Stourbridge 1, Rushall Olympic 0

A BRILLIANT first half free-kick from forward Justin Richards was enough for Stourbridge to book their place in the next round of the FA Cup at the expense of Black Country neighbours Rushall Olympic.

The Glassboys started the better of the two sides during the early exchanges and were soon racking up the corner count.

However, it was the visitors that nearly drew first blood when Jamie Spencer rattled Lewis Solly's bar with a lofted effort after getting in between Stuart Pierpoint and Dan Scarr at the heart of the home side's back line.

But Stour's early pressure eventually told when forward Justin Richards curled in a sublime free-kick from just outside the area after eight minutes.

Winger Chris Lait was fouled after a good run infield to hand Richards the chance to shine.

He lifted the ball over the wall and gave former Glassboy Dean Coleman no chance in the Rushall goal mouth to hand his side the lead.

The Pics did pose a threat themselves but will have been disappointed not to have called Solly into a save of note in the first period.

Matt Dodd passed up Stour's best chance of the half to double their advantage.

It came on 32 minutes after Karl Hawley linked up well with the lively Lait. The wide man drove towards the area before feeding Dodd who had cut in well from the right.

Coleman did well to rush from his line and block the effort with his legs and the chance was gone.

The second half proved a much more scrappy affair as both sides took it in turns to surrender possession.

Any defensive questions that Rushall posed were quickly answer by either Solly, who came and collected well on a number of occasions, or skipper Stuart Pierpoint who dealt with everything that was thrown at him.

The Glassboys could have wrapped up the tie but failed to convert opportunities that fell for Richards, Hawley and Lait as the game progressed.

Lait rattled Coleman's post in the 73rd minute after a typical burst into the box. He and Matt Dodd on the other flank caused real problems with their direct running and ability to run with the ball at feet.

Rushall had one last chance to force a replay in injury time when a late corner found its way to Jack Duggan in a central position just outside the box.

His volley sailed just past Solly's far post with the packed Memorial Ground crowd holding its breath.

But ultimately Stour did just enough to take the honours and secure a spot in the fourth qualifying round after digging deep to protect their slender advantage.

Stourbridge: Solly, Green, Scarr, Tonks, Smikle, Pierpoint (c), Dodd (Billingham 77) Broadhurst, Hawley, Richards (Knight 90), Lait.

Unused Subs: Harris, Wright, Penney, Price, Canavan.

Rushall Olympic: Coleman, Christophorou, Wilkinson, Tolley, Duggan, Caines (c), Fitzpatrick (Brown 45), Palmer, Spencer (Wright 68), Taylor, Reid (Roberts 45).

Unused Subs: Townsend, Farquharson, Heath, Brown.

Att: 773