Oldbury Utd 1, Stratford Town 1

STRUGGLING for a side and reduced to ten men after 25 minutes, battling Town secured a hard-earned point last Saturday.

Top scorer Jon Brant grabbed a deserved equaliser 20 minutes from time after Oldbury had taken the lead after 17 minutes when Stuart Grosvenor forced the ball past Warren Ayres after his header from a corner had struck an upright.

Newcomer Gez Carr (pictured) gradually settled into the last line of defence after a shaky opening and at the opposite end of the field the visitors lacked the cutting edge.

The dismissal of McBean enhanced their problems in attack, where Brant had a rare off day.

The striker just failed to get a fruitful touch to Ian Muir's pass after 20 minutes and Brant's control let him down when Michael Stephen-son pulled the ball back across the face of goal eight minutes later.

The impressive Geoff Amos saw a half-volley flash wide of the far post five minutes before the break, after which the ten men were the better side.

Oldbury were content to attack on the break with Stratford cursing their fortune when the ball failed to fall kindly for them after a 52nd minute scramble.

Amos curled a shot over the top four minutes later, while Muir's similar dead-ball strike brought a fine stop from the United custodian.

Stratford's reward wasn't long in arriving. Amos skipped past the keeper only to see his shot from a tight angle hit the bar but Brant was on hand to tap in the rebound.

Ayres produced a fabulous double stop to deny Grosvenor netting the winner, while a cynical trip on Brant five minutes from time added to visiting anger when only a caution was administered.

Muir almost exacted justice but his free kick was inches wide on a day when the temporary manager will have been pleased with a point and glad to see the back of the Oldbury Stadium.

Midland Alliance (top)

P W L D F A Pts

Barwell 22 16 5 1 40 16 52

Stourbridge 24 15 5 4 56 31 50

Rushall 21 12 6 3 47 17 42

Stourport 22 12 5 5 43 25 41

Stratford 21 12 4 5 47 30 40

Boldmere 21 11 4 6 41 26 37

Bridgnorth 22 10 4 8 40 29 34

Oadby* 18 11 3 4 40 20 33

Wednesfield 21 10 3 8 38 30 33

Bloxwich 20 10 2 8 27 22 32

Chasetown 21 9 5 7 25 30 32

Halesowen 25 9 4 12 38 43 31

*Points deducted.