A tough match for Sporting who found their opponents to be hard-working and resilient but in the end it was Jason Cowley’s class that gave then the victory writes Phil Baker.
A bit like a boxing bout with fighters sizing each other up for the first fifteen minutes with little action around the goalmouths but soon after things began to liven up with the first chance falling to Sean Brain when his shot cleared of the line. Then a couple of minutes later Pershore ‘keeper Toby Wilcox did well to keep a poor back pass out of his net after Shaun Griffiths mis-kicked.
Using boxing analogies again, both teams then exchanged a few blows with Brain, Jack Wilson and Aaron Roberts going close for the visitors whilst Scott Devlin and Callum Devlin for the home side had weak shots easily saved by Reece Francis.
The deadlock was broken with 40 minutes on the clock as James Walker hoisted a long ball into the Bromsgrove half. Pershore striker Pawel Tomczak ignored it as he was blatantly offside but then raced into the Sporting box as the defence failed to clear and as the ball ran to Daniel Priest he had an easy tap home. Protests from the Sporting dugout that Tomczak had interfered with the play and gained an unfair advantage were to no avail as referee Mr Clarke pointed to the centre spot.
A couple of minutes later, Pershore doubled their lead as Scott Devlin made a perfect cross to the far post from the left where the ball was met by Tomczak who blasted home with a powerful header.
However the advantage only lasted two minutes as Robbie Bunn picked up a loose ball on the edge of the box and drove home under the diving Wilcox.
For the second half, Sporting has the majority of the possession and kept Pershore pinned back in their own half but with tight-marking and well-timed tackles chances were few.
In the 63rd minute, Jason Cowley gained a penalty for the Rouslers after being pushed over by Scott Devlin, however Wilcox guessed correctly and dived left to save Connor Dears spot kick. A minute later though Sporting made amends as Brain dummied a couple of defenders before burying his angled drive well beyond Wilcox for the equaliser.
In attempting to gain the lead Sporting had numerous opportunities that went begging but it fell to Cowley with a classy effort from the edge of the box when he curled delightful shot in to the top right-hand corner of Wilcox’ net to give his side the lead.
And so the scoreline remained until Mr Clarke blew for full-time after 4 added minutes.
A more difficult than expected match for Sporting who made seven changes to the team that lined up last Saturday with new players Guy Clark looking solid in defence and youngster Nathan Binner giving a good account of himself in mid-field.
Pershore: Toby Wilcox, Cameron Matthewson, Jordan Hayward, James Walker, Shaun Griffiths (Capt.), Chris Whittaker, Scott Devlin (Reece Bufton 68 mins), David Wilson, Pawel Tomczak, Daniel Priest (Mitchel Butterworth 65 mins), Callum Devlin (Chris Goode 74 mins).
Substitutes not used: Will Stallard, Adam Lapajne.
Goals: Daniel Priest (40 mins), Pawel Tomczak (42 mins)
Yellow: Chris Whittaker (80 mins).
Sporting: Reece Francis, Aaron Roberts, Jack Wilson, Nathan Binner (Max Tranter 64 mins), Guy Clark, Danny Morris (Craig Jones 46 mins), John Pykett (Jason Cowley 46 mins), Robbie Bunn, Sean Brain, Connor Deards, Reece Hewitt (Capt.)
Substitutes not used: Brendon Bunn, Marco Zizzi.
Goals: Robbie Bunn (44 mins), Sean Brain (64 mins), Jason Cowley (85 mins)
Yellows: Reece Hewitt (60 mins).
Referee: Mr A Clarke (King’s Heath)
Assistants Mr R Usher (Quedgley), Mr J Claytor (Worcester)
Crowd: 150
Weather: Cool, dry.
Sporting Man of the Match: Robbie Bunn
