EXPERIENCED striker John Maffei's brilliant strike kept Bewdley Town on course for the West Midlands League Division One South title with a 2-1 win over Mahal.

There is still plenty of work to do but Bewdley's strong squad have games in hand over Hinton and Chaddesley Corbett above them.

They were given a stiff test by mid-table Mahal and had to hit back after going a goal down inside the first quarter-of-an-hour.

But, in an entertaining game that could have produced more goals, top scorer Maffei inspired the recovery.

He bagged an equalising penalty before half-time after being brought down in the box and then pounced for the winner in the last 10 minutes.

Man-of-the-match Chris Hough sent over a perfect right-wing cross and Maffei dispatched a classic volley into the corner of the net from 18 yards.

Bewdley had to make full use of their squad against impressive Maffei with defenders Dave Knight and Adam Bayliss playing their first full games since signing from Wyre Forest Brintons and Bromsgrove Rovers respectively.

Boss Craig Payton said: "We are up there fighting for the title after only losing one game. We have five games in hand on Chaddesley and four on Hinton.

"It's good we have great depth in our squad and we will be playing a lot of the teams in the bottom half of the table in the new year."

Where Bewdley will end up is still a matter of debate as they continue to explore ways of finding the cash for floodlights, subject to planning permission, which are needed to compete in the Premier Division.

However, the league is set to be restructured with a new stronger Division One, while Division Two would be created and split into a north and south section.

Bewdley's players are asked to meet at the ground for 12.45pm as they host Lye Town Reserves on Saturday.