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Bewdley bid for bouncebackability

From the Kidderminster Shuttle, first published Thursday 2nd Nov 2006.

CRAIG Payton believes Bewdley Town's next match will be a big test of character after their first West Midlands League Premier Division loss of the season last weekend.

Bewdley's shock 3-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Casuals ended a 13-game unbeaten run and saw them knocked off top spot by Shifnal who won 3-0 at Lye Town.

It was followed by their first round exit from the Worcestershire Senior Cup with a 2-0 defeat at Midland Alliance club Studley on Tuesday night.

And Payton is challenging Bewdley to prove their powers of recovery at home to Wednesfield on Saturday and Bridgnorth next Wednesday.

"At the end of the day I'm chuffed to bits to go 13 games unbeaten which is a massive achievement," said Payton, who was one of the names linked with the Stourport Swifts job.

"Our next thing now is seeing how we can bounce back.

"We're the only team in the league to only have lost once and we've got to be proud of that.

"We knew a defeat would come, but we didn't think it would be against them."

Payton admitted that his team underestimated Wolverhampton and suggested he may have been wrong to use a 3-4-3 formation.

Bewdley battered their Black Country hosts early on but could not find the net, striking the woodwork and having penalty appeals waved away.

Casuals took the lead through a spot -kick of their own on 25 minutes with Tom Chew beating keeper Steve Parker after Sean Wright fouled Chris Maxwell.

That rocked Bewdley who dropped their heads and fell further behind 10 minutes later when Tony Onakah broke free to score his side's second.

Payton's men pulled a goal back after the break when Jamie Hart headed in Ben McLaughlin's right-wing cross and Bewdley went on to push for an equaliser.

But with Bewdley committing men forward Wolverhampton broke away deep into stoppage time with Onakah latching onto a long goal kick to score the hosts' third.

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