Stratford Town surrender two-goal lead as Stourbridge stage second-half comeback to claim all three points

STRATFORD Town threw away a 2-0 half-time lead as Stourbridge scored four goals in the space of 13 second-half minutes to snatch what seemed an unlikely victory.

Former Halesowen Town midfielder Ashley Sammons opened the scoring at the War Memorial Athletic Ground when his long-range effort crept past Glassboys goalkeeper Charlie Price.

Leroy Lita then continued his recent scoring run for the Bards when he capitalised on some poor defending to tap into an empty net from ten yards out to make it 2-0.

Stour came out with renewed vigour after the break and from the moment Reece Styche nodded in at the near post after 69 minutes, the course of game swung completely in their favour.

Two minutes later parity was restored when Jason Cowley charged down Liam O’Brien’s clearance, with the ball smashing off the former Stevenage frontman and rolling into an unguarded net.

And with 15 minutes left on the clock, the Glassboys had completed the turnaround when Kieran Cook’s free-kick was smashed high into the net from close range by Joseph Hull.

Stour added further misery on the Bards when Cowley’s cross was diverted into his own net by the unfortunate Jordan Williams.

A win for Tim Flowers’ men would have seen them climb up to eighth in the table, instead their second-half collapse saw them drop down a place to 11th. While the manner of the defeat would have been disappointing, to have picked up three points from two difficult away days has seen the Bards hit the magic 40 points mark, 12 clear of the bottom three. Barring a drastic turn of fortunes, that should see Stratford safe for another season.

Flowers stuck with the same team which ran out 2-1 winners at Hednesford Town three days previously while the substitutes bench also remained unchanged.

But it was the hosts who enjoyed the better of the opening 15 minutes, with O’Brien called into action twice. Firstly he needed to get down low to his right to stop Jack Wilson’s shot creeping in at his near post before smartly parrying Cowley’s dipping 30-yard drive behind.

Having struggled to get out their own half in the opening quarter of an hour, the Bards broke the deadlock in the 19th minute when Sammons took aim from 25 yards and found the bottom corner, although Stour ‘keeper Price would have felt he could have done better to save the shot.

And ten minutes later it was 2-0. After a bit of pinball in Stour’s penalty area, the ball landed at the feet of Lita who had the simple task of tapping into an unguarded net from close range. Lita then thought he had added a third for the visitors with a smart left-footed finish from outside the area, but he was deemed offside by the narrowest of margins.

A stunned Stour side looked to get back into this contest and always looked a threat going forward, but O’Brien was proving to be in inspired form for the visitors. Styche’s stinging drive from just outside the box was expertly saved by the former Coventry City and Portsmouth shot-stopper, who then had to fly to his left-hand side to get a strong palm on Lee Vaughan’s thunderous 25-yard drive deep into first-half stoppage time.

Whatever was said to the Glassboys at the half-time interval clearly worked as they came out with more purpose, although the Bards still carried a threat and Price needed to get down low quickly enough to stop Will Dawes’ effort from creeping into the bottom corner.

Jack Turner then headed over from Will Grocott’s floated free-kick moments later and that point in the game, it seemed as though Stratford might be on course for another three points. However, nobody would have predicted the ensuing collapse.

The Glassboys halved the deficit in the 69th minute when Styche got ahead of his man to nod in Vaughan’s cross at the near post. And two minutes later it was all-square. Lewis Wilson’s header back to O’Brien didn’t quite have enough weight on it and as the Bards 'keeper rushed out, his clearance cannoned off the determined Cowley and flew into the back of the net.

Four minutes after that the Glassboys had shattered any hopes of Stratford climbing up to eighth place in the table. A Bards defender took a wild swing at Kieran Cook’s free-kick from the right-hand side and failed to get enough connection on the ball, which then made its way through to Hull who had the simple task of rifling home from a couple of yards out.

The hosts rounded off a mad 13-minute spell for the Bards by adding a fourth, with Williams unlucky to divert Cowley’s cross into his own net. By now the Glassboys faithful among the 465-strong crowd were in full voice as a stunned Stratford didn’t know what had hit them.

That said, Lita had the chance to pull one back as the game entered stoppage time. Latching on to a long through ball, he only had the onrushing Price to beat, but could only stab wide of the mark.

The Bards now have a blank weekend before returning to league action with a home game against Leiston on Saturday, 19th March (3pm kick-off).

STOURBRIDGE: Price, Vaughan, Wilson, Hull, Rowley, King, Cook (Brown 84), McQuilkin, Styche, Cowley, Moran (Knights 57). Unused subs: Rowe-Turner, O’Hanlon, Forsyth.

STRATFORD: O’Brien, Wilson, Bushaj, Sammons, Turner, Williams, Storer (Fry 72), Lafferty, Lita, Grocott, Dawes. Unused subs: Beresford, Okoro, James, O’Regan.

ATTENDANCE: 465