A FURIOUS Brendan Kelly says he will consider bringing in new names, on the back of a second successive league defeat for Bromsgrove against Banbury United.
The 2-0 reverse at the Victoria Ground ended Sporting’s unbeaten home record that stretched back to March 2018, and followed on from a league defeat against this weekend’s opponents.
Kelly was not afraid to make his disappointment known, and said his players fell well short of their usual level.
“There was a supreme and huge lack of effort, I’ve never seen us look so poor,” he said.
“Too many players were hiding, I can accept the quality not being there in games, but what I can’t accept is a lack of effort. It was frightening how much we didn’t seem to care about losing our unbeaten record.
“Out of the whole team, including substitutes, only three or four came out of it with any credibility.
“I’ve hardly slept since Saturday, I’m still fuming about it.
“Banbury were good, but we assisted them massively.”
Sporting were the side in the ascendancy from kick off, striking the post through Leon Broadhurst’s attempt from range, with Kieren Westwood forcing the rebound wide.
But just before the half-hour mark, the visitors from Oxfordshire capitalised on lax defending to go a goal up, courtesy of a cool finish by former West Ham and Peterborough United striker Jaanai Gordon.
Before the Rouslers had time to reassess the situation, they fell another goal behind when Roger Ngaah Bosio stole in behind the home defence and drove the ball past Tony Breeden.
It was almost three before half time, when Gordon again found himself in a good position, only to send his effort wide.
And despite Bromsgrove dominating the second-half proceedings, the lack of clinical finishing proved costly, with Richard Gregory and Shaquille McDonald missing their usual ruthless streak.
Sporting now turn attentions to Saturday’s (3pm) Victoria Ground showdown with Stourbridge in the FA Cup first qualifying round, a stage that the club have never reached before, having fallen at the preliminary stage in each of the last five seasons.
The Bromsgrove manager says the previous meeting with The Glassboys less than two weeks ago has no bearing on his approach to the fixture, but admits he is willing to ring the changes where necessary.
“How Ian [Long] will shape up for the game could be different, but either way it’s going to be a difficult test,” said Kelly.
“We need to concentrate on ourselves until we get back to our usual performances, we’ve got to get that hunger and desire back.
“Me and Andy will choose who we feel will run through bricks walls for the club, who will show that desire – quality, reputation and previous performances will all go out of the window.
“Maybe personnel changes in the coming weeks are needed, bringing players in and shipping some out, so that’s something I’ll be looking into.”
One injury doubt for Saturday is Liam Spink, who sustained an ankle injury in the Banbury defeat.
Kelly said that Spink had trained “gingerly” on Tuesday night, so is a player that will be assessed before kick off, while Tom Taylor – despite starting last weekend on his return from an injury – is still not 100% fit, and also may miss out.
