Smedley Crooke Memorial Charity Cup, Round 3, Saturday 27th February 2016
Earlswood Town's young side entertained Bromsgrove Sporting in this third round of the Smedley-Crooke Cup game. A goal in each half by Ethan Hanks and Sam Wills was enough to take Sporting through to the semi-finals in front of a healthy 135 crowd who watched the game which was played on a cold February afternoon. The visitors, with five ex Town players in their ranks and sitting in second place in the Midland League Division One were probably just on top for most of the game but Earls, who are in bottom spot in Division Two are certainly showing improved form since Keith Green and Gerry Corrigan took charge had plenty of the mid-field play but were pegged back mid-way inside the Bromsgrove half and did not really trouble Bromsgrove keeper Chis Jay with any awkward shots. Play was mainly confined to mid-field for the first fifteen minutes with Daniel Rushe in the Earlswood goal the busier of the two keepers. In the 17th minute Daniel Rushe had to come way off his line to cut out a centre and collected the ball of the head Sam Wills who was waiting to nod the ball home. Sporting took the lead two minutes later when a cross shot was deflected out by Rushe to the feet of the oncoming Ethan Hands who was in the right spot to fire the ball home. After this Earls had an attacking spell in the Bromsgrove half but nothing to worry Jay in the visitor's goal. At the other end Rushe was called into action and lost the ball but was judged to have been fouled by an opponent. After 32 minutes A Bromsgrove defender headed the ball back to his keeper from mid-way in his half and the keeper only just got to the ball as Marcus Small gave chase. Bromsgrove were on the attack again in the 39th minute and a good shot from one of their forwards saw Daniel Rushe push the ball out for a corner via the goal post. Earls attacked during the last few minutes of the half and were awarded a free kick with skipper Thomas Keogh lifting his shot over the wall but it was easily dealt with by the Sporting keeper. It was a good first half for Earls given the gap between the divisional places between the teams.
H. T. 0-1
The first ten minutes of the second half was pretty even with both teams creating chances and after 52 minutes the referee awarded Earlswood a free kick in the Sporting half of the pitch which the Bromsgrove defence easily cleared upfield. In the 55th minute a Sporting player went down the right flank and put over a good cross for one of their forwards to go close with a header. After this Sporting took the initiative and were slightly on top but mostly in the Earlswood half and although Earls were defending well they never really had anyone to trouble Jay in the Bromsgrove goal when they did attack. Bromsgrove increased their lead in the 72nd minute with a shot from former Earlswood striker Sam Wills and although Daniel Rushe got a hand to the ball he could not stop it going into the net. Both teams made changes after this and Bromsgrove took the initiative after bringing on some seasoned players to replace the younger ones. In the final minutes of the game Earls pushed forward but it was the visitors who had the best chance in the last minute with a header that went just wide. All in all a good all round performance by the Earls youngsters who were never phased by the good natured banter from the Bromsgrove supporters and gave a good display against a team from a division higher.
Attendance 135 |