There was two changes to the squad from Tuesday night as Luke Benbow was out through illness and Jack Fletcher also wasn’t named in the 16-man squad. Harvey Portman came in for Jessy Bavanganga in the back four with Brendon Daniels leading the line. Aaron Forde also came into the midfield, with Harry Lewis and Marvellous among the subs.

We started brightly, asking questions of the Barwell defence from kick off and Dexter Walters had the first opportunity of the game but he saw his shot go just wide. Barwell caught us on the counter not long after but the shot was lifted over Charlie Price’s goal and well out of the ground.

We continued to look dangerous with Daniels sending a free kick into the box towards Harvey Portman who couldn’t quite direct his header goalwards. Some good play from Forde saw him beat two men and lay Prosser off who managed to find Shambrook out wide but his cross was well over everyone in the box.

The pressure was building on the Barwell goal as we has a freekick on the edge of the box which was taken by Daniels. There was a couple of half chances from his delivery before it fell to Forde who hit a powerful volley straight at Kyle Rowley. We had handball shouts waved away before Forde was booked for something he said.

Barwell enjoyed the next attack as they broke quickly into our half but Jack Wilson was on hand in the box to make a great challenge and Niall Flint arrived at the right time to block the resulting shot, allowing us to clear our lines.

We then broke the deadlock with Daniels getting his first goal of the afternoon as the clock hit the half-hour mark. A clever ball from Reece King split the Barwell defence and Daniels beat the defender to place it past the keeper and give us the lead!

Barwell began to react following the opening goal and Price was forced into a very good save at his near post which saw the rebound fall to the Barwell forward who fired a shot goalwards but the effort was blocked on the line;

We managed to break again quickly and earn a free kick after a foul prevented us from breaking into the box. Daniels stood over it, looking to double his tally for the afternoon, but his effort hit the top of the bar and out for a goal kick.

It wouldn’t take long for him to get a brace though as we turned into prime Barcelona in injury time as we worked our way into the final third through some lovely patterns of play and the ball finally fell to Daniels in the box who finished well past the stranded keeper!

Our second goal was the final action of a very bright first half display against a team who’d had an unbeaten start to the season!

Barwell started the second half brightly, putting pressure on our back line right from kick off. Portman was forced into a challenge out wide which saw him go into the book. A good freekick saw the ball reach Flanagan who saw his effort curl just over the bar.

We created the next real chance of the afternoon when the ball fell to Flint on the edge of the box but his shot hit two Barwell defenders on its way to goal and deflected out for a corner. Daniels stood over the corner but there was too much on it. Kettle managed to keep it in play at the back post but his attempt at crossing it back across goal saw it go out of play for a goal kick.

Barwell were persisting with the ball over the top for most of the second half but our back four stood up extremely well, meeting everything first to prevent any danger.

Walters was looking dangerous down the left hand side, with Jack Wilson also joining in on the attacks. He was bundled down in the box not long after the hour mark but nothing was given by the referee. Barwell broke quickly as the ball fell to them but Portman was able to prevent them advancing with a strong challenge just inside our half.

We continued to dominate in the wide areas, looking to create problems out wide with Daniels holding the ball up well to set the ball to King who found Flint in the channel but his cross was into the keepers hands.

We made three substitutions as the clock ticked down with Leo Wood, Harry Lewis and Darryl Knights coming on in place of Dexter Walters, Aaron Forde and Brendon Daniels.

The referee added 7 minutes on which was enough time for a handful of opportunities for us! Lewis saw an effort from just outside the box deflect just over the bar before King had a header cleared off the line. He was gifted another chance from the resulting corner but the keeper got a finger tip on it to divert it away from goal.

The whistle went not long after seeing us run out 2-0 winners following Daniels first half finishes, with us picking up another three points at the WMG! Our attention now turns to the bank holiday weekend where we travel to Berkhamsted on Saturday before we host Bromsgrove Sporting on Monday afternoon!

Stourbridge FC: Charlie Price, Joel Shambrook, Jack Wilson, Alex Prosser, Harvey Portman, Joel Kettle, Niall Flint, Reece King (C), Brendon Daniels, Aaron Forde, Dexter Walters. Subs - Jessy Bavanganga, Harry Lewis, Marvellous Onabirkhanlen, Leo Wood, Darryl Knights

Barwell FC: H.Griffiths, MJ.Kamara, J.Flanagan, G.Ward, K.Rowley, R.Freeman, B.Enoru, S.Kerr, T.Cursons, B.Hickey (C), M.Edwards. Subs - D.Brown-Hill, C.Lashley, D.Master, N.Reeves, M.Ngwa