STUDLEY BKL wrestled hold of the Worcestershire Senior Urn from Malvern Town, following a bruising encounter at St George's Lane on Monday night.

MALVERN TOWN 0, STUDLEY BKL 2

In a game that had little of the flair of last season's epic against Stourport Swifts, Town were rarely allowed to get into their stride by a physical and solid Studley side.

Moving the ball forward quickly Studley put Malvern under early pressure and forced a number of corners but the Town defence, with Dene Whittal - Williams winning most of the early aerial duels, held firm.

Although Studley shaded the opening 30 minutes thanks largely to the midfield play of Stephen Duncan and front running of Kevin Rowlands, it was Raj Sharma who came close to giving Town the lead when his point blank header from Steve Walker's pin-point cross was saved by Keith Beasley in the Studley goal.

Unfortunately, this was to be Sharma's last meaningful contribution as he was soon badly fouled and became a relative passenger for the rest of the half and with Martin Phillpotts suffering from the after effects of a flu virus on the left flank, Town's attacking options were seriously reduced.

Hoping to get to half time level and re-organise, Town suffered a major blow in the 43rd minute when a corner was only half cleared and when the ball was played back into the six yard box, it dropped at Rowlands' feet and he back-heeled the ball into the net.

Ironically, Town almost responded with an equaliser when Phil Slade broke clear and crossed from the bye line, eventually though, with the ball agonisingly free on the edge of the six yard box, Studley just managed to clear before the on rushing Andy Shepherd could make meaningful contact.

Town changed shape at half time, substituting the badly injured Sharma and introducing Matt Upton, Town also pushed an extra man into midfield to try and negate the ever influential Duncan.

Town took a little while to settle and Brian Powell might twice have extended Studley's lead, but was first denied by Ross Sanders and then finished wastefully when put clear.

But Town managed to to survive and went on to enjoy their best spell of the game. Indeed Upton looked to have equalised in the 60th minute when he escaped his marker, to get in on the end of another accurate Walker cross, but his deft goalbound header was well saved by Beasley.

Adam Higgins then went on a storming run that took him into the Studley box, but the full back, pushed into midfield for the second half, scuffed his shot with only Beasley to beat.

In the 75th minute Slade worked an excellent opening for himself, but saw his left foot drive narrowly clear the crossbar with Beasley beaten.

The tiring Phillpotts was substituted for Adam Ward and although the endeavour was still there, Studley's were effective in denying Town any further opportunities to equalise.

They then secured victory in the final minute when from another set play Duncan, the game's outstanding player, finished emphatically to secure the Senior Urn for the first time in the Midland Combination Premier Division championship favourite's history.

Town assistant manager Richard Anson said: "It was not a classic and I do not think we really did ourselves justice, obviously the foul on Sharma which took him out of the game and probably the rest of the season, did not help and Martin Phillpotts was less than 100% fit, so our attacking options were a little reduced, particularly with Thomas also sidelined.

"But I thought we allowed ourselves to get muscled out of it a little bit early on and never really got into our stride. Also our defending at set pieces left a lot to be desired and you cannot afford to concede goals on the stroke of half time.

"Between that and the last minute goal, we probably had our best spell of the game, but in all honesty Studley just about deserved to win."

Malvern Town: Sanders, Higgins, Whittal - Williams, Damore, Clayton, Sharma (Upton), Davies, Walker, Phillpotts (Ward), Shepherd, Slade. Subs not used: Cannon, Sollis, Dugdale.