Sporting went down to their second home league defeat of the season against a clinical Nuneaton Griff side, on a miserable afternoon at Victoria Ground.
Griff striker Josh Ruff scored three impressive efforts in a first half which saw little luck come Sporting's way, before substitute Aden Moore added a fourth in the second half to leave Bromsgrove joint manager Keith Draper scratching his head over his team's recent form.
Sporting crafted an early chance inside the first minute when striker Chris Morrison, who had shaken off a back injury to start, headed narrowly over the bar from a good Andy Nicol cross. But it was Nuneaton who found the net first when Ruff ghosted a well placed free-kick into the bottom left corner from just outside the box. The forward had earned the kick himself when he was bustled to the ground after a decent run.
The Victoria Ground pitch was not looking its best after some heavy showers had left it particularly muddy and wet and there was plenty of long balls, stuttering passes and mistimed challenges flying in early on. Sporting's Adam Humphries was spoken to a couple of times in the first few minutes for some rash fouls and was lucky to escape a booking. But defender Matt Ross timed a big tackle perfectly on the quarter hour to prevent the lively Ruff going through on goal.
At the other end Morrison did well to shield the ball in the left corner and put in a decent cross, though Nicol volleyed over. Morrison was then involved again shortly after when he missed a good chance to slide the ball in from a Jon Rogers cross after Jack Lodge had done well to start the move. Nicol then shimmied his way into the box but a last ditch tackle prevented what looked like a definite scoring chance during a positive early spell for the Rouslers.
But the home side were struggling to keep possession in the middle of the pitch and would be left rueing those missed chances when Ruff struck again. This time with little challenge from the defence he hit an impressive curling shot into the top right corner to put Griff 2-0 up on twenty-six minutes. He then completed his thirty-minute hat-trick three minutes later, striking the ball low into the bottom corner, just beyond the fingertips of Tom Savage.
Soon after Nuneaton should have had the chance to make it four when a rash tackle, which looked to be inside the Sporting box, resulted in only a free-kick, though Savage saved comfortably.
Sporting were struggling to find their feet in a first half which had quickly turned upside down.
The usually effective Rogers and Nash on the wings were struggling with the run of the ball, due to the conditions, while the away side were continuing to carve out decent openings, but for Savage in the home goal the score line could have been bigger when referee Simon Lane blew for half-time.
The second half saw the introduction of Chrisi Conway for midfielder Lodge and Aaron Roberts for defender Jamie Parker. After an early Nuneaton free-kick was easily gathered, Conway stroked a well hit shot wide, but it was Griff who should have added to their tally straight after when attacker Mark Williams showed a great turn of pace to beat the offside trap, though he smashed his chance against the side netting.
But all in all, the second half proved to be a much closer encounter than the first and Nicol did well to get forward on a number of occasions before he was brought down just after the hour mark and needed to be replaced with Keith Draper Jr. The latter's introduction proved to be a good move from the home dugout as he fashioned some decent chances and looked to be far less fazed by the conditions than many of his team mates.
Joe Brookes got applause from the fans with an impressive overhead kick from a Nash corner which forced Nuneaton 'keeper Dave Watson into a good save before Morrison put in a reckless challenge right in front of the dugout, though only received a talking to.
But the away team put the game beyond any doubt when substitute Aden Moore dummied past the Sporting defence and finished coolly on seventy-two minutes.
Though, after that Nuneaton seemed to go to sleep on a number of occasions, allowing Sporting easy access to the final third. Brookes again got forward to put an ambitious effort over the bar after a good move, before Nash headed wide at the far post from a well-taken free-kick. Draper showed good composure to step-over and hit a drilled shot wide and captain Nick Harris did well with some quick feet to elude the opposition on the half way line before earning a free-kick.
Then, as the game moved into the final ten minutes Roberts put in a great tackle in the box to prevent Nuneaton claiming a fifth and Savage pulled off the save of the game not long after when he palmed away a thundering effort.
Sporting: Tom Savage, Adam Humphries, Jamie Parker (Aaron Roberts, 45), Matt Ross, Joe Brookes, Nick Harris (captain), Jon Rogers, Jack Lodge (Chris Conway, 45), Andy Nicol (Keith Draper, 65), Chris Morrison, Elliot Nash
Subs not used: James Turk, Jamie Marler
Griff: Dave Watson, Adam Sullivan (Corey Faulconbridge, 77), Tom Lillicrap, Lee Hildreth, Ryan Millerchip (captain), Jamie Greenway, Mark G. Williams, Kyle Baxter, Mark Williams (Aden Moore 69), Josh Ruff, Steve Barrett
Subs not used: Mitchell Thompson, Jordan Scobbie, Jamie Hammersley |