Stourbridge 0 Arlesey Town 2

...who once they got their noses in-front did a very thorough job in containing the home side and in the end the Bedfordshire outfit might even have won by a wider margin as they also had a penalty saved late on.

On a blustery afternoon, Kayelden Brown caused the visitors defence some early problems with his strong running and ungainly stride, however it was Arlesey who made the better start overall in a surprisingly open first period. In the 6th minute Jonny McNamara played the ball through into the run of lively on-loan forward Jo N’Guessan, but as he was closed down quickly by Dean Coleman on the edge of his box, N’Guessan clipped the ball past the far post. N’Guessan was then twice denied by good blocks inside the area as Arlesey continued to threaten the Stourbridge goal. However the hosts responded in the 11 minute with Haynes threading a pass through into the path of Ryan Rowe on the right-hand side of the area, but he fired a low shot into the side-netting and then a minute later Sean Geddes played a measured through pass into Benbow who struck a low left-foot shot from the left-hand side of the box that was saved by Jack Bonham at his near post.
Possibly the Glassboys best chance of the afternoon came in the 14th minute when a first-time flick by Benbow from a Geddes pass played in Rowe on the right-hand side of the box, however he slipped his low angled shot past the far post. Instead it was the visitors who made the breakthrough on the half-hour mark with a well worked goal. James Hatch fed a short pass into N’Guessan who found Barry Hayles before spinning past Haynes to take a return pass and tucking away a low shot past Coleman. Stourbridge went in search of an equaliser and in the 36th minute Geddes clipped a pass into Leon Broadhurst before continuing his run to accept the ball back and he hit a shot that was diverted for a corner by Bonham. The resulting left-wing flag-kick from Geddes saw Will Richards get in a near post header that flew wide.

Two minutes into the second-half Arlesey might have doubled their advantage as Hayles pushed the ball through to N’Guessan, who was left one-on-one with Coleman, but he hurried his shot wide of the keeper’s right-hand post. After that the visitors were generally happy to pack the midfield and soak up the pressure, but look to counter swiftly when they could. Stourbridge were finding it increasingly hard to build up any real momentum although on 55 minutes Benbow worked room for a shot on the left-hand side of the area, however Bonham was able to save his low strike. The hosts made a double change after 60 minutes, but still they could not conjure up an equalising goal. With twenty minutes to go Jamie Oliver drilled in a 25-yard shot that drew a flying save from Bonham and four minutes later Brown played a pass inside from the left into the feet of Benbow before taking a return pass and shooting wide. Soon afterwards Geddes hit a 20-yard shot that Bonham got safely behind. With eight minutes remaining Arlesey could have secured victory after McNamara combined with Hayles down the right and as he drove into the box he was pulled down by Oliver to earn his side a penalty, however the spot-kick from N’Guessan was too close to Coleman who was able to parry the ball away. Three minutes later Benbow forced Bonham into another save with his attempt on goal, however in the 86th minute Arlesey made sure of the three points as Martel Powell sent over a cross for McNamara to get in a free header that Coleman blocked, but he could do nothing to prevent Hatch from burying the rebound. In stoppage time Nathan Bennett supplied a cross-field pass to Benbow and he powered in a shot that was parried by Bonham above his head shortly before the referee blew for full-time.