Bees Urn final win

STUBBORN Studley won their first trophy of the season after a hard-fought, fractious Urn final.

The Bees traded blows with holders Malvern throughout a bitty stop-start game constantly interrupted by over-zealous refereeing.

But BKL boss Mark Chambers' gifted side have a hard edge and refused to budge in a second half which saw Town in possession but failing to trouble Keith Beasley in the Studley goal.

Chances were at a premium in a forgettable first half which ended with Kevin Rowlands' cheeky backheel separating the sides.

Raj Sharma headed narrowly off target for Malvern after 20 minutes but Town keeper Ross Sanders was called into action to tip over a Steve Duncan effort six minutes later in a flurry of action.

When Malvern failed to clear a corner three minutes before the break, Simon Redhead heaved it back in, Steven Hands flicked it on and Rowlands, with his back to goal in the six yard box, scored with an improvised effort.

But the Bees had a scare in first half injury time when Beasley was beaten and Craig Gillett had to hack a Phil Slade effort off the line.

Brian Powell should have made it two shortly after the break but was shoved in the back 12 yards out after a clever Rowlands pass.

Duncan and Rowlands, sliding in, were inches away in the 53rd minute after a Powell cross before Malvern camped in the Studley half.

Beasley was equal to a Slade header two minutes later and Sharma badly miscued in front of goal moments later after a rare lapse in defence.

The profligate Slade headed disappointingly over on 61 minutes before cutting inside and sending a dipping effort just over.

Adam Higgins fluffed his lines dreadfully on 76 minutes after Studley's Mark Neath was felled by a flying elbow missed by the referee.

Powell was unfortunate after brilliantly wrong-footing the Malvern defence 12 minutes from time but the Bees had the final say when Duncan burst the back of the net with a fierce half volley from a Hands free kick deep into injury time.