After Saturday's inspired comeback against Kettering Town, it was a much quieter affair, with clear-cut chances few and far between for both sides. We made two changes from the side who started against the Poppies as Jessy Bavanganga returned to the heart of our defence with Harvey Portman dropping to the bench. Dexter Walters also started, looking to continue his blistering start to the campaign, in place of Aaron Forde who was struggling following Saturday’s game.

The first real opening of the game came for Stratford as a lofted cross found its way to the back post but the header was looped up rather than goalwards, and Charlie Price was able to claim it comfortably.

We enjoyed a lot of the ball in the opening stages of the game but we struggled to break down the Stratford defence which was made up of four familiar faces in the form of ex-Glassboys Lee Vaughan, Liam Daly, Paul McCone, and Alex Worley.

Daniels sent in a freekick into the box as the clock hit the 15-minute mark but it was just too far in front of Prosser at the back post and it deflected out for a corner and nothing came from it. We continued to apply pressure as Luke Benbow turned his man and played an excellent ball out to Niall Flint but his cross missed everyone in the box and was out for a goal kick.

Stratford continued to look dangerous on the break down the wings but our defence was dealing with it well, and on this occasion, Price was out quickly to clear the ball off the oncoming attacker to gain a goal kick which in turn allowed him to clear our lines.

We continued to press high up the pitch, with Jack Wilson and Dexter Walters combining nicely down the left-hand side but we struggled to create many opportunities as the first half passed by. Stratford had a couple of other chances before the first half came to a close with Riley O’Sulivan's shot going just past the post and Liam Daly’s effort being cleared off the line following a corner.

Stratford started the brightest after the interval as they pushed to find the opening goal with Lewis Ison firing just wide of Price’s goal and Charlie Dowd also coming close. We also came close in the opening minutes of the second half after some lovely football between Prosser and Daniels saw the ball fall to Benbow but he could only direct his effort into the hands of Liam O’Brien. Daniels then had a chance himself as some superb football from Wilson allowed him to put a dangerous cross into the box, but he couldn’t keep his shot down and it flew out of the ground.

Around the hour mark we carved out a couple of half-decent chances, with Dexter skipping past Vaughan to put a dangerous cross in, but McCone cleared before Flint could get there and Benbow had a powerful strike go just inches past the post.

Flint was then replaced by Aaron Forde in the 65th minute, which saw him go centre midfield whilst Daniels went out wide.

Not long after the sub, Stratford had the ball in the back of the net but Callum Ebanks was ruled to be offside. This only delayed Stratford from opening the scoring though as around 5 minutes later they took the lead through the Bards man of the match Lewis Ison who headed home from a corner.

After the opener, the game picked up pace, becoming end to end as we searched for a leveller whilst Stratford looked to increase their lead. Forde had a golden chance that looked harder to miss than to score but he managed to hit the corner flag and Joel Kettle also saw a header go just over the bar from a corner.

With us unable to level the scores, Stratford doubled their lead not long before the full-time whistle as we appeared to switch off at the back allowing Charlie Williams to finish well and seal the points for the home side.

We now look to return to winning ways on Saturday when we host Barwell, who have had an unbeaten start to the season, at The war Memorial Ground. Tickets are available for this game on the ticket portal now.

Stratford Town: Liam O’Brien, Lee Vaughan, Alex Worley, Liam Daly, Paul McCone, Tom Solanke, Charlie Dowd, Lewis Ludford-Ison, Callum Ebanks, Daniel Lafferty, Riley O’Sullivan. Subs - Kasonga Ngandu, Louis Beresford, Jamie Molyneux, Charlie Williams, Daniel Vann

Stourbridge FC: Charlie Price, Joel Shambrook, Jack Wilson, Alex Prosser, Jessy Bavanganga, Joel Kettle, Niall Flint, Reece King ©, Luke Benbow, Brendon Daniels, Dexter Walters. Subs - Aaron Forde, Jack Fletcher, Harvey Portman, Leo Wood, Darryl Knights