We preview this year's FA Cup Second Round match...
Boro are on the march in the FA Cup again and have Stourbridge standing in the way of the third round draw. Most of you will remember when we last played The Glassboys, three seasons ago at the same stage of the competition when Boro ran out 3-0 winners away from home.
Stourbridge FC
FA Cup 2nd Round
Saturday 6th December 2013
The Lamex Stadium, Stevenage
Kick Off: 3pm
Referee: Tim Robinson (West Sussex)
Weather forecast: Heavy cloud, 5 °c
Tickets:
You can order online at Boro Tickets, come collect at the club shop or simply pay at the turnstile on the day for this Saturday’s game.
West Stand (home fans) and South Stand (away fans) - seats
£20 - Adults (21+)
£17 - Concessions
£10 - U21
£5 - U16
East and North Terraces
£15 - Adults (21+)
£12 - Concessions
£8 - U21
£5 - U16
£2 - U7
Last time we met:
Stourbridge defied the odds two years ago as they went on a 7 game FA Cup run which saw them beat Plymouth Argyle after a replay in the first round which set them up for a tie with the Boro. Stevenage ended the Stourbridge FA Cup dream though as they won 3-0 at the War Memorial Ground. Stourbridge kept things interesting for much of the match but Boro’s quality shone through in the end when Chris Beardsley scored a quick-fire brace in the second half to give Stevenage a comfortable lead. Robin Shroot scored his first goal for the club in added time to put a cherry on it and progress to the next round where they met Reading. Boro went on to reach the fifth round where they lost to Spurs at White Hart Lane after forcing a 0-0 draw at the Lamex.
Team news:
If Stourbridge fans were hoping for anything less than a full strength Stevenage team on Saturday, then they'll be disappointed as the gaffer made it clear that the strongest XI will take the field come match-day. Graham Westley has almost a full-strength squad to pick from with Darius Charles the only notable likely absentee. After playing 90 minutes on Tuesday night in the Herts Senior Cup, Ben Chorley is getting closer and closer to being available for selection and no-one is suspended for the match.
View from the dressing room:
To view the full interviews with both GW and Peter, sign up or sign into Boro Player.
Betting:
It won't come as much of a surprise that Boro are heavy favourites to win at the weekend - 1/3 to get the win with Sky Bet so you may want to look for other bets in order to boost the odds.
Fancy a comfortable home win? You can get 2/1 on Boro -2 (To win by 3 or more goals) or a 3-0 Stevenage win is 7/1.
Zoko is very short to score the first goal, only 3/1 but the way he's been playing since he joined the club you might be smart to take it on.
Sign up with Sky Bet through any of the attached links to earn yourself a free £5 bet each week and help the club earn some extra revenue!
The Stourbridge FC Scout Report
Recent form:
Stourbridge are currently 6th in the table after 17 games, which doesn’t tell the whole story of their season so far. The Glassboys got off to an incredible start which saw them record 13 wins in their first 16 games, including a run where they picked up 10 wins in a row. This form has deserted them since however and the team are having to weather a poor patch of form lately. Since the 9th of November, the team have only won twice in their last seven games. Thanks to their great start this hasn’t proved disastrous for their league ambitions and a 7-0 win over Weymouth last weekend seemed to steady the ship, although a 2-0 loss at Burnham on Tuesday night set the team back once again.
Key man:
Fresh off a hat-trick against Weymouth, Luke Benbow has been making waves ever since joining the Glassboys in 2012. He finished last season as the clubs top goal-scorer, with 23 goals and has begun this year also in fine form. Luke started his footballing education at Birmingham City and was also selected to join Glenn Hoddle’s academy in Spain. After spells at Bromsgrove, Weymouth and Solihull Moors (where he spent much of his time out on loan) he joined Stourbridge permanently last summer.