Bromsgrove Rovers 4 Dunstable Town 1

Southern League Division One West

By Peter McKinney

ROVERS wrapped up their home fixture in the league by plunging Dunstable Town further towards relegation on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

The home side took advantage of brittle Dunstable's poor defending to notch up a convincing home win and bring some cheer to Rovers fans, who have endured the team's poor home form all season.

Defeat for Dunstable leaves them locked in a straight fight to escape relegation with Stourport Swifts.

With the second leg of the Errea Cup Final three days later manager Rod Brown decided to give most of his key players a run out.

Only Exdous Geohaghan, who has a bad back, was rested.

The home side started tentatively as the visitors swarmed forward looking for an early goal to settle the nerves.

Rovers survived three corners in a row in the seventh minute and Wayne Dyer saw his teasing cross tipped away by 'keeper Paul Taylor.

Dyer was booked for a late sliding tackle on Stuart Sinclair in the 21st minute.

Kevin Banner tried to lift the tempo with a storming counter attack, when he sped past Dunstable's defence but put the ball out for goal kick. For all the visitors pressure they could not break down Rovers and the home side scored against the run of play in the 44th minute

Banner's cross caused chaos in Dunstable's defence and Dyer's shot was blocked. Mark Benbow lofted the ball back into penalty area and lanky hitman Luke Reynolds headed it into the back of the net.

The goal was harsh on Dunstable but Rovers went onto justify it by grabbing three goals in the second half.

The second arrived in the 54th minute when Banner's corner was volleyed into his own net by defender Paul Covington after pressure by Dyer.

Dyer though scored a goal of true quality in the 63rd minute.

The mercurial midfielder, who has experienced a dip in form in recent weeks, raced onto Paul Moore's through ball and left two defenders for dead when he penetrated the penalty area.

The midfielder seemed to have taken too long but he waited for 'keeper Taylor to spread himself and calmly clipped it around him for a well-crafted goal.

Rovers wrapped up the win with the fourth goals six minutes later. Neil Davis chased John Snape's through ball.

Taylor should have collected it but the ball hit him as he raced out of the goal and ricocheted off Davis into the back of the net.

Four goals to the good Rovers controlled the game to the end as the team enjoyed the perfect preparation for the cup final against Hitchin Town on Tuesday night.

ROVERS: Evans 6, Johnson 6 (61mins - Male 6), Williams 6, Erajji 6, McHale 6, Benbow 7, Dyer 7 (65mins - Snape 6), McDonald 6, Davis 6, Reynolds 7 (45mins - Moore 6), Banner 6.

DUNSTABLE: Taylor, Hanley, Foley, Covington (67mins: Ryan), Green, Maynard, Fontanelle (65mins - Quinn), Barr, Hatch, Coley (61mins - Smith), Sinclair. Attendance: 266.

Referee: Mr AS Watts.