QUICKFIRE STRIKE ROCKS ROCESTER

Stourbridge 4 Rocester 1

ROCESTER’S recent mini-revival was brought to a predictable halt by Midland Alliance promotion-chasers Stourbridge, writes IAN CRUDDAS.

But despite the result, the only real difference between the performances of the two teams was the goalscoring prowess of Mark Bellingham, who notched all four goals for the hosts and who has failed to find the net in only one of their last 14 games.

Stourbridge were gifted the first goal inside 10 seconds as Bellingham was allowed to stroll through the Romans defence and place a shot past keeper Paul Wood.

The visitors, however, recovered well from this early setback and enjoyed as much possession as the home team without creating a real scoring chance.

Stourbridge went close to increasing their lead shortly before the interval following a left-wing corner but Wood made a fine reflex save from Bellingham’s powerful header and Gavin Reynolds cleared the follow-up shot off the line.

After the break, Rocester, with the wind against them, were frequently under pressure and they fell further behind on 52 minutes when a missed clearance by Mick Ede left Bellingham with the chance to beat Wood once again.

Twelve minutes later, Bellingham completed his hat-trick when he correctly judged a bad bounce of the ball to lob a shot over Wood.

Rocester stunned the home supporters with just over 10 minutes to go when Richard Owen’s free-kick into the penalty area was neatly headed home by Adam Baum.

But only a minute later, they found their voices again again as Bellingham lashed home his fourth goal from the edge of the box.

His immediate substitution thereafter brought an end to the scoring but Stourbridge still finished the game strongly with a series of corner kicks.

There are still points to be gained by Rocester in their remaining nine league games in which they are unlikely to face another striker of Bellingham’s quality, but Westfields' surprise 3-2 victory over Leamington sent Michael Rowe's team back to the bottom of the table.

GOALS: Bellingham 1, 52, 64, 80 (Stourbridge); Baum 79 (Romans).

ROMANS: Wood, Owen, Reynolds (Moran 85), Braithwaite, Allen (Caswell 45), Ede, Milward (Tortoishell 79), Collins, Ruddock, Baum, Skelding. Subs not used: Barnett, Alcock.

STOURBRIDGE: Lewis, Jones, Ford, Brookes, Field, Bannett, Rook (Rogers 74), Broadhurst (Frost 83), Bellingham (A Wright 80), How, Bastable. Subs not used: Nicholls, S Wright.

ROMANS FORM RATING: average.

ROMANS STAR MAN: Richard Owen — rarely a wasted pass.

BOOKINGS: Rocester — Ruddock (clumsy tackle).

REFEREE: Mr. S Castle (Wolverhampton).

ATTENDANCE: 120.

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