REDDITCH Kingfishers were beaten 4-2 by local rivals Bromsgrove as a youthful squad suffered defeat in the Men’s Summer League.
The Kingfishers fielded a team that included a mix of players from all of the mens’ squads with junior players given the opportunity to learn from more senior figures.
And whilst Redditch were never ahead, the Kingfishers produced a valiant display but were ultimately made to pay by a clinical Bromsgrove attack.
Bromsgrove went ahead after just five minutes when a well-worked pass cut between the Redditch defence and keeper to allow the attacker to deflect the ball home.
And Bromsgrove thought they had doubled their lead from a short corner on 20 minutes as the ball deflected high into the Redditch net from a low, hard shot only for the goal to be disallowed much to the bemusement of the crowd.
Redditch capitalised on their good fortune to equalise shortly after when a short corner of their own was well finished by Chris Thomas.
And Redditch defended well following their goal, keeping several short corners in quick succession at bay with Bromsgrove unable to reclaim the lead.
However, Grove eventually restored their advantage on the counter attack against the run of play after a period of heavy Redditch pressure that forced the Bromsgrove keeper into a number of smart saves.
Trailing 2-1 at the interval, Redditch conceded again at the start of the second period after they were caught out by another Bromsgrove counter attack from a short corner.
Redditch responded through Jack Gwyer as he drove into the circle before striking the ball low and hard underneath the keeper from Wayne Beard’s through pass.
And the Kingfishers came agonisingly close to a leveller with both Daniel Jakeman and Paul Markham denied by fine saves.
However, Bromsgrove put the game to bed late on with Redditch caught on the counter for a third time as Joe Cardy made a superb initial save only for the follow up to be turned home after a Grove player landed on the Redditch keeper.
