News & EventsLatest NewsCalendar
Stourbridge 1 -1 Altrincham - Report

Stourbridge 1 -1 Altrincham - Report

Nigel Gregg10 Apr 2018 - 22:53
Share via
FacebookTwitter
https://www.stourbridgefc.com/

STOURBRIDGE produced a herculean defensive showing to clinch a prized point against top of the table Altrincham (READ ON)

STOURBRIDGE produced a herculean defensive showing to clinch a prized point against top of the table Altrincham on a wet night at the War Memorial Athletic Ground with steady rain falling throughout.

Having survived an early let-off when Alty defender Tom Hannigan lifted a good chance over in front of goal following a left- wing corner by Johnston, the Glassboys went onto shock the leaders by taking a 12th minute lead when Luke Benbow netted direct from a sublime free kick.

Chris Gallagher threatened to weave his way through Alty's defence only to be tripped by defender James Jones on the edge of the box and Benbow duly stepped up to curl the ball home from 20 yards.

Altrincham were forced into a reshuffle after losing Andy White with a cut to his head near his eye before Benbow was booked on 27 minutes for his challenge on sub Chris Merrie, which saw the home striker appear to come off worse.

Tom Tonks dribbled forward after 34 minutes and after he was eventually halted in his tracks, the ball broke to Nicu Carnat, who had celebrated his 20th birthday the day before, but he couldn’t mark the occasion with a goal as his drive flew over.

Another free-kick from just outside the box from Benbow curled over the bar with 38 minutes gone and then seven minutes later Benbow worked room for a rising shot that drew a good save from Thompson away to his left.

It looked as though Altrincham would level on the stroke of half time when former Salford City striker Jordan Hulme finally pierced Stourbridge's stubborn defence to fasten on to the ball from Merrie, but he lobbed his effort over Gould and drop the wrong side of the post.

Altrincham upped their game after the break and soon began to peg the home side back. Stourbridge got 10 men behind the ball every time the Robins threatened and effectively snuffed out the visitors for a long time with defenders Darryl Westlake and Stuart Pierpoint in fabulous form.

Tom Peers flashed a shot from a tight angle beyond the far post on 55 minutes and then Shaun Densmore combined well with Johnston only to see his effort well blocked by Broadhurst. Peers then had a better sight of goal but struck his low shot straight at Gould.
Peers threatened again with 65 minutes gone as the frontrunner exchanged passes with Densmore before sending a shot wide.

Stourbridge made their first change two minutes later with Lewis McPike providing some fresh legs in place of the weary Tonks.

A sudden counter attack on 70 minutes saw Stourbridge go desperately close to a second goal when Westlake broke down the right and saw his angled shot deflect off goalkeeper Thompson and continue towards goal, only for Jones to get back and boot off the line.
Stourbridge's dogged defending finally ran out of luck when Pierpoint was judged to have brought down Simon Richman as he drove into the right-hand side of the box with referee Simon Brown pointing to the penalty spot on the say so of his assistant that side with a quarter of an hour remaining.

Glassboys goalkeeper Matt Gould pulled out all the stops to save Johnston's penalty away to his left, but the ball rebounded back out for Josh Hancock to level to level matters when he fired the ball back with a first time shot.

Stourbridge made two changes in quick succession as Shearer replaced Cooke followed soon afterwards by Hague taking over striking duties from Benbow.

Shearer cut in from the right and tested Thompson with a shot that was safely clutched by the keeper, while at the other end Johnston struck a shot past the post.

Stourbridge continued to defend resolutely until the final whistle to secure a hard earned point that was merited for their battling display against a side that they had lost 4 – 1 away to only a month or so earlier.

Stourbridge: Gould; Westlake, Birch, McCone, Pierpoint, Cooke (Shearer 76), Tonks (McPike 67), Broadhurst, Benbow (Hague 79), Gallagher, Carnat.

Subs not used: Antonio, Collingridge.

Further reading