, to some extent, put to the backs of minds. Stafford looked dangerous a few times early on and whenever Hulme was involved, but were soundly defeated on the night.

I drove back to Solihull via the M6 and became involved in a maddening crawl where two lanes were closed around Junction 6. I am a patient person but one hate of mine involves motorway signs which read: “Workforce In Road…” after attending soccer games. It would surely be more helpful to footy travellers to begin the work at 11pm? Or am I being totally selfish? I don’t care if I am, actually. Anyway, I enjoyed my bowl of Weetabix before bed. 

It’s what I do… 

Teams:

Stafford Town:  Chris Marques, James Cresswell, Richard Greaves; Andy Dodd, Ben Skelton, Grant Winwood; Morgan Hurley, Nathan Cooper, Adam Cunningham, Craig Hulme, Tom Vaughan.

Subs: James Price, Seth Ellis, Chris Alderson, Jake Turner. 

Bromsgrove Sporting:  Jake Bedford, Chris Duggan, Jack Wilson; Scott Smith (Capt), Craig Jones, Sam Delaney; Will Tibbetts, Reece Hewitt, Sean Brain, Josh McKenzie, Lewis Clarke.

Subs: Danny Ludlow, Chris Conway, Ross Dempster, Sam Wills.