Men's First Team
Matches
Sat 27 Feb 2016  ·  Premier Division
Stourbridge FC
Men's First Team
1
0
Darlington 1883
Stourbridge 1 Darlington 0

Stourbridge 1 Darlington 0

Richard Clark27 Feb 2016 - 19:25
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A Leon Broadhurst thunderbolt on the hour was enough to give Stourbridge all three points against the visitors from the North East.

Karl Hawley held the ball up well and laid it off to Broadhurst 25 yards out, with the Glassboys' midfielder setting himself before driving the ball low and true into the bottom corner from 25 yards.

The Glassboys found Darlington a real handful before the break and could make little attacking headway themselves, but the second half was a different story as Stourbridge took the game to the opposition and could have ended up adding to their lead.

There was one change from the team that won 3-2 at Sutton on Tuesday night, with Dan Scarr returning after holiday in place of the unavailable Junior Smikle, meaning a defensive re-shuffle with Joe Hull moving to left back.

The visitors began the game as if they meant business, determined to extend their ten-match unbeaten run in the League. The diminutive and lively Stephen Thompson saw a volley on the turn from 20 yards out held comfortably by Matt Gould, and then Phil Turnbull drove a shot over from a half-clearance inside the first two minutes, whilst Gould also had to be quick off his line as Liam Hardy looked to pounce on a through ball.

The Glassboys were slow to get to grips with the game, and it wasn’t until the 8th minute that they had their first foray into the Quakers’ half when Matt Dodd broke free down the right, only to over-run the ball out of play. Indeed the closest Stourbridge came to any kind of effort on goal in the early stages was when keeper Peter Jameson had to gather as a Broadhurst free kick from out on the right flicked off the head of defender Gary Brown.

Thompson again threatened on 14 minutes when Stuart Pierpoint’s defensive header could only find the Darlington man on the edge of the area, but he was unable to keep his shot down, but generally Stourbridge were managing to keep the visitors’ regular attacks at arms length, although Gould more than once had to mop up dangerous balls.

Stourbridge’s best move of the half came on the half hour, with Broadhurst and Karl Hawley combining to feed Dodd on the right. However, the wide man emulated Thompson’s inability to get a shot on target and the chance went begging.

The interval came with much huffing and puffing but little in the way of enterprise from either team. Darlington had done more of the pressing but, apart from that early save from Thompson, would have been disappointed not to have made Gould work harder.

The early stages of the second period followed a similar pattern. Hardy almost manoeuvred space for a shot on 47 minutes, but was closed down by Kristian Green and his effort was blocked. Then, two minutes later, Adam Mitchell, on as a first half substitute, saw his shot deflected over the crossbar, whilst on 53 minutes Tom Portas cleverly brought the ball under control on the edge of the box before swivelling and volleying again off target.

However, having weathered that minor storm, Stourbridge began to warm to their task, with Dodd becoming increasingly influential. He might have done better on 55 minutes with a cross that was easy for Jameson, but signs were there of a Glassboys resurgence.

And that turned into something altogether more concrete on the hour as Broadhurst produced a goal to rank alongside any of his 121 strikes for Stourbridge. Jameson had no chance as the ball arrowed into the corner, and the celebrations on and off the pitch said plenty about the potential importance of the goal.

The job was far from done, though, and the visitors responded with the introduction of leading scorers Lee Gaskell and Nathan Cartman, both of whom had somewhat surprisingly started on the bench. Nevertheless, the Stourbridge defence held firm and, if anything, it was the Glassboys who looked more likely to find another goal.

Chris Lait failed to connect cleanly with a shot on 76 minutes that was comfortable for Jameson, and then dragged a shot wide of goal after cutting in from the flank three minutes later.

The last ten minutes saw the Quakers exert more pressure, with Stourbridge quick to exploit space on the break, largely through the pace of Dodd. Darlington skipper Kevin Burgess fired over on 85 minutes, whilst Sean Geddes saw his snap-shot from 25 yards held by Jameson 60 seconds later.

Four minutes of stoppage time brought incident at either end. First the visitors had shouts for a penalty waved away after a shot into a crowded box was blocked, and then Dodd once more got free on the right with a clear run on goal, only to be seemingly caught in two minds and fluff his final ball into the grateful arms of Jameson.

It was not often a pretty game to watch, but Stourbridge for the most part dealt well with the visitors’ robust approach, and can give themselves a pat on the back for three hard-earned points.

The win, a sixth on the trot in the Evo-Stik League, consolidates the Glassboys’ fifth place in the Premier Division table.

Match details

Match date

Sat 27 Feb 2016

Kickoff

15:00

Attendance

818

Competition

Premier Division
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