Stourbridge 1 Grantham Town 4

A PAIR of first-half howlers proved decisive as much-changed Stourbridge exited the Northern Premier League Cup.

Grantham’s hat-trick hero Felipe Barcelos was gifted his first two either side of a wonder goals from Curtis Burrows and Glassboys hotshot Luke Benbow.

Errors apart, Stour had edged the opening 45 minutes but a dour second half saw what had been an entertaining spectacle fizzle out.

Grantham were lively from off and seized upon a moment of indecision to open the scoring.

Drew Canavan was tracking the run of Jeremiah Dasalou but when he was joined by Jacob Wedderburn, both left their man for the other to deal with for a split second.

Canavan tried to recover but keeper Ash Malhotra’s effort to cut out the danger confused matters and Barcelos was left to tap into the empty net.

Ten minutes later, the Gingerbreads doubled their lead with a finely-crafted team goal. Michael Koopowitz played Dasalou down the right to fire in a low centre which was thumped back across goal on the volley by Burrows.

The hosts steadily settled and went close when Canavan’s low 20-yard effort skipped past Kieran Preston right post.

Lewis McPike then lifted over the Grantham backline for Kayelden Brown to go through one one one but he failed to sort out his feet in time and Preston surged out to block.

Wedderburn had a goal chalked off for a foul on Preston but the deficit was finally cut on 25 minutes when Benbow unleashed a fierce dipping half-volley which swung to Preston’s right while he was in mid-air.

The ex-Stafford custodian again frustrated Stour when he got his fingertips on Canavan's piledriver which was heading for the top corner and the tide turned after another defensive lapse.

Under pressure from Harry Clifton, Lewis Probert’s 40-yard back pass was far too short for Malhotra who was left statuesque as Barcelos nipped in to fire inside the near post.

From there, Grantham regained control and largely kept Stour at arm’s length in the second half.

Another error allowed Barcelos to turn provider but Cifton hammered over just before the hour and while Brian Smikle might have done better with a pair of Benbow crosses at the other end, the game was soon up.

Malhotra did parry a Barcelos snap-shot at the near post but was powerless to prevent his third and Town’s fourth, a simple finish after Danny Meadows had lofted over the home defence.

Stour: Malhotra, Westlake, Probert, Heath, Wedderburn, Knight (Williams, 71), Smikle, Canavan, Benbow, Brown (Brigdale, 77), McPike (Ashford, 67). Unused subs: Broadhurst, Tonks.

Attendance: 291.