Mickleover Sports 1 Stourbridge 2

...their Derbyshire hosts from the Evo-stik League Division One South.

A very strong swirling wind proved challenging for the players and both teams took some time to settle and get used to the conditions, which favoured the home side in the opening 45 minutes. Mickleover had the better chances to begin with. In the 10th minute, a poor clearance by George Washbourne led to the ball being threaded through to Simeon Oshoboke in the left channel area, but he blazed over. Two minutes later Oshoboke threatened again with a curling shot from the inside right position 20 yards out which flashed past Dean Coleman’s right-hand post. Stourbridge then had a let-off on 17 minutes as a deflected through pass from Warren Hatfield let in Oshoboke, but he was half-stopped by the Glassboys stopper just inside the box before Hatfield’s follow-up was blocked by Coleman’s shins. The visitors responded five minutes later with Luke Benbow laying the ball off to Drew Canavan on the right and his angled low shot deflected off Nico Degirolamo for a corner. Two minutes later Shaun Pendleton attacked down the left for the hosts and he took a return pass from Hatfield before whipping in a testing low cross that Coleman reached just ahead of Karl Demidh to keep Sports at bay. Stourbridge hit back and almost grabbed the lead in the 27th minute. Jamie Oliver drove purposely forward and then found Geddes who slipped a pass through to Canavan and his low shot beat Chris Martin in the Mickleover goal but Degirolamo got back to flick the ball off the line and over his own crossbar. The Glassboys attacked again ten minutes later to win a corner and Leon Broadhurst delivered in a flag-kick from the right that evaded Will Richards, but fell to Nathan Bennett at the back of the box. He hit his volley into the ground, however the ball bounced up invitingly for Ryan Rowe to get in a close range header that flew inches over. Two minutes before the break though it was Sports who broke the deadlock when a diagonal pass from Oshoboke saw Hatfield get in behind Aaron Drake and he slid the ball past Coleman and into the far bottom corner of the net from around 16 yards out.

Stourbridge needed to capitalise on the conditions after the re-start, but some early pressure came to nothing with two corners wasted. Instead the home side went close from their first flag-kick of the half on 50 minutes. The ball was only half-cleared to Robert Ritchie-Smith and he fizzed a shot over from the edge of the box. The visitors immediately responded with a 25-yard drive from Oliver drawing a diving save from Martin away to his left. In the 62nd minute though Coleman came to the rescue with an excellent stop to deny Hatfield. Kevin Grocott fed Ritchie-Smith and he delivered in a telling deep cross from the right that was met by the head of Hatfield, however Coleman made a superb reaction save to keep the ball out and when Oshoboke slipped the ball back to Hatfield, Coleman was also equal to his rushed shot. Instead two minutes later Stourbridge were back on level terms as Geddes intercepted a loose pass from Degirolamo and he quickly clipped a ball through that allowed Benbow to get away from Kyle Bryant and he side-footed the ball wide of Martin into the same bottom corner of the net that Hatfield had found earlier. The Glassboys pressed again on 66 minutes with a downward header from Rowe setting up Benbow for a low shot from the edge of the box that ran past Martin’s right-hand upright and six minutes later Martin produced an outstanding save to keep out a Rowe header after Washbourne had dug out a fine cross from the left, close to the corner flag. After a raft of changes, the visitors were twice denied by the ‘woodwork’ in a matter of minutes. In the 81st minute Benbow fed Geddes and following a swift interchange of passes between Geddes and Rowe inside the box, Rowe hooked the ball past Martin, but against the crossbar and then it was the turn of debutant Kyle Haynes to go close as he seized upon a loose ball and struck a 25-yard shot against the foot of Martin’s left-hand upright. Mickleover fought back though and a dangerous free-kick into the Glassboys box saw Jordan Fitzpatrick slice the ball and Degirolamo fired in a shot from a tight angle on the left-hand side of the box that Coleman blocked by his near post. A late push from the Glassboys led to Roly Agbor playing the ball into the path of Benbow, however his shot was parried by Martin, but three minutes into stoppage time a kick downfield by Coleman unhinged the Mickleover defence and a loose header back towards his own keeper by Ashley Grayson saw Rowe nip in ahead of Martin to be sent tumbling and the penalty award enabled Geddes to fire Stourbridge to victory with his successful conversion taking him to 14 goals this season and giving the Glassboys a tenth successive win.