TWO goals on the stroke of half-time killed off any hopes Bromsgrove Rovers had of a long Dr Martens Cup run as they went down 2-0 to Halesowen Town in round one last night.

Halesowen midfielder Ross Collins was the thorn in Broms-grove's side, pouncing twice to deflate the Vict-oria Ground's entourage.

If the home side had not wasted some good chances in the first half, the script could quite easily have been different.

New signing Matt Southwick had a chance to open the scoring after ten minutes but his nervous effort was deflected for a corner.

Craig Pountney was denied by Andrew Quy in the Halesowen goal midway through the first period and Mark Benbow couldn't find any direction on his header from the resulting corner kick.

Tenacious tackling and a fine through-ball from Jamie Turpin set Richard Burgess through five minutes before the break but the striker really should have done better.

At the other end, Nore Gabbidon had to be on form to keep out efforts from ex-Rovers man Stuart Payne and later shots from Jason Owen and Ian Aldridge.

But just as Rovers looked to be in the ascendancy, Collins drilled the ball home from close range after the defence failed to clear Les Hinds' corner on 44 minutes.

It was hard on Bromsgrove, but worse followed soon after when Collins rose highest to nod home another Hinds corner for a 2-0 interval lead.

Anxiety crept into Rovers play after the break, with the long ball game rearing its ugly head after the intricate passing of the first half. Halesowen mopped up everything that came their way and played the match out comfortably to put the Dr Martens Premier Division side thro-ugh to the next round.

Rovers: Gabbidon 8, Southwick 6 (J.Beard 59, 6), Ulfig 7, Townsend 7, S. Frost 8, Turpin 7, Benbow 6, Burgess 6, Pountney 7, Burrow 6, Biddle 6 (Cameron 88).Sub not used: Philpot.

Star man: Steve Frost.

Attendance: 233.