Yesterday afternoon saw us reunited with our old ‘friends’ at Kings Lynn Town, who now play their football in the National League North, as they visited Amblecote in the FA Trophy.

We were forced into four changes from last Saturday’s draw away against Royston with Aaron Forde unavailable, Joel Shambrook unable to play due to his loan agreement, Jessy Bavanganga was on the bench after picking up a knock and Brad Bood cup tied after appearing in the Trophy earlier on in the season for AFC Telford United. As a result, Jack Fletcher, Harvey Portman, Brendon Daniels and Jack Wilson all returned to the starting eleven.

We started the game as we meant to go on, with a chance within the first five minutes as Brendon Daniels sent a freekick into the box where Charlie Dowd was on hand to flick it goalwards but it went into the keepers arms.

Niall Flint, who was playing right back in the absence of Joel Shambrook, was involved soon after when Billy Jones looked to drive down the left. Flint recovered really well to make a challenge to deny the cross into the box before he won a freekick which allowed us to clear the ball up the pitch.

Luke Benbow had the next opening just before the 20 minute mark as he flicked the ball over his man before firing across the face of goal but it went narrowly wide.

He went for the spectacular again moments later as he tried to score his second over head kick of the season but it turned into more of a pass which reached Dowd at the back post. He looked to square it across goal but it was cleared for a corner which was eventually defended well by the visitors.

Following the corner, Kings Lynn looked to counter attack and found themsleves in our box but hesitation from the striker allowed Fletcher to recover and put in a challenge before Charlie Price made sure there was no danger by tipping it around his post. The resulting corner was headed away by Flint as we looked to push back up the pitch.

Kings Lynn looked to show some of their National League North quality as the half progressed but Price held a shot from distance well before standing tall as Kian Ronan found himself 1v1 with our number one before trying to dink it over him, but Price claimed it easily.

We thought we had found an opener on 34 minutes as Daniels' corner fell to Harvey Portman in the box who poked it home but it was judged to have hit Benbow in an offside position on its way into the net meaning it was ruled out by the linesman.

The final real action of the first half saw Flint booked as he looked to deny a quick break by the visitors, but nothing came from the freekick which followed.

Half Time: Stourbridge 0-0 Kings Lynn Town

Kings Lynn looked to start the second half well and would have the first opening of the half 5 minutes in but the effort was well wide of the target.

It wouldn’t take long for us to restablish our rhythm as Dowd found himself with time and space in the box but he took too long to get his shot off and was crowded out by a number of Kings Lynn defenders.

It wasn’t long until we did take the lead as Joel Kettle found himself with the ball on the wing before he crossed it deep into the box where it eventually fell to Brendon Daniels who turned and struck the ball on the half volley past the keeper to give us a deserved lead!

The visitors, who were becoming frustrated, looked to attack straight from kick off but Kettle was back in his natural habitat in our back line and put an end to the attack before they could create an oppportunity for themselves.

It would be us to strike again soon after when Alex Prosser doubled our lead! The keeper collected the ball and looked to counter attack quickly but his kick hit off Daniels’ and fell into Prosser’s path who finished calmly into an empty net to grab his second goal of the season.

We continued to look dangerous as we reached the edge of the area and Flint delivered a dangerous cross across the face of goal, but it deflected out for a corner which was headed away by a visiting defender.

Kings Lynn did think they had one back with just over 15 minutes left on the clock but similarly to our effort in the first half, it was ruled out for offside.

Our first change came in the 75th minute when Alfie Steward was brought on in place of goalscorer Brendon Daniels.

Price was called into action not long after and made his first outstanding save of the final period of the game. Fatadjo sent a powerful header across goal which looked destined for the top corner but Price was equal to it, tipping it over the crossbar at full stretch to keep us 2-0 up!

We had an opportunity to add a third when King won a freekick in midfield which was sent into the box by Prosser. It reached King who headed it down towards Benbow who opted to take a touch instead of just striking it goalwards and it was deflected over the bar by an oncomign defender.

Our second change came as Charlie Dowd, who had put in an immense performance, was replaced by Darryl Knights.

Kings Lynn would get a goal back moments later to make for a nervy end to the game as a low cross into our box evaded our back four and Josh Coulson was on hand to finish well into the bottom corner.

Our higher level opposition were certainly applying some pressure following their first goal with 5 minutes left on the clock.

They sent a dangerous freekick into the box which we dealt with well before another freekick was fired wide.

Our man of the match Charlie Price then made his next outstanding save of the afternoon when Bart found himself 1v1 against Price following some good work by Coulston but he made himself big and denied the striker of the leveller.

We eventually managed to clear our lines with a driving run forwards by Fletcher who then found Benbow. Rather than go for goal, our striker took the ball to the corner flag and managed to hold it there for most of the time remaining - reducing the growing pressure on our goal before the referee blew for full time.

Full Time: Stourbridge 2-1 King’s Lynn Town

After surviving a late onslaught by the visitors, Daniels and Prosser’s goals were enough to see us in the hat for the draw for the 3rd round proper. This fixture will take place on the 9th of December which means our scheduled home game against Needham Market will now be rearranged.

We now turn our attention back to the league as we host Long Eaton United for the first time this season on Tuesday evening - tickets for this game are on sale now.

A big thank you to JPM Insurance Broking Services who sponsored yesterday’s game. We appreciate your continued support and hope you enjoyed your afternoon with us!

Stourbridge: Price, Flint, Wilson, Prosser, Kettle, Portman, Dowd, King ©, Benbow, Fletcher, Daniels. Subs: Walters, Solly, Knights, Bavanganga, Steward

Kings Lynn Town: P. Jones, Crowther, McFadden ©, Oke, Ronan, B. Jones, Hargreaves, Morrison, Stephens, Rogers, Cybulski. Subs: Key, Coulson, Smith, Issacson, Fatadjo.