Leaders set to challenge Studley in top two clash

STUDLEY host Midland Football League leaders Congleton Town at the Beehive on Saturday and manager Mike Fowler hopes his side will have learnt from their previous encounter .

A six-match unbeaten league run has lifted the Bees up to second in the table albeit ten points behind their Staffordshire opponents who head south looking to win their seventh league game in a row.

Fowler said: “When we played them at their place, we were top, and they were second. We lost 1-0 to a controversial 97th minute penalty although they probably deserved to win on the day. We were a little bit more defensive going away from home and probably tried not to lose the game rather than trying to win it and that was a bit of a learning curve and I take responsibility for that.

“After that game we spoke about managing emotions in the bigger games. We didn’t recover and went on to record four losses on the bounce which, if you look at the ten-point gap between the two teams now, probably showed our vulnerabilities and inexperience a little.

“If you look at the season as a whole, we are very much momentum-based. In the early part of the season we won eight out of the first ten but we then didn’t win another for probably six weeks. We are now six unbeaten again.

“It’s as though the players are on a crest of a wave but when a wave knocks them off, they spend a bit of time underwater before getting back on again and that’s just the journey of football.”