BROMSGROVE Sporting play 15th place Alvis Sporting at home tomorrow with back-to-back wins moving them up the Midland League Division One table into seventh place.
The Rouslers beat bottom of the league Pelsall Villa 6-0 in midweek after dispatching strugglers Heather St Johns 2-1 away at the weekend.
These results could be the turning point for Sporting’s season which has seen them hovering in mid-table in August, initially under Adrian Mander, and early September under new manager Paul Smith.
After conceding early goals in their previous two matches, Sporting started teh Pelsall game much more forcefully taking the game to their opponents, moving the ball around quickly and trying to get an early lead.
The pressure on the Pelsall defence eventually make them crack but it needed a good ball into the box from Sam Wills followed by a hard, low drive from Danny Ludlow for them to go a goal up.
The second followed six minutes later, this time Jozsef Jakab got his fourth of the season when he glanced home a header from Ludlow’s cross.
Will Tibbetts finally broke down the stubborn resistance of the away defence on 67 minutes with a well-timed run though the back four unleashing an stoppable angled shot from 12 yards for the Rouslers’ third.
Tibbetts then got his second and Sporting’s fourth seven minutes later
With just three minutes left on the clock Tibbetts this time supplied the cross to Shaun Brain that the substitute volleyed from 20 yards into the top left-hand corner of the Pelsall net.
Jack Wilson completed the scoring with Sporting’s 6th one minute into added time with another well-taken effort that he hit from 25 yards.
At the weekend a fighting display from Sporting saw them come away from Heather St Johns with all three points on a damp, miserable Saturday afternoon.
Despite not being at their best for almost the entire game, it was a deserved win, one which keeps them in touch with the league’s top teams writes Adam Warner.
A worrying tradition for Sporting of late has been their lax defending at either end of matches, and this continued with Heather taking the lead after two minutes, when build up play down the left wing was not snuffed out and the ball fell to the lively Troy Warren who’s shot was wonderfully saved by the returning Jake Bedford in goal.
He could do nothing as the ball flew up into the air and onto the unmarked head of Jamie Towers who put the ball into an empty goal.
After this Sporting began to settle and when defender Craig Jones won a ball just inside the opposition half, nothing looked on. However, he managed to find Gary Hay who powered past the challenges of two Heather defenders before confidently slotting the ball into the bottom corner.
Sporting were now in the ascendancy and chances fell to Reece Hewitt, who blazed a shot just over the crossbar after a wonderful cross-field ball from Simon Fitter, and then to Gary Hay who should have done better when a Danny Ludlow free-kick found him unmarked at the far post. Unfortunately he was unable to turn the ball home.
Heather midfielder Jamie Towers had a couple more chances before half time but 2-1 to the visitors was probably a fair reflection of the game.
In the second half Heather were probably the better side. Despite this, the Sporting defence looked fairly secure and Bedford wasn’t really troubled throughout. Mitch Woodbine hit a fierce shot over the bar before Wallen and Towers combined yet again down the left, with the former poking the ball just past the post.
As the second half progressed the game became stretched and some reckless challenges began to fly in and a needless yellow card for Fitter, after he offered the referee’s assistant some choice words. There was an unpleasant incident involving new signing and Rovers old-boy Danny Lennon, who when clear through on goal pulled up and looked in some pain as he was substituted.
As the game reached its conclusion Heather pushed forward but still failed to create any clear-cut chances. It was in fact Sporting who had the best chance of the last few minutes with a Ludlow free-kick just passing over the bar.
As the final whistle sounded Sporting supporters breathed a sigh of relief. A game they should have won more comfortably almost slipped from their grasp. It certainly bodes well when a team can play at far less than their potential and still grind out a win – which is what Sporting did today. They will play far better and lose.
