Gary Hackett backs Stourbridge to finish strong

The Glassboys had to do it the hard way, recovering after trailing to a controversial early penalty in Yorkshire thanks to goals from Luke Benbow (2), Paul McCone and Josh Cooke.

Stuart Pierpoint was judged to have felled Nathan Turner in the box, a decision Hackett questioned, with Ryan Watson slotting home the spot-kick for Celtic.

Undeterred, livewire Wolves loanee Nicolae Carnat pulled back for Benbow to level within six minutes and the visitors largely stayed on the front foot for the rest of the half.

McCone steered in at the far post from a flick-on just before the hour with Benbow’s 20-yard shot squirming through the hands of keeper Graeme McKibbin minutes later.

Substitute Cooke rounded off the scoring with a low 25-yard drive in added time to end a four-match winless streak.

“I felt our recent performances had been good after bringing in a few new faces,” said Hackett.

“It takes time to gel but the new recruits have been a breath of fresh air around the place and we gained our rewards from an all-round good performance.

“We suffered from a bad penalty decision early on. I felt that Stu had won the ball and you start to wonder whether you’re going to get any good luck but the lads dug in.

“Nicolae Carnat was a threat all game, Luke Benbow weighed in with a couple of goals and we played well. Now we have to look to build on that.

“I am not going to concentrate too much on where we are in the table, it is all about us getting as many points as we can between now and the end of the season.

“It has been a tough season on and off the pitch, I have made mistakes with certain players that haven’t worked out but I stand by the opinion that we can finish strongly.”

Glassboys: Gould, Hayden, Westlake, McCone, Pierpoint, Forde, Gallagher, Broadhurst, Benbow (Cooke, 77), Anderson (Tonks, 87), Carnat (Shearer, 80).