Glassgirls Power On as Belles are Downed!

A tight first half saw Meg Hadley’s (pictured) thunderbolt edge Stour in front, but it was the Glassgirls who went on to dominate much of the second period with Alex Nicklin and Lili-Beth Bown adding further goals.

Assistant Manager Mike Harris felt the result was well-earned.

“Brilliant result, great opposition, great place to play, so much history, but to put up a performance like that, to win the game well against a Donny side who haven’t lost here [in the League] since August last year is a phenomenal result, so yes, delighted.

“Against good teams you’ve got to score good goals! I don’t think they were going to give us anything for free today, but we’ve got special players who can give us special moments. We can’t expect to play the football we want to play all the time, and to be able to rely on players for quality moments is absolutely massive.

“It’s six games out of twenty-two. We’ve had a brilliant start but it’s a long season. The biggest thing is it’s not going to be about having a good eleven, it’s about having a good squad. There’s a long way to go, and we’ll just keep everybody grounded,”

Stourbridge were first to threaten with shots off target from Bown and Mill Rogers inside the first eleven minutes, while Belles tested Amie Preston with a couple of high balls into the box that the Glassgirls keeper claimed well, before Nicklin forced the first real save of the game, turning in the box and getting in a shot which Ellie Sharpe did well to push round the post.

The opening goal came on 33 minutes, and what a strike it was! Nicklin’s corner from the left was headed away but only to MEG HADLEY 25 yards out, who steadied herself before unleashing a first time volley that flew past the despairing dive of Sharpe.

The home side immediately hit back with a shot just wide before Niamh Deasy netted only to be flagged offside as she ran onto Rogers’s pass.

Zoe Clarke saw a curling effort comfortably held by Sharpe as the game entered first half stoppage time, but there was still time for Belles best opening of the game as Sophie Brown got the wrong side of the Glassgirls’ defence with Preston haring off her line to block the shot on the edge of the area.

A quiet start to the second half brought little goalmouth action until Deasy fired over from Lyndsey Glover’s pull-back on 56 minutes, but from there Stour really got into their stride. Glover’s corner was met by Nicklin with a shot that lacked sufficient power to trouble Sharpe, but there was no mistake soon after when Deasy’s ball over the defence saw ALEX NICKLIN run on unchallenged to thump a volley past Sharpe and into the top corner.

With 20 minutes to play, Stour all but wrapped up proceedings with a third goal. Rogers harried the home defence yet again, before chipping a cross over for LILI-BETH BOWN to place a perfectly cushioned header beyond Sharpe.

Sophie Heaselgrave came very close to a first ever Stourbridge goal with a far post header just wide from another Nicklin flag kick, whilst at the other end Halima Essa rolled a shot wide of Preston’s far post after a flowing move.

Sharpe was in action again with seven minutes remaining, producing a fine save to deny Glover one-on-one, before a couple of last-ditch blocks again prevented Belles from grabbing a consolation, and then Hadley almost doubled her own tally, striding forward before shooting into the side-netting from 20 yards.

The win keeps Stourbridge two points clear of Solihull Moors at the top of the table, but with three matches coming up in eight days starting next Sunday there is plenty of opportunity for things to change!

Stourbridge line-up

Amie Preston, Meg Hadley, Zoe Clarke, Sophie Heaselgrave, Sophie Levick, Ellie McGovern, Alex Nicklin (Jess Bate 82), Esme Moran (Lyndsey Glover HT), Lili-Beth Bown (Sarah Hazell 72), Millie Rogers (Angie Morley 75), Niamh Deasy (Keren Allen 67).