Cheered on by a number of youngsters from the local community, Bradley Stoke Town FC came out for their first home game of the season firing and quickly picked up from where they left off last week.

Within a matter of 15 minutes, the home side were 3-0 ahead and looking strong. Andy Forshaw collected one of them, latching onto a poor back pass to the Crosscourt keeper rounding him and slotting the ball home. Liam Dixon and Paul Skipp also picked up a goal each during this period.

However, Crosscourt were to prove a much tougher opposition to the last two matches Bradley Stoke have faced in the league. They fought their way back to 3-2 through some clever inter-play down the left and right flanks. The first coming from a deep cross that was headed back across the goal and the second through a poor piece of defending that lead to a shot that the home keeper, Palmer, misjudged and left to float in at the near post. However, if the Bradley Stoke finishing had been a bit better, the game could have been all over as a contest by the break.

At half-time, the message was for Town to get hold of this game and start asking more questions of the away side. And that is exactly what they did. The only problem was that the finishing still left a lot to be desired. With 20 minutes to go, and a nail biting finish looking likely, the Town upped their game using the superior fitness and finished Crosscourt off.

Second goals of the game from Forshaw and Dixon, with a first of the season for today’s captain, Ben Osbourne meant that by the time the final whistle came, Bradley Stoke were well out of reach – final score 6-2.

And today’s man-of-the-match: Andy Forshaw. Two goals, but it was the work rate that won it for him, working back to help out and covering a massive amount of ground during today’s match.

Match report courtesy of James Palmer.