FOR the ‘first time in a year’ Bromsgrove Sporting striker Richard Gregory is enjoying his football again.
And can you blame the former Stratford Town hot-shot?
Since signing from Stafford Rangers on a permanent deal, the 28-year-old has scored in ten consecutive games with the latest of his 17 goals in 13 appearances coming in yesterday’s (Saturday) 3-0 victory at Shawbury United.
The former Leamington and Rugby Town frontman netted either side of half time as Paul Smith’s men cemented their spot at the summit of the Midland League Premier Division.
REPORT – Gregory scores in tenth consecutive game as Bromsgrove Sporting ease to 3-0 win at Shawbury
But Gregory admitted he did not even know how many games he had scored consecutively in until last week.
“Someone told me I had scored in nine consecutive games so I thought it would be nice to make it ten,” he said.
“Now that I have done that, hopefully I can keep it going and score in every game because I love scoring goals.
“As long as the lads keep creating the chances for me I am sure I will score like I always have done.”
Take nothing away from Gregory, scoring for that many games consecutively, no matter the level, is an amazing fete.
“I don’t think I have ever scored in that many games in a row – maybe at Sunday league level when I was younger,” he said.
“From a personal point of view it is good and the more I score, the more I go out onto the pitch thinking ‘go and grab another today’.
“Like I already mentioned, I have good players around me which helps and if they keep creating I will keep banging them in.”
Remarkably, there has only been one time when Gregory has failed to find the net in a Sporting shirt.
After joining on an emergency loan earlier in the season, he scored twice in a 3-1 victory over Stourport Swifts but then drew a blank in the 2-0 defeat at Coventry Sphinx.
In that match, Joe Ward missed a penalty when it was 1-0 to Sphinx and Gregory felt things could have been different if he had taken the spot-kick.
“I made the gaffer (Paul Smith) laugh because I told him if he had let me take the penalty I would have scored in every game for Sporting and we would have had another point on the board,” he said.
“I am on 17 goals for the season now so hopefully I will keep on going and can get more than 25.
“The goals are not only important for me, but they are important for the team and if I am scoring in games then more than likely we are going to win.”
There is no doubting there is a huge smile on Gregory’s face as Sporting enter the business end of the season.
And the clinical finisher admits it has been quite some time since he had a grin as big as a Cheshire cat from football.
“I told Paul for the first time in a year that I am really starting to enjoy playing again,” he said.
“Bromsgrove is a good place to be right now.
“I am going home every Saturday really happy.”
With just 16 league games to go and some big matches against Coleshill, Worcester City and Sporting Khalsa on the horizon, Gregory believes Sporting have what it takes to remain calm and clinch the league crown.
“The only way we will come unstuck is if we lose games ourselves,” he added.
“The pitches are not great at this time of the year so we have got to make sure we put the fight in and work hard.
“As long as we do that, our ability will always come through.”
