BROMSGROVE Sporting manager Brendan Kelly paid tribute to his man in-form Jason Cowley, after the forward recently surpassed the 100-goal landmark for the club.
The striker netted his 100th and 101st goals for the Rouslers during the 5-0 thrashing of North Leigh at the weekend, which helped keep Sporting top of the Southern League Division One Central.
Kelly was left enthused by Cowley’s impact on Saturday, and hailed his spectacular achievement.
“He’s done it in no time at all, it’s very rare that you get a player at this level reaching that kind of landmark.
“But he’s done it, and I’m delighted for all the accolades he gets. With Richard (Gregory) injured in recent weeks, he’s just kept firing the goals for us.
“It’s a matter of time until someone picks him up, but in the meantime he’s our player and we’re delighted to have him – I’m delighted for his landmark.”
Looking back over the performance of his side last weekend, Kelly was left pleased by the standard on show by his team and how clinical they were with their chances.
“Considering we had four first-team starters missing on Saturday, I’m over the moon.
“We went 3-0 up after 13 minutes, and by that point the game was done, by half-time we were 5-0 up and at that point it’s easy for players to stop working.
“But we maintained standards, so I’m extremely pleased that we didn’t get complacent, even though it’s frustrating that we didn’t add more in the second-half.
Victory over North Leigh was their sixth win on the bounce, whilst keeping three clean sheets and conceding just one in their last four games.
The Rouslers boss believes his side can maintain the defensive solidity that they’ve had in recent games, and said it had been a gradual process over the course of the season to achieve the defensive standards seen now.
“We’re a different side to the one we had at the start of the season, our mentality is stronger than it was in August.
“That’s not being disrespectful to the lads, but it was something that we needed to work on, we’ve worked on that on the training pitch as a whole.
“The team has implemented that to their credit, and it plays a big part in remaining solid as a team and improving our defensive displays.”
Sporting were backed by a crowd of just over 1,000 spectators at the Victoria Ground on Saturday, and praised the impact that the Rouslers faithful have had on the club as a whole.
“Me and Andy (Mason) had an idea of how we wanted to play at the start of the season, which we’ve worked on in training, and the lads have done that.
“Along the way we’ve listened to feedback from the players, the board and the fans about how we play, and the average attendance is increasing every week, which can only be a good thing.
“We hope they keep coming back, I’ve had positive references from people who have visited for the first time recently, who said the football is value for money, and we welcome all newcomers down to the Victoria Ground.
“To get a crowd that big packed into the stadium at this level is incredible, and we can’t thank the fans enough.”
Sporting have a weekend free of action, as the other clubs in the league play catch-up around them, with Kelly feeling grateful for the opportunity to assess the squad.
“It’s a timeout for us for a few injuries in some ways, we’ve had a few niggles in the team and a few players that have deserved rest, but we will try and keep it as normal a week as possible.
“Then we’ll get to the training ground as much as possible next week, in preparation for the game against Welwyn.”
