Football
Sporting hit back to extend winning run

Buy photos » Jon Rogers and Mike Thurbon join in the celebrations after Andy Nicol found the target at Brocton. Picture by Rob McLaren.

Brocton 2 Bromsgrove Sporting 3

Midland Combination Premier Division

SPORTING fought back brilliantly after making the worst possible start on Saturday to pick up three points on their return to action after an enforced three-week break.

Having played three games more, the victory sent Sporting joint top of the table with Walsall Wood but they had to hit back from conceding twice inside the first four minutes in order to emerge victorious.

Brocton opened the scoring from their first attack when Jordan Bloor's excellent cross from the left led to Sporting's Mike Thurbon steering the ball into his own net.

Things went from bad to worse two minutes later when David Berks skipped past three defenders before feeding team-mate Daniel Lomas to give Tom Savage no chance in Sporting's goal.

That seemed to be the moment that brought Sporting to life though as they got themselves back in the game from that point.

They pulled one back in the 15th minute when Lee Dunkley went past two defenders before feeding Jon Rogers to beat keeper Adam Whitehouse and more chances soon followed as they went in search of an equaliser.

Brocton continued to threaten as well though with Joe Pickering and Matt Ross going close before Chrisi Conway failed to find a gap at the effort end with a shot that bounced off a defender's leg and to safety.

Sporting drew level a couple of minutes into the second half when Conway chased down Dunkley's searching pass and after winning possession was tackled by Sam Fleming which resulted in the ball running loose to Andy Nicol who gleefully hammered home.

The game was completed turned on its head ten minutes later when Sporting went ahead for the first time on the afternoon thanks to the hard-working Conway who saw his shot beat Whitehouse after flying through a crowded penalty area.

Brocton introduced a couple of strikers in an attempt to get back into the match but whilst their fast breaks out of defence proved threatening, Sporting's defence was not much better organised than in the opening couple of minutes and they kept them at bay.

James Turk had a couple of chances to extend Sporting's lead but one shot was brilliantly cleared off the line by Andrew Chandler whilst the other was well-saved by Whitehouse.

The final whistle signalled an end to an entertaining contest and saw Sporting make it eighth wins in a row in all competitions, despite looking down and out so early in the match.

Sporting entertain Lichfield City on Saturday (3pm) whilst the Reserves, who overcame Droitwich Spa 8-1 on Saturday thanks to Dan Wilkes, Jovan Blake-Walker (2), Shane Bennett (2), Joe Brookes (2) and an own goal, tackle their Reserves away from home in league action this week.

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