Bromsgrove Sporting's thirteen game unbeaten run in the league was ended at the weekend thanks to a superb hat-trick from Danny Carter as Studley left the Victoria Ground the 3-2 victors.
It was an impressive start from the home side who took the lead after 7 minutes through Billy Russell. A low driven pass out on the near wing from Sean Williams found Russell in the box who stuck the ball into the Dan Payne's bottom left-hand corner, giving the home side a 1-0 advantage.
Jack Wilson and Williams both had headers miss the target before the opening goal and Williams looked to double Sporting's lead a minute after their first, though his second headed attempt failed to hit the target.
Matt Poyner's effort came closer to scoring than Bromsgrove's previous three attempts on the 20 minute mark, but the effort clipped the outside of Studley's post.
Studley's first attacking threat ended with the ball in Sporting's net, but to Bromsgrove's relief was ruled out after Dan Carter's shot was saved by Jake Bedford and then tapped in from Jovan Blake-Walker from an offside position.
Mark Bellingham was having a frustrating afternoon for the Rouslers and missed two key chances before the break. The better of these came when Billy Russell dummied a pass inside the Studley box and the ball rolled nicely to the feet of Bellingham in front of goal whose left footed strike was hit well over the crossbar.
Bromsgrove were punished for their wasteful chances just before halftime after a fabulous effort from Dan Carter. He curled the ball perfectly into Bedford's top left corner from 20-yards out, levelling the score line at 1-1.
The home side carried over their careless finishing into the second half. Mark Bellingham attempted to chip the ball over Dan Payne in the near side of the box who saved well, but in doing so pushed the ball to Billy Russell who shot wide.
Williams was having a good afternoon and redeemed Sporting's wasteful attempts by re-gaining the lead for Bromsgrove. He tackled the last Studley defender and as he sprinted into the box he fired the ball past Payne and into the far corner of the goal making the score 2-1.
Studley managed to reply within two minutes with another superb goal from Dan Carter. The ball was whipped in low towards Bromsgrove's near post and Dan Carter used some impressive improvisation and back heeled the ball into the bottom near corner of the goal and equalising the score for a second time in the match.
Ten minutes after the equaliser and Sporting should have taken the lead for a third time in the match but Billy Russell skied a good chance well over the crossbar.
The home side had to win this match if they had any chance of keeping their promotion hopes alive and before the 70 minute mark shots from Wilson and Darius Darkin failed to find the target, with Bellingham's one on one attempt being saved well by Payne.
Reece Hewitt almost gave the visitors the lead for the first time in the match but his powerful drive just outside the Sporting box skimmed the outside of the far post keeping the scores level.
Sam Wilkinson should have scored with his first touch of the ball after coming off the bench in the final quarter of an hour. His goal bound shot brought a fantastic save out of Payne who again denied the home side.
Studley had very few attempts in the match but made the most of those they had and six minutes from time found the winning goal. Dan Carter took possession inside the Sporting half and managed to outpace the last defender with Bedford closing the gap on the striker. Carter chipped the ball, only slightly over Bedford's right shoulder inside the box and the ball found the net giving his side the winning goal and all three points at the Victoria Ground.
There was signs of promotion hope all day long at Sporting's last home league game of the season with Pershore taking a 3-1 lead over Brocton in the early stages of the second half, but Brocton managed to conjure up an comeback winning the game 4-3 in dramatic style late into injury time.
Sporting's wasteful afternoon resulted in their nine match winning streak end in defeat and now meaning that Bromsgrove's promotion push is likely to be over with the leaders only needing two points from four matches to secure the title.
Sporting: Jake Bedford, Brett Mander, Chris Duggan, Matt Poyner, Joe Cole (Capt.), Craig Jones, Sean Williams, Darius Darkin (Sam Wilkinson 77 mins), Mark Bellingham, Billy Russell, Jack Wilson (Danny Ludlow 77 mins).
Studley: Dan Payne, Richard Deeming, Ben Judd, James Turk, Jake Wilcox, Ryan Gardner, Dan Carter, Reece Hewitt, Jovan Blake-Walker, Sam Wills (Capt.), Sam Hawker.
Subs not used: Josh McGinley, Jordan Porter, Tim Bradley, Jarryl Hylton, Charisma Agbonlahor |