Glassgirls Edge Closer!

Two goals in each half were enough to see off a dogged home side as the Glassgirls went to the top of the table for the first time since October, and with rivals Sutton Coldfield Town dropping two points in a 1-1 draw at City of Stoke, Andy Fisher’s side now need three wins from their remaining four fixtures to be crowned Champions.

But the win came at a potential cost, with striker Cheryl Edwards (pictured adding the second goal) suffering an ankle injury that may curtail her involvement in the closing weeks of the season, although early indications are that the damage is not as severe as first feared.

“We’re not looking any further ahead than the next match,” was Fisher’s post-match assessment. “We have Lichfield down at the War Memorial next Sunday and that’s as tough a game as we could have next up. They’ve had a really good season, and for me they are very much still in the hunt, so we need to be at our best.

“Kiddy made life very difficult today, scrapped for everything, and never rolled over. Any win at this stage is a big win, so we’re just happy with the points. We’ve seen what they did against Lichfield, and then Stoke getting a result today against Sutton, and if anything that should put us even more on our guard. These results can happen at the end of a long season and that’s something we mustn’t lose sight of.”

Stourbridge took the game to the Harriers from the start and were ahead with just seven minutes played. A long ball from Niamh Murphy seemed to carry little danger, but Vicky Hyde’s back-pass was slightly underhit, allowing MILLIE ROGERS to nip in and poke past Bec Thomas in the home goal.

Stour continued to press, with Thomas twice saving well from Edwards, and Rogers seeing a header come back off the post in between times, but there was also a warning shot at the other end as Thomas’s clearance was allowed to bounce and Dani Selmes swivelled to pull her shot not far wide of goal.

That apart, Amie Preston and the Glassgirls defence were relatively comfortable as Stour went to work at the other end, with Carly Aldred flashing a shot wide, and Edwards forcing another good save.

But EDWARDS got her reward just after the half hour, as a ball into the box wasn’t dealt with and she was first to react to fire low past Thomas and double the Glassgirls’ lead with her 23rd goal and the team’s 100th League goal of the campaign.

Sadly that proved to be the striker’s final contribution of the afternoon as she went down in evident pain after an innocuous challenge, and it was quickly clear that she would not be playing any further part in the game.

The rest of the half was largely incident-free, until added time, when Rogers floated in a free kick from the right which Keren Allen headed narrowly wide of the far post.

But Stourbridge didn’t have to wait long for a third goal after the break, as Aldred burst away down the right and her low cross was diverted into her own net by the unfortunate Molly Maguire.

With the home side’s hopes of a comeback effectively ended, it was no surprise when the Glassgirls added a fourth on 54 minutes. Aldred was again involved, and when Amber Lawrence laid the ball off to ELLIE McGOVERN the midfielder wasted no time in arrowing the goal of the game into the top corner.

It seemed to be a question of how many Stour might add in the closing half hour or more, but to their credit Kiddy stuck to the task and although several chances went begging, Thomas was equal to anything that Stourbridge could get on target, most notably getting down well to save from Bown.

Kiera Scarlett might have picked up a goal as the youngster put in another impressive performance, and Louisa Butcher brought out a good save from Thomas, tipping over a speculative shot, whilst Murphy fired over from the resulting corner in the Glassgirls best chances of the closing stages.

Stour now lead the table by two points from Lichfield, and with a game in hand, whilst Sutton are a further two points adrift having played the same number of matches.

The Glassgirls play their final home game against LICHFIELD CITY at the War Memorial Ground next Sunday, 1st May. Kick-off is at 2pm and it would be fantastic to see a large crowd in for what will be the final chance to see football at Stourbridge this season.

Tickets are now available at the following link…

https://stourbridgefc.ktckts.com/brand/match-tickets

(Photo – Paul Rose)

STOURBRIDGE LINE-UP

Amie Preston, Jess Bate, Ruby Meeson, Niamh Murphy, Keren Allen, Ellie McGovern, Esme Moran, Carly Aldred, Amber Lawrence, Millie Rogers, Cheryl Edwards.

SUBSTITUTES

Louisa Butcher, Macey Turvey, Keira Scarlett, Lili-Beth Bown (all used), Meg Hadley (not used).