British Gas Business Division One Midlands
Tuesday 29th August 2006 - 7:45 p.m. kick-off
Stourport Swifts 0 Bromsgrove Rovers 2
By Phil Baker

Both teams started the match at a fast and furious pace but it was the visitors who settled into a pattern quicker and held sway for much the rest of the game. Unfortunately they could not convert their marginal superiority into goals and the first half ended goal-less. There were a few chances with Neil Davis being involved in most of the action. He had two reasonable chances on 14 and 25 minutes but the well-organised Stourport defence prevented him to making much of an attempt on their goal. The home side relied more on solid defending with quick counter attacks and it nearly paid off on 19 minutes when Kevin Brookes put Matty Webb through but he fired wide of Matt Coleman.

Having learned something of a lesson from the fist 45 minutes Rovers appeared to put their knowledge to good use after the break moving the ball round well and making more use of quick passes to undo the Stourport defence. Their persistence paid off on 59 minutes when Daire Doyle put in a fabulous cross that was powerfully head home by Neil Davis.

With Stourport needing to move more out of their own half, Wayne Dyer brought a stabilising influence in mid-field keeping possession and making a good number of passes. The home side, despite a few good moves were unable to get past a resolute away defence. Moving up for a free kick, Joe Williams should have had his first of the season when his powerful header was cleared of the line by substitute Peter Taylor. Swifts nearly got an equaliser in added time when a good move saw Any Burgess send a hard shot just over the bar. However it was Rovers who had the last say when a Wayne Dyer sent Richard Burgess down the left, he pulled the ball back to Daire Doyle who capped a fine game with an deserved goal from 10 yards.

Stourport Swifts (4-4-2): 1 Michael Langford, 2 Craig Webb, 3 Mark Swann, 4 Lee Knight,
5 Lee Wooley, 6 Matty Webb (Craig Marshall 45 mins), 7 Mark Hands, 8 Shaun Findlay,
9 Kevin Brookes (Andy Burgess 85 mins), 10 Richard Coldwell, 11 Adam Robinson (Peter Taylor 73 mins)
Subs not used: 15 Daniel Harvey, 17 Paul Fryer (G/K)

Rovers (3-5-2): 1 Dean Coleman, 2 James Smith, 3 Joe Williams, 4 Chris McHale,
5 Carl Heeley, 6 Stuart Skidmore (Wayne Dyer 63 mins), 7 Daire Doyle, 8 Mark Taylor,
9 Nathan Lamey, 10 Neil Davis  (Richard Burgess 45 mins), 11 Liam McDonald (Kevin Banner 71 mins)
Subs not used: 12 John Snape

Scorers: Rovers - Davis 59 mins, Doyle 90+3 mins
Yellows: Swifts - Knight, Wooley; Rovers - Lamey

Attendance: 257
Referee: Mr A J Horton (Wolverhampton)

Baker's MoM for Rovers: Daire Doyle