Saturday, October 5, 2002

IT'S often said - in many walks of life - that when one door closes, another one opens.

But not so in the case of Bromsgrove Rovers who, for the second week in succession, have seen a possible lucrative road to cup riches blocked off by opponents who were far more resourceful.

No one at the Victoria Ground would have really expected a long march along the FA Cup road to Cardiff, but there was considerable cause for optimism that the FA Trophy offered a more realistic route for bringing in a few welcome cash bonuses.

That this journey failed to get beyond last Saturday's 1-0 preliminary round exit was due in no small measure to a Banbury United outfit that had obviously done its homework and also because what had until the past couple of matches been a well oiled Rovers machine, this time failed to fire on all cylinders.

In truth it was a very disappointing display by Bromsgrove with far too many players having on off day.

Teams can usually cope when perhaps a couple are under-performing, but not when the malaise spreads to more than half the side.

They began brightly enough, as did Banbury, and the stage looked set for a cracking encounter. But, as matters progressed, you sensed that throughout the Rovers a little self-belief began to drain away as the occasional chance came and went, and more and more passes went astray or were inadvertently deflected or intercepted.

Banbury, of the Dr Martens Eastern Division, were purposeful, resilient and fully-committed. And they also had a game plan, which worked supremely well.

They denied Rovers space to work the ball in, chased and harried all over the park, and the flanks - areas where Mark Benbow and Kevin Banner have helped provide a flow of scoring opportunities in recent games - became cluttered no-go areas.

With that source of supply cut off, Rovers were left with a long ball strategy and little else, and with the absence of a towering player up front, Banbury - so well organised, well drilled and with steely resolve - easily repelled this mode of attack too.

Banbury's match winning goal also arrived too early for out of sorts Rovers, who paid the price for failing to clear Corbett's 12th minute free kick from close by the right wing corner flag. As the home side dithered, the ball ran free to O'Neill on the left and his cross, clipped back into the six yard box, found their free-scoring French striker Norman Sylla unmarked to easily head down and past the helpless Matt Lowe.

Heart of defence

From that point on Rovers were always chasing the game, a cause not helped by a struggling Stewart Brighton, normally a lynch-pin at the heart of the defence, who was clearly carrying an injury and did not re-appear after the break.

Rovers could not be faulted for effort, and with Steve Pope doing his best to rally them, their heads didn't drop. Les Palmer had a shot charged down close to half time and Richard Burgess saw a low drive turned aside on 58 minutes.

Perhaps their best chance, an opening for substitute Paul Lloyd on 73 minutes, saw his delayed shot also blocked and a follow up diverted as handball claims for a penalty were denied.

Not even close on nine minutes of added time could come to Rovers' aid with a couple of corners and a free kick failing to yield even a glimmer of an equaliser.

It was simply a bad day at the office!

ROVERS

Lowe 6, Benbow 6, Banner 6, Clifton 6, Brighton 6 (sub Read 45 mins), POPE 7*, Burgess 6 (sub Frost 74 mins), Dyson 5, Palmer 5 (sub Lloyd 66mins), Danks 6, Beckett 6. Subs not used: Thomas, Southwick.

Attendance - 607.