British Gas Business Division One Midlands
Tuesday 22nd August 2006 - 7:45 p.m. kick-off
Bromsgrove Rovers 3 Rushall Olympic 1
By Steve Riddick (Sporting Journalists)

Man of the match and two goal hero Chris McHale put Rovers on the way to maximum points against a hard working Rushall side at The Victoria Ground. McHale scored his first goals for The Greens with two headers, one in each half and with a Richard Burgess strike sandwiched in between put Bromsgrove in pole position at the top of the league table at this early stage of the season.

The Greens took the lead in the 8th minute, when McHale profited on a mistake by goalkeeper Chris Gemmell fumbling Kevin Banner's in swinging corner to power his header past two defenders on the line. Nathan Lamey, two goal hero from Saturday, tried to add to his tally but Gemmell parried his effort away. Burgess tried to turn the rebound home but could only turn the ball wide of the post in the 19th minute. Rovers almost added to their score in the 23rd minute Burgess raced down the right wing, his cross into the area almost found Wayne Dyer, who just failed to get any contact on the ball.

Rushall had their first real attempt on goal in the 29th minute when Ex-Rover's player Brian Gray attempted an over-head kick that looped over the crossbar. Bromsgrove were running rampant down both wings but the final ball was too close to the goalkeeper Gemmell.

Rovers doubled their advantage in the 39th minute. McHale broke up a Rushall attack and played a delightful through ball over the Olympic's defence for Burgess to beat the offside trap and clinically slotted the ball past the advancing keeper into the bottom corner of the net. There was a scare for Rovers in the 41st minute when Tim Jackson's corner was fumbled by Dean Coleman but the keeper recovered the ball before Tyrone Barnett could capitalise. Daire Doyle had a shot on the turn from the edge of the area which was well saved by Gemmell just before the half time break.

Bromsgrove made a disastrous start to the second half by allowing tThe Olympics to reduce the lead. A defensive mix-up by Paul Carty and Coleman, both players left the ball for each other to clear and allowed Barnett nipped in to claim the ball and walk the ball into the empty net after 48 minutes. Rushall took full advantage of Rovers nervy start. Lewis Baker fired over from close range after Coleman had blocked his first effort in the 50th minute. Three minutes later Richard Brown crashed a shot against the post after Rovers failed to clear Jackson's corner. Rushall kept the pressure on forcing Bromsgrove into some desperate defending, but did not really test Rovers keeper Coleman.

Rovers almost stole a third goal after Doyle put Dyer in the clear but Gemmell was quickly off his line to deny the midfielder in the 59th minute. A minute later Lamey, with a smart turn on the edge, flashed an effort over the crossbar. A Burgess effort just cleared the crossbar after running onto MaHale's quickly taken free-kick in the 73rd minute. Lamey headed over from Doyle's free-kick after Rob Vassell manhandled the striker on the edge of the box.

In the 88th minute Rovers settled the match. Banner's curling free-kick was turned around the post by Gemmell, who was helpless from the resulting corner when McHale ran through unmarked to head his second and Rovers third to wrap maximum points.

Bromsgrove Rovers: 1 D Coleman, 2 J Smith, 3 C McHale, 4 P Carty, 5 C Heeley, 
6 J Snape (R Erraji 75 mins), 7 W, Dyer, 8 D Doyle, 9 N Lamey, 10 R Burgess (N Davis 89 mins), 11 K Banner
Subs  Unused :- 14 J Williams, 16 L McDonald, 17 S Skidmore

Rushall Olympic: 1 C Gemmell, 2 S Truman (16 J O'Conner 75), 3 T Jackson, 4 R Brown,
5 R Vassell, 6 S Hillman, 7 L Baker (N Kitching 82 mins), 8 R Holdscroft, 9 T Barnett,
10 B Gray, 11 C Sheppard (M Myers 72 mins).
Subs Unused: 14 J Lee,  15 C Millington

Attendance: 301
Referee: Ms S Ihringova (Telford )