TOWN MAKE IT SO TOUGH
Halesowen Town 2(1) Bromsgrove Rovers 0(0)
Westgate Insurance Cup 2nd. Round 1st. Leg
Rovers slumped to only their third defeat of the season against a disciplined Town side in Tuesday night's Westgate Insurance Cup second round first leg tie.
Lacking the calming influence of captain Maurice O'Connell, ruled out by a leg injury, Rovers struggled to control the lively Town attack. A dismal first half failed to live up to the expectations of a bumper Grove crowd of 1,111.
Town took the lead four minutes before the break when Paul Joinson pounced on a mix-up between Rovers keeper Attwood and defender Chris Jones to slide the ball home. Right on half time Mark Rosegreen was denied a great chance to equalise when his shot was cleared off the line by Smith with the keeper beaten.
The second half saw Rovers battling to get back on level terms. but as they began to make an impression Town went further ahead on the hour with a close range shot from Malcolm Hazlewood.
From this point it was Rovers who had most scoring chances. Cooper's long throw from the right was flicked on by Cunningham but substitute Jon Ford's header flew over the bar. Rovers took a gamble by replacing Parmenter with Pete Allbutt who lacked match fitness and, despite a few neat touches, only looked a pale shadow of his usual self.
The visitors' best chance came when Hanks was put through on the right. He reached the goal line and did all the hard work but Rosegreen failed to turn the ball into an open net.
Halesowen Town :- Kevan Williams, Mark Penn, Stuart Cash, Richard Hancox, Eric Smith, Peter Sturgess, Malcolm Hazlewood, Sean Flynn, Dean Spink, Paul Joinson, Lee Joinson.
Substitutes :- Ray Anslow, Michael Guest.
Bromsgrove Rovers :- Richard Attwood, Nigel Conniff, Stewart Brighton, Chris Jones, Paul Cooper, Ian Brown (Jon Ford 64 minutes), Paul Webb, Russell Parmenter (Peter Allbutt 77 minutes), Chris Hanks, Mark Rosegreen, Sylvester Cunningham.
Referee :- Mr. F. G. Stretton (Leicester)
Assistants :- Mr. J. R. Hubbard, Mr. M. A. Parr
Attendance :- 1111 |