Spennymoor Town 2 Stourbridge 2

With Monday’s FA Cup replay against Whitehawk looming, Gary Hackett rang the changes in his squad. Just five of the staring eleven that defeated Skelmersdale on Monday night retained their places, and there were as many as nine changes from the team that kicked off against Whitehawk seven days previously.

There were first starts of the season for former Youth Teamers Jacob Wedderburn and Lewis McPike, whilst Brandon Hague and Jordan Archer began in attack. Brad Birch and Jake Heath occupied central midfield, with Jack Duggan and Stuart Pierpoint in central defence. Meanwhile, Youth Teamers Dan Doyle and Liam Williams were alongside Leon Broadhurst and Junior Smikle on the bench.

Unsurprisingly, the Moors made much of the early running kicking down the substantial Brewery Field slope, and they went close with just eight minutes played as Graeme Armstrong’s header from a left-wing corner flicked off the head of Archer before Chris Lait on the post headed it up, onto the crossbar and away to safety. Moors regained possession from the clearance, and when the ball was swung back in Pierpoint’s clearing header fell to Mark Anderson who dragged his shot wide from 15 yards.

The Glassboys were finding it hard to make much meaningful headway, but with Archer and Hague looking lively when given the chance the home side did not have things all their own way. Hague might have been clear on 17 minutes after good work by Archer, but was rightly denied by the offside flag.

An error by Lewis Probert allowed Anderson another sight of goal on 24 minutes but again his shot was off target, and then Armstrong got in another header that Matt Gould claimed comfortably as the half hour approached. At the other end a forceful run by Lait ended with a square ball to Hague who was closed down before he could get a shot away.

On 31 minutes, though, the Glassboys shocked the home side by taking the lead. Lait’s corner from the right was headed goalwards by Archer but was hurriedly cleared to the far side, from where Birch returned an in-swinging cross to the far post that was meat and drink to the unmarked Pierpoint, who planted a firm header beyond Andrew Rafferty.

This seemed to shake Spennymoor, and for much of the rest of the half their pattern seemed to desert them. Whilst still having marginally the upper hand in terms of possession, they lost patience somewhat and resorted to too many long balls that found their way harmlessly through to Gould.

Indeed Stour might well have increased their lead, as first Hague saw a shot on the turn blocked, and then Lait fired in a skidding shot from 25 yards that brought a good low save out of Rafferty, diving to his left to turn the ball round the post.

Spennymoor, however, picked the pace up as the break approached, and Andrew Johnson might have done better with a shot from distance that flew well over Gould’s crossbar.

Kicking downhill, Stour began the second period on the front foot. A mazy run from Hague should really have been ended before he got the chance to fire in a shot from 20 yards that Rafferty clutched above his head, and then a Probert free-kick from wide on the right was perhaps a little over-hit but ended up not missing the far post by any great distance.

Moors replied with a shot from Shane Henry that was again too high, and their increasing frustration was evident from a triple substitution on the hour in a bid to unlock the Glassboys defence. It was to bear fruit rapidly, but not before Hague had wriggled his way into the box from the right flank and sent in a shot that had Rafferty beaten but was deflected wide off Joe Tait for a corner that came to nothing.

It was to prove a vital intervention as within minutes the home side had not just levelled but forged ahead. First possession was conceded in midfield and a missed tackle by Wedderburn allowed Adam Mitchell to pick out one of the substitutes, Rob Ramshaw, in space on the left, and he placed th ball round Gould and into the far corner for a well-crafted equaliser.

Boosted, and no doubt relieved, by the goal, Moors quickly had another. This time Ramshaw was the provider as a neat interchange with Kallum Griffiths on the right flank allowed him the chance to run in behind the defence and cross for Armstrong, who controlled the ball first time before picking his spot beyond Gould.

And a now rampant Spennymoor could so easily have extended their lead three minutes later had Probert not been perfectly positioned to hack Glen Taylor’s header from a Mitchell corner off the line, following which Gould produced a wonderful save to deny Ramshaw, whose thunderbolt from 25 yards may have taken a deflection along the way as well.

As with Tait’s block from Hague, however, it proved a crucial passage of play, as the Glassboys were level within 60 seconds. A long ball from Pierpoint found Hague out on the left, and he held the ball up well under the challenge of Griffiths before slipping it inside to the advancing Birch, who advanced into the area before checking back and curling a hot past Rafferty and inside the far post.

Suddenly, Stour had new life, whilst Spennymoor looked a little stunned. The one-way traffic of the precious five minutes disappeared, and the game developed into an even, end-to-end contest in which both teams were clearly bent on seeking a winner. Lait tried his luck with a chip that did not clear Rafferty’s crossbar by all that much, and then Hague chased a ball he had no right to reach ahead of Tait, and somehow squeezed in a shot that only just went over, rippling the top of the net as it did so.

Leon Broadhurst, on as a substitute sent a free kick well wide from some 30 yards, whilst Archer did well to get a shot in from a narrow angle that Rafferty saved low down at his near post. Spennymoor hit back through Armstrong, who might feel he should have done better than steer his header over the bar from Henry’s cross.

The home side had the better of the closing minutes, without seriously testing Gould, and Duggan and Pierpoint marshalled the Glassboys rear-guard well to limit chances. And Stour could, possibly should, have snatched all three points at the death as Birch picked off a loose Crossfield ball before striding forward unchecked. However, his ball to Archer was just a little under-hit and allowed Tait to get in a blocking challenge.

Given the circumstances, a highly creditable point for what was very much a make-shift Stourbridge squad, albeit one that performed magnificently on the day and will have given manager Hackett food for thought for upcoming fixtures.

The point means that Stourbridge remain 12th in the Premier Division table.