Stourbridge 2 FC United of Manchester 1

Manager Gary Hackett made two changes from the midweek Cup win against Evesham, with Chris Knight and Peter Till coming in for Brian Smikle and Will Richards, and the Glassboys reverted to a 4-4-2 line-up as Kristian Ramsey-Dickson joined George Bowerman in attack.

Exodus Geohaghon headed well over from an early corner but, that effort apart, it was the visitors who had the better of the opening 20 minutes or so without creating too many scares in the home defence.

However, it was Stourbridge who drew first blood on 26 minutes. Kayelden Brown put George Bowerman away down the left flank, and his intelligent cut-back picked out Brown on the edge of the box. Despite being closed down, Brown was able to find a yard of space to fire a low shot into the bottom corner, perfectly placed to evade the dive of David Carnell in the FC United goal.

Buoyed by the goal, Stourbridge were now pressing the FC United further up the pitch and getting more of a foothold in the game. Ramsey-Dickson thought he had doubled the lead just five minutes later when Drew Canavan slid the ball into the inside left channel for the Stourbridge front-man to lift a shot beyond Carnell into the far corner. However, the assistant referee had raised his flag for what must have been a very tight offside call.

Undaunted by that set-back, the Glassboys continued to push forward and a second goal did come for Ramsey-Dickson on 37 minutes. Dean Coleman's long clearance was flicked on by Brown into Ramsey-Dickson's path and he made no mistake with a low shot into the far corner. Carnell managed to get his fingertips to the ball but was unable to divert it wide of goal.

The Red Rebels cam close to an equaliser on the verge of half-time when Frank Van Gils, who was a handful for the Stourbridge defence all afternoon, got his head to a corner only to see the ball drift wide of the far post.

FC United began the second period on the front foot but the first chance of the half could have seen the Glassboys extend their lead. Paul McCone broke up an attack and carried the ball out of defence before sending Bowerman away down the right, and when his cross came in it was McCone, having carried on his run, who rose but couldn't get enough on his header to get the ball on target.

Almost immediately, Knight was forced to clear a dangerous cross for a corner at the far post as FC United looked for a route back into the game.

On 69 minutes Coleman produced a fine one-handed save to keep out a right-foot effort from Greg Daniels that looked to be curling away from him and into the top corner, and was thankful to see McCone behind him clear the loose ball to safety.

Despite this close shave, the visitors weren't creating as many chances as they might have done until ten minutes from time when Tom Greaves, making his 100th appearance for FC United, halved the arrears, turning in Van Gils' low cross from the right.

Briefly the Glassboys seemed rattled and the visitors looked to pile on the pressure. With 84 minutes played, Van Gils again found himself in a good position but chose to shoot instead of passing, only to blaze the ball over the Church End crossbar.

That scare apart the Stourbridge defence dealt well with most that FC United could throw at them in the final stages, and might even have restored the two-goal cushion in added time as Brian Smikle played a clever ball in from the right to Josh Morgan-Parker, who mis-kicked when he perhaps should have done better and Jordan Fitzpatrick, following up, could only win a corner off a covering defender.

All round, another improved performance from the Glassboys who have now lost just one of their last ten games in all competitions. The result lifts Stourbridge up two places to 11th in the Premier Division table, just four points off the play-off places and with matches in hand on all the teams above them.

Today's game was watched by an impressive crowd of 1,444, boosted by a very healthy and vociferous travelling contingent. It is the first four-figure crowd for a League fixture at the War Memorial ground since February 1991, when 1,003 saw us beat Tamworth 2-0 in the Southern League Midland Division. Many thanks for your support!

Stourbridge: Coleman, Fitzpatrick, Ramsey-Dickson, McCone, Till, Brown (Smikle 65), Haynes, Geohaghon, Bowerman (Broadhurst 82), Canavan, Till (Morgan-Parker 84).

Unused substitutes: McPike, Hill (gk)

Attendance: 1,444.