THE Staffordshire Scorpions remain bottom of the table as they lose to fellow strugglers Brooklands Hulmeian’s.
The Scorpions were level going into half time but even a James Anderson hat-trick wasn’t enough to keep them in contention going into the closing stages.
Brooklands opened the scoring early on as Rick Summen and Andrew Bird worked a fine one-two to open up the Staffs defence and Summen supplied the finish to beat Dimitri Chambers in goal.
Staffs were not behind for long and soon hit back when Anderson took advantage of Phil Tinkler’s pass to dodge two defenders and shoot beyond Stuart Murphey in the Brooklands goal.
A strong attacking play from the home team followed but they were unable to capitalise on their pressure and Hulmeians regained the lead as Summen grabbed his second against the run of play.
He was able to pick the ball up unchallenged five yards out and took Chambers by surprise with a cheeky overhead shot into the top corner of the net.
It wasn’t long until Staffs found themselves two behind as they let Bird run through three defenders and offload the ball to Ian Buckland who managed to scoop the ball into the net after dropping the original pass.
In the second quarter Staffs started their fight-back as Anderson grabbed his second of the game in what was a carbon copy of his first goal. After receiving the ball from Thomas Jenkins he powered past two Brooklands defenders who didn’t have the pace to keep up with him and shot powerfully past Murphey.
The home team began to dominate matters and soon levelled when Phil Tinkler supplied the finish to a fine counter attack. Marcus Howe won the in his own half and ran through the Brooklands midfield to set Tinkler up eight yards out with a free shot on goal.
Hulmeians could find no reply in the second quarter but regrouped at half time and came out stronger in the second half.
They managed to create a three-goal margin in the third quarter as Summen, Buckland and Liam Grittith scored with Staffs unable to force a reply.
The Scorpions did manage to get one back at the start of the final quarter as Anderson completed his hat-trick. The midfielder received the ball from Richard Christon and after dodging one defender shot from 12 yards into the top corner.
Staffs looked to force the comeback but as they over committed in attack Brooklands caught them on the break. Buckland received the ball and ran at the defence before the midfield had a chance to get back, giving him an easy opportunity to score and retain the three-goal advantage.
The Scorpions looked to lose concentration after this allowing Summon to score two more goals and finish the tie as a contest, but there was still time for fresher Jack Tew to score his first goal in a men’s game.
Tew fought off two defenders to pick up the ball off the ground and made a surging run into the fan where he released a low, powerful shot to score between the keepers legs.
Bird completed the scoring for the visitor’s, but by then the result had already been decided.
Staffs now have a three-week break to regroup before another bottom of the table clash against Oldham.
Staffordshire Team: Dimitri Chambers, Thomas Jenkins, Rambo Owen, Rick Gunning, James Anderson, Stuart Bausor©, Marcus Howe, Phil Tinkler, Jimmy Ray, Jack Tew, James Perkins, Stephen Jinks, Richard Christon.
To see goals from this game click here