Bromsgrove Sporting's season ended with a whimper on Saturday afternoon, as they were beaten 2-1 by Pilkington XXX in the Smedley Crooke Memorial Charity Cup Final at the Victoria Ground.
Joseph Wykes capitalised on a defensive mishap to open the scoring for the visitors before Craig Oldfield converted a second half penalty to leave Sporting crestfallen.
Reece Hewitt pulled one back with thirty minutes to go but their desperate endeavours to grab the equaliser in vain, meaning they finished the season with no silverware having managed second place in the league.
The quarter of an hour saw very few chances; in fact Wykes' goal was the first clear-cut opportunity for either side. Simon Fitter's back pass left keeper Chris Jay in all kinds of trouble and unfortunately for him, his attempted clearance was charged down by the lengthy Wykes, who simply had to tap home into an empty net.
Pilkington could easily have doubled their lead in the ten minutes that followed, with Wykes showcasing his talents once again by setting up Daniel Dowse, whose shot was well saved by Jay.
Oldfield had a free kick comfortably saved, whilst Matthew Stirzaker found himself with in a glorious position in the area but his looping header sailed over the upright.
Sporting's first chance of note came 25 minutes in, as Aaron Roberts' delicious cross was nearly nodded home by Luke Dugmore but unfortunately he could not quite make the sufficient contact required.
A real thorn in Sporting's side all afternoon was Dale Kenny, who was seen to best affect when allowed to run at the Bromsgrove defence and he wreaked havoc for the whole game. One of his jinking runs just before half time led to a fine shot that found the crossbar and bounced just the right side of the goal line for the Rouslers.
Pilkington extended their lead seven minutes into the second half, thanks largely to Kenny's creativity up the flanks. His burst of speed was too much for Fitter, who upended him inside the box, the resulting penalty confidently dispatched by Oldfield.
Bromsgrove reduced the deficit on the hour mark, as Hewitt latched onto a high ball and delicately volleyed the ball over ex-Sporting stopper Reece Francis.
Sporting then began to dominate the play as Pilkington looked to consolidate their lead. However, Aaron Roberts' sending off for dissent fifteen minutes from time severely dented their hopes, especially as he had been one of the home side's livelier players on the afternoon.
Fitter and Jake Willcox both had chances to bring the scoreline level but their respective long range efforts were speculative at best and didn't make Francis worry too much.
The final whistle blew to rapturous celebrations from the supporting Pilkington fans and left Sporting fans thinking what might have been, as they now look to pre-season and next year's campaign to secure the league success they so dearly crave. |