Bromsgrove Sporting remain four points clear of the Midland Football League Division One after a 3-0 win over Stafford Town on Saturday afternon.
Ten second-half minutes saw goals from Sam Wills, Connor Collins and Will Tibbetts steer Sporting to another victory, seven days on from their emphatic performance against fellow title hopefuls Coventry United, who recorded a narrow 1-0 victory over Studley this weekend.
However, the final scoreline looked hugely unlikely during the first half, as the Rouslers produced a fairly tepid display, a far cry from their incredible start to the Coventry fixture.
The opening ten minutes were largely dominated by Sporting, with Reece Hewitt hitting rattling the crossbar with his shot inside the area and Connor Collins spurning a gilt-edged chance wide of the target.
Stafford's best chance of the half fell to Craig Hulme on 20 minutes, who only had the keeper to beat following some neat build-up play from Don Jones. However, his effort was well saved by the ever-reliable Chris Jay.
Collins and Hewitt had further chances to give Sporting to lead heading into the interval, but Collins' shot deflected away from the goal and a header from Hewitt narrowly the wrong side of the post meant it stayed level.
Bromsgrove had opportunities to break the deadlock in the early encounters of the second half, with Sean Brain guiding his strike off target, whilst Simon Fitter's free kick clipped the top of the wall and went agonisingly wide of the post, much to the relief of Stafford stopper Richard Stone, who was firmly rooted to the spot.
Chances were few and far between for the visitors and they failed to capitalise on those that came, with Jones blazing his low drive past the goal as the Sporting defence were at sixes and sevens.
Sporting manager Paul Smith's substitutes have often worked the oracle this season and this game was to be no exception.
Will Tibbetts and Kyle Turner entered proceedings on the hour mark and they soon made an impact, as Tibbetts put an effort just wide.
The tempo soon picked up and the visitors looked on edge, it was just a case of getting one on the board to settle Sporting nerves.
The opener eventually came 70 minutes in, when Sam Wills hit a sweetly struck left footed shot that curled beautifully of the upright and into the net, which was me with unadulterated joy from the Shed End faithful.
The lead was doubled six minutes later, as a burst of pace from Turner allowed him to find some space and set up Collins, whose scuffed effort from inside the area rolled into the net after brushing the fingertips of keeper Stone.
A minute later, Turner had a chance himself from an acute angle that Stone fumbled in the air and luckily for the shell-shocked Stafford stopper, the ball struck the post and was cleared for a corner, the result of which was a squandered opportunity from Tibbetts.
The third goal was soon to come for the Rouslers though, as the 79th minute saw Collins through on goal but with Tibbetts faced with an open goal, the prudent thing was done and the lively substitute winger had the simplest of tap-ins to put the game beyond any doubt.
Wills had a final chance to add a fourth after being set up by Collins, but his effort well saved by Stone.
In the end, a comfortable victory for Sporting but it certainly wasn't plane sailing throughout. A valuable three points as they head into another huge match on Wednesday evening when they travel to third placed Nuneaton Griff. |