MALVERN Town finally clinched the West Midlands League Premier Division title following last night's 2-0 success at Bromyard Town.
In a dramatic finale to the league season Malvern pipped Tipton Town to the title having seen their Black Country rivals drop four points in their last two games.
This was Malvern's first ever West Midlands title and only their second ever title success, having only ever previously won the Midland Combination Division One in 1956.
In front of a large crowd at Bromyard's Delahay Meadow, Malvern were soon in their stride and the home side had goalkeeper Adie Hipkins to thank for keeping them in the game as he made superb saves from Scott Morris and Phil Preedy in the first five minutes.
As Malvern continued to press, Town thought they had taken the lead when Des Cox brilliantly headed home a Nathan Jukes free kick only see the linesman rule his header out for offside.
Dave Cannon then saw a header superbly clawed off the goal line by Hipkins and then Rik Halion fired over with the goal at his mercy.
In between times Dave Alden in the Malvern goal wasn't ever seriously threatened, but was relieved to see efforts from Carl Fairhurst and Chris Allen dip narrowly over the bar.
But it was Malvern who deser-vedly took the lead in the 38th minute when Andy Chalmers threaded the ball into the path of the excellent Preedy who ran on to register a brilliant 20 yard strike that for once not even Hipkin could get a hand to.
The second half followed a similar pattern with the Malvern defence of Chalmers, Cannon and Nick Clayton holding firm and the midfield of Craig Williams, Jukes, Halion, Preedy and Nathan Owen all going about their tasks to good effect.
Up front Scott Morris, leading the line in the place of injured leading scorer Dean Roberts, was a constant threat as was the predatory Cox.
In the 67th minute Malvern had one scare when Bromyard worked an opening and a decent connection on the edge of the six-yard box might have secured them an equaliser. But there was insufficient momentum on the shot and Alden safely gathered.
However, this was always go-ing to be Malvern's night and just five minutes later Cox broke on the left hand side of the Bromyard area and drilled a low shot past Hipkins.
Malvern were now content to sit out the remainder of the game and the introduction of Adam Baldwin shored things up further.
Lee Hooper was also int-roduced for the final ten minutes as boss Neil Hunt continued to kill the game off to ensure there were no late scares.
At the final whistle the Malv-ern players and supporters celebrated together on the pitch to conclude a memorable night for all concerned as they now look forward to their elevation to the Travel Factory Midland Alliance.
Meanwhile, Malvern Town Under 18s completed an amazing night when they lifted the HFA Giantkillers Cup at Ledbury with a 1-0 win over Cheltenham Town. A second minute Olly Endacott chip was enough to clinch victory.
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