The Pitching-In Southern League Premier Division Central, Saturday 7th January 2023, 3:00 p.m. kick-off
Hitchin Town 2 (1) Bromsgrove Sporting 0 (0) at the Top Field
Following a big gap in fixtures, Bromsgrove Sporting took the journey to Hitchin Town for their first game of 2023 writes Shaunna-Grace Murphy.
Rouslers' manager Michael McGrath named a strong line-up which included new loanee Ayo Lekuti who joins from the Northampton Town Academy. Ayo who can play in either defence or midfield, had impressed the management team in training and with his versatility, so his place in the team was well-deserved.
Prior to the game both teams observed a one-minute silence for former Sporting star Cody Fisher who sadly lost his life on Boxing Day.
Hitchin kicked the game off and really started on the front foot; they had a lot to prove following three consecutive defeats and they opened the scoreline on the 33rd minute. Initially it looked as if Sporting's midfielder Mo Sebbeh had been taken down but referee Mr Kyle waved the protests away. Hitchin took this momentum catching Sporting off-guard after a defensive deflection fell to Diogo Freitas Gouveia who slotted their first goal past Ollie Taylor into the bottom right-hand corner.
The Canaries continued to press for a second whilst Sporting though were very quiet and struggled to maintain possession of the ball meaning that striker Dan Sweeney had a relatively uneventful first 45 minutes.
Going into the second half there was trouble for the away side as captain Tom Taylor was taken off with what appeared to be a hamstring injury; Jack Newell was the man to replace him.
Well in the second period and still not finding their rhythm, Sporting made two further changes with Brandon Smalley and Joe Curtis making way for Jack Tolley and Ryan Edmunds.
However it was the Canaries who still had the upper hand and they made that count on fifty-one minutes when a delightful cross from Toby Syme saw a peach of a header from Ashley Hay double their lead and offer some relief from recent worries.
Sporting rallied for the remainder of the half with Tolley having the best effort of the match for his team putting a powerful drive just over the bar. They did manage to get the ball in the net late on only to see the assistant referee waving his flag for offside.
It was not a bad performance from The Rouslers but they were up against a rejuvenated home side and they will have to reflect that it was in fact "one of those days!
Sporting hopefully are now ready to bounce back with three consecutive home games upcoming starting with Evesham United in the Worcestershire Senior Cup quarter-final.
Sporting line-up: Ollie Taylor, Kieron Dawes, Ayo Lekuti, Joe Curtis (Jack Tolley 62 mins), Tom Taylor (Capt, Jack Newell 46 mins), Mike McGrath, Ammar Dyer, Mo Njie, Dan Sweeney, Brandon Smalley, (Ryan Edmunds 75 mins) Miro Pais. Unused substitutes: Dom Perkins, Callum King-Harmes.
Referee: Mr S Kyle
Crowd: 473
