Skelmersdale United 1 Stourbridge 2

Manager Gary Hackett made two changes to the eleven that fell to a narrow defeat at Ilkeston last Monday night, as he looked for more defensive solidity in his side. Chris Knight came in at left back, with Broadhurst moving into midfield, whilst a further reshuffle saw Chris Lait earn a first start of the season on the left flank. Brian Smikle and Drew Canavan were the players to make way, both being named as substitutes against a home side that had won three of their opening four fixtures.

The Glassboys had the first chance of the game as Lee Chilton broke into the penalty area but Martin Fearon in the home goal got enough on his shot to divert the ball for a corner, and then Chilton should perhaps have opened the scoring four minutes later as he met Matt Dodd’s pull-back with a right foot shot that he didn’t catch cleanly, allowing Fearon to again pull off a good save.

Skelmersdale threatened with Lewis Solly tipping over a looping header from Louis Corrigan, and the Glassboys’ keeper was more comfortable in watching a couple of shots from further out pass harmlessly over his crossbar, but it was Stourbridge who were looking generally the more dangerous, and a goal duly arrived with 20 minutes played.

Dodd got away from his man down the left and was eventually brought down on the edge of the penalty area, close to the by-line. Lait swung in the free kick to the far post and Broadhurst met it with a glancing header past Fearon to net his first of the season.

A tidy move shortly afterwards involving Chilton and Karl Hawley ended with Lait unable to control his volley, sending the ball wide, before Tom Tonks clipped a 33rd minute shot against the underside of the crossbar from Hawley’s lay-off, with the ball bouncing down on the wrong side of the line from a Stourbridge perspective and then being cleared to safety.

However, “Skem” were far from out of the game and Solly was called on again six minutes before the interval as he was forced to come off his line and block at the feet of Danny Mitchley.

The final moment of any note in the first half came on 44 minutes when Dan Scarr almost profited from Fearon’s uncertainty in dealing with a high ball into the box, only for a covering defender to get enough of a block on his shot to avert any danger.

The second period began with little incident at either end until Tonks volleyed well over on 54 minutes, and then at the other end a good interchange between Alan Burton and Gerard Kinsella saw the former send a tame effort wide of Solly’s right-hand post on the hour.

Matt Dodd broke the offside trap down the left on 67 minutes but couldn’t produce a finish as he shot into the side netting from a good position, but within a couple of minutes Stourbridge did double their lead.

Kristian Green surged forward from right back and took on two defenders, the second of whom, Tom Hardwick, tripped him on the edge of the penalty area, to earn a booking. Hawley and Broadhurst stood over the dead ball, faced with the choice of attempting to go either over or round the Skelmersdale wall. Broadhurst, however, took the option of going straight through it and the ball arrowed into the net with venomous pace for his 118th goal in a Stourbridge shirt, still rising as it did so.

Any notion of the Glassboys seeing the game out comfortably disappeared with a quarter of an hour to play, though. A pass through the heart of the Stourbridge defence was meant for Mitchley but it seemed that Solly would get there first until Knight bundled into the Skelmersdale attacker from behind. Having awarded a penalty, the referee then produced a red card for Knight, and Mitchley himself smacked the spot kick past Solly.

With the entire complexion of the match changed, the home side pushed forward looking for an equaliser. There were loud, but somehow unconvincing, shouts for handball and a penalty on 83 minutes as Chilton guided the ball back into Solly’s arms, but that apart Skem could not find the penetration needed to create a serious chance.

Indeed, the best opening of the closing stages probably fell to substitute Brian Smikle, whose attempt to round Fearon proved unsuccessful as the keeper managed to grab the ball off his toes.

The win was Stourbridge’s first away from home since the game at Ramsbottom in March, and the three points lift the Glassboys to 12th in the Evo-Stik NL Premier Division table.