Following Tuesday night’s disappointing derby result, we came into today’s game needing to bounce back quickly to ensure we would be in the hat for the 3rd round qualifying of the FA Cup come Monday lunchtime.

Leon made three changes to the team from Tuesday night’s game as Brendon Daniels, Dexter Walters and Jack Wilson started with Harvey Portman and Stanely Obinna Anaebonam dropping to the bench, whilst Aaron Forde was ruled out through injury following his sensational goal-line clearance against Halesowen.

Following a minute's applause in memory of Stephen Mantle and a change of ends we got the game underway on an overcast September day in Amblecote as we welcomed Northern Premier League side Matlock Town to the WMG.

We started the game brightly, winning a few corners within the opening five minutes however they were all cleared without causing too much trouble in the Gladiators box. Brendon Daniels then had the first real chance of the afternoon as Reece King brought the ball down on the edge of the box where he found Daniels who struck the ball on the volley but it thundered off the top of the crossbar.

It wouldn’t take much longer for us to break the deadlock though as some good work from Jack Wilson eventually saw the ball fall to Alex Prosser who was waiting at the back post. He tried his luck as he smashed the ball towards Saul Deeney’s near post and his powerful strike left him with no chance as it flew through his hands!

Matlock looked to get back into the game almost instantly as they broke down the right however Charlie Price was on hand to collect the ball. They then broke through our lines again not long after but Jessy Bavanganga was on hand to put the ball out for a corner before the cross could come in.

The initial corner was taken short and the took a deflection on its way to the goal giving the visitors another chance to cause problems from a set piece however we defended the second corner well which saw us push back up the pitch.

Our next opportunity came from one of the best footballing moments of the afternoon! Wilson found himself under pressure not far out of our box but he managed to skip past two oncoming Matlock players before playing it to King. He then linked up well with Prosser before playing Walters down the wing who beat his marker before firing a dangerous cross goalwards but Niall Flint could only fire his effort back across goal as it fell to him at the back post.

Prolific goalscorer Jonny Margetts, who had scored 9 in 12 prior to yesterday’s game, was being well-martialled by Bavaganga and Kettle but had his only clear-cut opportunity of the game around the half-hour mark. He managed to turn inside our defence before curling a left footed shot goalwards but it hit the bar and went out for a goal-kick.

We continued to apply pressure and enjoyed several opportunities from set pieces, however the visitors dealt with them well, and Deeney claimed one such opportunity expertly which was heading towards Kettle who was waiting at the back post.

Matlock also had an opportunity of their own from a corner as Margetts had a difficult effort from distance deflected wide but King was on hand to head the ball away before it could cause any problems in our area.

The last real action from the first half came as Matlock advanced into our area before having penalty shouts waved away by the referee. He then had words with the away bench who weren’t happy with his decision, and Martin Carruthers found himself in the book following his second chat with the referee of the afternoon.

Half time: Stourbridge 1-0 Matlock Town

Similarly to the first half, we started brightly with Prosser forcing Deeney into a great save just two minutes in before Walters won a freekick just outside the box not long after. Daniels delivered the freekick into the box but it was cleared for a corner which came to nothing.

Matlock began to apply more pressure as they sent a dangerous freekick across the face of the goal but it hit one of our players rather than fall into the path of the oncoming attackers and eventually went out for a corner which we defended well.

Both teams were looking for success on the counterattack but found themselves denied by the linesman’s flag with us breaking through the middle of the park as Daniels looked for Benbow who was judged to be offside before McNicholas looked to thread Reece Styche through however a last-ditch tackle would have prevented him advancing even if the flag hadn’t gone up.

That was the former Glassboy's final action of the afternoon as he was replaced not long after by Harry Wakefield

Wakefield looked to make an instant impact but an impressive recovery run from Flint allowed him to make a brilliant slide tackle to stop him advancing, and he even managed to hold onto the ball which allowed him to clear our lines and relieve some pressure on our back line.

Man of the match Joel Shambrook then did well to drive us forward after he regained possession and he expertly found Daniels in the middle of the park but the flag went up as he sent a through ball towards Benbow.

A double substitution followed not long after as Dexter Walters and Brendon
Daniels were replaced by Darryl Knights and Stanley Obinna Anaebonam.

Stanley was involved almost instantly as we looked for him to mount a counter-attack and his cross was well left by Knights which saw it reach Benbow in the middle of the box but his powerful strike cannoned off the post.

It wouldn’t be long until our number 9 found the back of the net as Knights picked him out in a similar position and he turned his man before smashing it past Deeney to double our advantage with 15 minutes left to play.

A short lapse in concentration following the goal allowed Matlock to have a half chance however Price wasn’t going to be beaten with the effort at his near post and he held it well before sending the ball back up the pitch.

Matlock’s send sub happened not long after as Andrew Wright replaced Olly Clark before we also turned to our bench as Jack Fletcher replaced Niall Flint.

As the clock ticked into the final minutes, we continued to push forward with Benbow seeing an effort go just over the bar before Stan managed to beat two players before breaking into the box but his shot went out for a throw-in.

The referee indicated there would be five minutes of added time which was enough time to see Matlock send a cross into the box where King would head upwards rather than out however Price claimed it well. Stan had our last opening of the afternoon shortly before the full-time whistle but his header was wide of the target.

The game finished 2-0 thanks to Prosser and Benbow’s goals with some very good defending seeing us keep a clean sheet for the first time since our trip to Berkhamsted which sees us in the hat for the 3rd round qualifying of the FA Cup, with the draw expected to take place on Monday lunchtime.

We now prepare for a tough trip to Lincolnshire next Saturday where we face a strong AFC Stamford who currently sit 10th after getting promoted into step 3 at the end of last season.

Stourbridge FC: Charlie Price, Joel Shambrook, Jack Wilson, Alex Prosser, Joel Kettle, Jessy Bavanganga, Niall Flint, Reece King ©, Luke Benbow, Brendon Daniels, Dexter Walters. Subs: Darryl Knights, Leo Wood, Harry Lewis, Jack Fletcher, Stanley Obinna Anaebonam, Harvey Portman, Lewis Solly

Matlock Town: Saul Deeney, Robbie McNicholas, Joe West, Olly Clark, Ioan Evans, George Wilkinson, John Johnston ©, Josh Barnes, Reece Styche, Jonny Margetts, Nat Crofts. Subs: Harry Wakefield, Andrew Wright, Jamie Sharman, Myles Wright