A fabulous start to the season for Bromsgrove Sporting who went to Banbury Road last Tuesday and came home with three well-taken points.
As emphatic as the scoreline appears, the Rouslers did not have it all their own way. The home side were the slightly brighter in the first few minutes and could have had a couple of early goals but for Alex Roberts blasting over the bar and Sporting 'keeper Jake Bedford making a brilliant save in a one-to-one with lively Banbury striker Simeon Smith.
The game though turned in the away side's favour on 25 minutes when the Southam defence only managed to clear Jake Bedford's upfield punt to Will Tibbetts on the corner of their penalty area. The midfielder wasted no time in half-volleying from 30 yards over the heads of the defence into the top right corner leaving Southam 'keeper Andrew Skerratt no chance.
Skerratt was then unfortunate to get a shoulder injury and had to be substituted which appeared to upset the rhythm of the home side though with former Rousler George Curry controlling the mid-field for them, they still looked dangerous on the break.
Ten minutes after the interval Southam were still attempting to get the equaliser probably a bit too enthusiastically and that resulted in Andy Wilson King taking an early bath after a two-footed tackle.
Sporting capitalised on their numeric advantage and extended their lead on the 58th minute when Jacob Snape's shot was adjudged to have crossed the line after hitting the underside of the bar.
Tibbetts got his second and Sporting's third eight minutes later and again in fine style with a perfectly executed free kick over the wall from 25 yards out.
Stefan Ashman then put the game way beyond Southam's reach with fifteen minutes to go when he beat three defenders on the left wing before coolly blasting home into the top right hand corner of the net.
After the match, joint manager Adrian Mander praised his players for a hard-working and disciplined performance that gave them a deserved win.
Southam: Andrew Skerratt (Keiran Conway 32 mins), Brad Rees, Lee Thomas (capt), Jamie Coleman, Andy Wilson-King, Tom Leaver, Marc Passey, Alex Roberts (Pawel Tomczak 50 mins), Simeon Smith, George Curry, Chris Wilson-King (Ryan Caputo 85 mins)
Subs not used: Jamie Delahunty, Steve Thomas
Sporting: Jake Bedford, Chris Duggan, Danny Edwards, Lewis Clarke (Karl Gardner 77 mins), Toby Checketts, Luke Darby, Will Tibbetts, Sam Wilkinson, Jacob Snape (Seb Craven 83 mins), Matt Poyner (Danny Priest 74 mins), Stefan Ashman.
Subs not used: Brett Mander, Chris Gleadow.
