Hockey
Troth at the double in Bromsgrove win

Bromsgrove 4 Evesham 1

MRHA West Midlands Two

TWO Karl Troth goals helped Bromsgrove maintain their unbeaten start to the season with victory over Evesham on Saturday.

Bromsgrove, who travel to Oswestry tomorrow, sit a point clear after winning seven and drawing two of their nine starts so far and were boosted by the return of defensive duo Stu White and Mikey Woods in time for the visit of Evesham.

Despite their fine run of form, Bromsgrove made a nervy start against their lowly opponents and Evesham created a good opening from a short corner but a superb tackle from Nigel Johns eased the danger.

In fact, the tackle set up Bromsgrove’s opening goal as the ball was worked to Bruce Turner and Rammy Arafa before finding its way to Mathew Russell to coolly slot home.

Once ahead Bromsgrove stepped up a gear, moving the ball swiftly around the pitch which resulted in them creating further openings.

A trademark Bevan Edwards from a short corner looked destined to make it 2-0 but was stopped on the line by a foot which resulted in a penalty stroke.

Arafa made no mistake in firing home but Evesham pulled one back from a short corner to give them renewed hope.

Their hope was short-lived though as Turner distributed the ball cleverly from the back, finding Edwards in the middle of the park and he released Troth who showed great pace before slotting past the keeper.

Troth grabbed his second of the game and seventh of the season in the 27th minute when linking up with Russell to finish at the back post.

The second half proved to be a much tamer affair with few openings being created other than Tom Jennings being left to tap in at the back post, though his celebrations were cut short as he had a foot in the D.

Reflecting on the victory, captain Arafa said: “We created a lot more chances than the scoreline suggests today and I am happy with goals coming from everywhere in the team.”

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