Byfield: Stourbridge setback a wake-up call for Town

DARREN Byfield insists Stratford Town’s 3-0 defeat at Stourbridge on Monday night is the wake-up call they need.

A ruthless Glassboys side scored three times in just 32 minutes as they completely dominated the first half at the War Memorial Ground.

Stratford produced a much-improved second-half display, but the damage had already been done in a game where Byfield admitted his team had been “bullied” by a physical home side.

It was all a far cry from Saturday’s opening-day win over St Neots, where Town rarely looked like conceding and Byfield insists Monday’s setback is one Stratford will learn from.

“We were bullied against Stourbridge,” Byfield admitted.

“It was a wake-up call for all of us, but it’s a game we can use as a learning curve for the rest of the season.

“They always say you learn a lot more in defeat than in victories and I felt I learnt a lot from this game.

“I learnt in the second half that I had a team that is never going to give up. They stuck in there and fought until the last minute.

“We got it wrong, I got it wrong and maybe I should have realised against a big side who were playing in the Northern League last season that we can’t go into the game with the same personnel as we did against St Neots.

“Just because we beat St Neots, it doesn’t mean we can play the same way against Stourbridge.

“They are an experienced side who have been together for some time, whereas we are a new team and still developing. But we’ll get there and will look to get back on track at Royston this weekend.”

Whether Byfield is tempted to shuffle the pack for Saturday’s trip to Royston remains to be seen, but the former Aston Villa striker has a number of options available to him.

Goalkeeper Nathan Vaughan will return in goal at Garden Walk after missing the Stourbridge game. He could also be tempted to bring former Northampton Town duo Claudio Dias and Lewis Wilson into the starting line-up after both were named on the bench at Amblecote.

Byfield also has the option of bringing in versatile defender Dan Summerfield.

The popular Welshman was named as the Herald’s player of the year last season, but Summerfield has not been selected in either of Byfield’s matchday squads this season.

“Dan is a big part of my plans,” said Byfield. “He’s just going to have to bide his time.”

One player who won’t be returning is defender Andy Gallinagh, who this week left the club and re-signed for Worcester City.

After making 44 appearances for Town last season under Carl Adams, the 33-year-old found himself out of favour with Byfield.

Gallinagh was a product of Stratford’s youth system and after he broke into the first team in 2002/03, he was snapped up by Cheltenham.

He went on to make 130 appearances for the Robins before going on to play for Bath City, Hereford United and Worcester, before switching to Stratford last summer.