Football
Bees looking to bounce back

STUDLEY travel to Cradley Town in the FA Vase first qualifying round tomorrow looking to bounce back from a disappointing Bank Holiday weekend.

The Bees were beaten 4-1 by higher ranked Southern League Division One Central outfit Rugby Town in the FA Cup preliminary round at the Beehive on Saturday before slumping to a 3-0 Midland Alliance loss at home to high-flying Stratford Town on Monday.

The league loss leaves Lee Knight's side in 15th place in the table with five points from six matches.

Studley included former Stratford men Leon Thomas and Myron Semper, but of particular note was the appearance of last season's Town youth team keeper Sam Brady.

A quick start from the visitors saw them win three corners inside the first 90 seconds but none of them brought any reward, whilst Studley had to wait ten minutes to threaten when the pacy Semper began causing problems down the left.

The hosts had a good chance to go ahead two minutes later when a long ball forward caught the defence napping and allowed Semper a clear run at goal but he was unable to beat Chris Jay in the Stratford goal.

That was to prove the hosts' best chance of the game as Town began dominating midfield thanks to Aaron Forde and Joe Halsall, whilst Tony Robinson was always a threat in attack.

It was some typical Robinson trickery that created Town's best chance of the opening half hour which ended with him feeding Halsall whose shot beat the keeper but clipped the outside of the post.

Halsall did not have to wait much longer to put Town ahead though as a 34th minute move began with a fine Dan Kerrigan run before the ball broke to former Studley man Jamie Bailey who crossed for the midfielder to give Brady no chance with a bullet header.

Rather than sit on their 1-0 lead, Town pushed for a second and almost got it through Kerrigan but his useful effort was deflected just wide.

The visitors had the ever-increasing wind in their favour in the second half but the elements had little to do with Town's second goal of the game which came from a 53rd minute penalty.

Kerrigan did well to work his way into the box once more before being fouled by Thomas and Robinson confidently fired home from the sport.

Matt Collins' long range effort was not far away in a rare Studley attack but Stratford were soon on the front foot again with Ricky Baker powering a header against the post before glancing a second effort just wide.

He had better luck in the 75th minute though when Robinson's low volley from Chris Lait's corner was pushed out by Brady and Baker reacted quickest to convert the rebound and secure all three points.

In Saturday's cup game Rugby got off to the perfect start when Alex Gudger scored his first goal for the club, converting Craig Kelly’s fine cross in the eighth minute.

Studley responded well and almost drew level when Ross Dempster’s shot flew wide before captain Scott Turner blazed an effort way over.

Rugby went on to dominate the rest of the half, enjoying good possession and creating a host of chances, amongst them Seb Hamilton turned two defenders before forcing a good save from keeper Brady.

It came as no surprise when Rugby doubled their lead three minutes before the break with Seb Lake-Gaskin scoring his fourth goal in three games. The striker showed good pace to shrug off the slower defenders before delivering a cracking shot past Brady.

A double substitution early in the second half gave Studley a boost and Semper pulled one back with a beautiful curling shot beyond Dave Bevan.

With Studley back in the game, Rugby needed to step up a gear and they duly did when Fazel Koriya scored from the penalty spot in the 69th minute after James Robbins handled in the box.

Richard Blythe had already seen a goal disallowed by that stage but the midfielder capped a fine performance individually when striking home confidently after being fed by Lake-Gaskin.

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