Striker adds to tally as Town defenders shine
Stratford Town 2 Berkhamsted 1
THERE’S no stopping Callum Ebanks at the moment. The Stratford striker scored twice to steer the Bards to victory, a quick-fire double that took his tally to 20 for the season.
But while the in-form striker was taking the plaudits for another clinical display in front of goal, the win had more to do with performances at the other end of the field where experienced defensive pair Liam Daly and Chris Hussey were excellent.
Daly was rock solid in the centre alongside skipper Paul McCone while former Walsall favourite Hussey seamlessly switched to left-back where his link up with Alex Worley caused all sorts of issues for the visitors’ defence.
Berkhamsted chances proved few and far between but they still managed to take the lead on 20 minutes when a mistake by McCone allowed Max Bustamante in on goal and although his first shot was pushed away by Bards keeper Callum Smith, the Chilean striker tucked away the rebound.
Former Stratford midfielder Ross Oulton curled an effort just wide but other than those chances inside the opening half hour, it was very much one-way traffic.
Daly just missed out with a header soon after and then, as half-time approaches, Ebanks headed a corner over the target and then forced a decent save from Berkhamsted keeper Jamie Head with Jamie Molyneux failing to get a foot on the rebound.
Bards boss Gavin Hurren tinkered with the formation at the start of the second half in a bid to force their way back into the game.
On 53 minutes, a pin-point Hussey corner found Daly climbing high above the visitors’ defence only for his header to hit the crossbar. Then, two minutes later, Worley dragged an effort across the face of goal.
The pressure was mounting and it came as no surprise when the equaliser finally came on the hour. Another gem of a set-piece from Hussey, this time a free-kick into the six-yard box, eluded the Berkhamsted defence and Ebanks was on hand to direct the ball into the net.
The striker bagged his second just eight minutes later, latching onto a Lewis Ison through ball before calmly lifting his shot over Head as the keeper looked to narrow the angle.
The goals sucked the life out of the visitors whose hopes of surviving the drop are rapidly receding. Worley had an effort blocked and another deflected over the bar while Hussey sent a free-kick a fraction too high.
The win, coupled with play-off rivals Leamington’s game being postponed, hoisted the Bards back into the top five ahead of Saturday’s trip to another side struggling near the foot of the table, Kettering Town.
Stratford: Smith, Wilson, Worley, Daly, McCone, Hussey, Lafferty, Hawker (Barkers 90), Ebanks (Hewlett 85), Ison, Molyneux (Coyle 68). Subs (not used): Clutterbuck, Lamb.
Berkhamsted: Head, Newton (Frederick 74), Williams, Oulton (Chamberlain 86), McCelland, Da Silva, Sandiford, Newman, Bateman, Bustamante, Lawal (Matthews 63). Subs (not used): Martin, Toomey.
Referee: Lewis Mountain
Attendance: 733
Bards Star Man: Liam Daly
Opposition Star Man: Kyal Williams
