ATHIUM MIDLAND COMBINATION PREMIER DIVISION
TUESDAY 25TH SEPTEMBER 2012
BROMSGROVE SPORTING 3 BROCTON 2
After taking the M5 to victory over Castle Vale in the previous home fixture, Sporting chose to take a scenic backway to beat Brocton who led 2-0 after dominating the first hour before the Rouslers scored three times in an eventful final quarter to secure an improbable win.
Sporting lined up 4-5-1 but the extra man in midfield was hard to spot as Brocton took the initiative and began to threaten the Rouslers' goal. After Francis had made a good save at his near post and Berks and Skinner wasted good opportunities, they took a deserved lead on 23 minutes when Pickering's shot crept under the goalkeeper's body. Sporting were struggling to get into the game but should have equalised ten minutes before the break. A lucky deflection found Conway twelve yards out but his shot came back off the inside of the post and into the goalkeeper's arms. This was a bad miss and seemed likely to be costly when Brocton extended their lead from the penalty spot eight minutes into the second period. Reece Francis had brought down a forward after a defensive mix up had put him clear. He escaped with a yellow card. Two minutes later Brocton came close to the third goal that would have killed the game. The Rouslers' defence was caught square by a ball over the top and a goal only averted by a last ditch tackle.
As the cliche has it 2-0 is a dangerous lead. Sporting made two substitutions, James Turk replacing the ineffective Jamie McWilliams and Chris Morrison coming on for Jamie Parker as the Rouslers switched to 4-4-2. These substitutions changed the game. Morrison's power and aerial dominance immediately caused problems for the Brocton defenders who had earlier been untroubled. With twenty minutes left Morrison was brought down as he took the ball round the goalkeeper to create a shooting opportunity. After the referee had shown the keeper a yellow card and sent Graham Scott to the stand for arguing too forcefully that it should have been red, Jon Rogers converted the spot kick. Eight minutes later both Rogers and Morrison were involved in the move that ended with James Turk scoring the equaliser from the edge of the penalty area.
Sporting were now on top and pressed for the winner. Morrison curled a shot just wide before, in the second minute of injury time, Blake's powerful run into the penalty area ended with a trip. Jon Rogers did the honours again. There was still time for Morrison to round off his evening with a yellow card for not retreating at a free kick, This was Sporting's seventh of the evening and the tenth in total, a bizarre statistic for a game that was generally played in a good spirit.
Sporting were lucky to win this game and Brocton will be disappointed to have left with nothing. Then again, it is good to have the knack of beating useful sides when you're not playing well. Bolehall Swifts come to town on Saturday. I promise you it won't be dull.
Man of the Match; Chris Morrison |