No Letting Up for Dominant Glassgirls!

A crowd of 172 watched on in the War Memorial Ground sunshine as the Glassgirls put bottom-of-the-table Long Eaton United to the sword to extend their winning run to eight League games, although the visitors earned some reward for their persistence throughout the game as they became the first team to find a way past the Stour defence at home in over a year.

Manager Andy Fisher felt it was a well-earned win, but was quick to give credit to opposition who belied their lowly placing with a battling display.

“First of all, credit to them. I know that’s easy to say, but they really worked hard. It’s tough for them at the moment, they’re not getting the results and they’re being beaten week-in, week-out, but they’ve not stopped running, so I want to give credit to them and their management team.

“It was one of those games. It was done by half time. When you’re 6-0 up it’s hard to then come out second half and keep the momentum that we had first half. I though first half the play was great. We made a lot of changes and rotation after the three games in eight days and with one eye on the FA Cup, so I think it was what we expected.”

With the busy workload, there were five changes to the starting eleven from Wednesday night’s game against Wem Town, including first League starts for Sarah Hazell and Thea Clearkin, while Amber Lawrence returned to the bench after missing the last three games.

Whilst a glut of goals may have been expected by some, the game didn’t necessarily follow that pattern, even after the Glassgirls took a 6th minute lead through MILL ROGERS, following up to nod in on the line after Laura Setchfield had done well to parry Hazell’s shot.

Setchfield had already produced a fine save to claw away Esme Moran’s header a minute earlier, and denied Rogers a second almost from the re-start, tipping the striker’s goal-bound shot onto the crossbar. And Rogers was equally frustrated on 12 minutes as another shot cannoned back off the same bar after Setchfield had smothered at the feet of Hazell.

But there was no stopping Stour on 18 minutes as the ball pinged around the Long Eaton six yard box before LYNDSEY GLOVER finally managed to hammer it into the back of the net to double the lead, and ROGERS then made up for her previous misfortunes three minutes later as she chased down Clearkin’s through ball to fire past Setchfield.

Meg Hadley went close as she got away down the left and flashed a cross shot wide of the far post, before SARAH HAZELL grabbed her first goal for Stourbridge as she followed up her own shot to knock the ball home after another good save by the luckless Setchfield.

Within a minute it was five, as GLOVER ran onto another defence-splitting pass and picked her spot past Setchfield, and the former Wolves player completed a first half hat-trick as she headed home from Hadley’s pinpoint cross two minutes from the break.

With the points safe, Fisher introduced Lawrence, Deasy and Alex Nicklin from the bench, but if anything the changes seemed to interrupt Stour’s flow, and they found it hard to open up a determined Long Eaton back line. The visitors, meanwhile, might have done better when a poor touch from Evie Jowett allowed Amie Preston the chance to fall on the ball, and then again when Jowett’s effort from distance was off target.

Stour began to exert themselves again as the game entered the last 20 minutes. Keren Allen somehow bustled her way through before firing across the face of goal, Sophie Heaselgrave saw her shot comfortably saved by Millie Smith – who had replaced Setchfield at the break – and Smith then did well to save from Deasy.

But it was Long Eaton who finally managed to break what had become a relative goal drought, as Ella Brennan produced a peach of a finish to loft a shot over Preston and into the far corner from 20 yards with 17 minutes to play.

It only served to waken Stourbridge from their slumbers, however, and they would add four more goals in the time that remained, with NIAMH DEASY taking centre stage.

First she capitalised on a great run by Nicklin to turn the cross in at the far post, then Nicklin again was the provider with a ball over the Long Eaton defence to leave DEASY one-on-one with Smith, an opportunity she was not going to spurn, and then it was Lawrence’s turn to create an identical chance for DEASY which inevitably ended the same way to give the striker an eight-minute hat-trick and her eleventh goal in nine matches so far this season.

The scoring was completed three minutes from time as a corner was half-cleared to Nicklin on the edge of the area, and her shot was cleverly diverted past the stranded Smith by ESME MORAN.

(Photo - Anthony Dunn)

Stourbridge line-up

Amie Preston, Jess Bate, Meg Hadley (Alex Nicklin HT), Sophie Heaselgrave, Keren Allen, Thea Clearkin, Angie Morley (Ellie McGovern 60), Esme Moran, Lyndsey Glover (Amber Lawrence HT), Sarah Hazell (Sophie Levick 60), Millie Rogers (Niamh Deasy HT).