Published: 04/02/2010 00:00 - Updated: 11/02/2010 11:17

Last-gasp effort wins it for battling Stafford

Stafford hc firsts kept up the pressure on the top two in West Midlands One with a hard-earned 3-2 away win against Wednesbury on Saturday.

The local side are currently six points off a promotion spot but the top teams Streetly and Redditch have wobbled over the last few weekends since the league resumption.

Stafford, who have shown excellent away form this season, remaining undefeated, were the better team in the opening stages.

An excellent chance was created by Simon Williams who calmly passed the ball to the un-marked Chris Sunderland in front of goal only for him to miss from a narrow angle.

The visitors created a number of penalty corner opportunites but were unable to convert them while Wednesbury’s physical approach saw them get more into the game.

They were awarded a penalty corner after Simon Parnell was harshly judged to have been backing into his player. Mike Wymer pulled off an excellent save to deny the opposition drag flick but could do nothing with the rebound.

But Stafford have shown great determination when faced with similar situations this season and they came out fighting.

Another penalty corner was won and although it broke down, Stevens was able to fire the ball in towards the far post and Steve Sudale levelled.

After this it was all Stafford and they eventually took the lead when Andy Keen fired a great cross in to the far post to find Sudale who buried his shot. However, there was to be a tense finish as Wednesbury won a late penalty corner. The initial shot was saved illegally on the line and the home side converted the resultant penalty stroke.

There were only five minutes left but Stafford still pressed forward and grabbed the winner through James Gillingham.

The re-arranged game against Bromsgrove on Sunday was postponed due to the weather. This Saturday, Stafford visit Whitchurch, one of only two teams to defeat them this term.