Stourbridge suffer play-off heartbreak
Stourbridge manager Gary Hackett saw his side suffer play-off misery – but believes the players are good enough to challenge next season.
Kayelden Brown handed the Glassboys the perfect start against the Calor Premier Division runners-up, but goals either side of the break from Chesham strike pair Drew Roberts and Chris Dillon guided them through to a final against either Cambridge City or St Albans City.
"This team is good enough to mount a challenge whatever league we are in," the Glassboys manager said.
"The team that has finished this season is stronger than the one that finished last season and they have real potential. We now have to use this result as a motivating factor.
"It is bitter disappointment, but there wasn't a great deal in the game. Credit to Chesham, they were far better than when we beat them 10 days ago."
Brown's opener was a gem from 25 yards and the visitors had other early chances with Kyle Haines twice firing just wide.
But it was all square on 32 minutes when a through ball squirmed out of keeper Dean Coleman's grasp and James Potton squared for Roberts to slot home.
The winner came midway through the second half – a half that saw Chesham in control. Potton's high ball was headed on by Roberts and Dillon calmly finished from six yards.
Late Stourbridge pressure, particularly after Hackett sent defender Kristian Ramsey-Dickson forward to join front two Brown and Brian Smikle, failed to find a way past a defence marshalled superbly by former Birmingham City star Darren Purse.
Ramsey-Dickson showed some neat footwork, but his shot was deflected for a corner.
Hackett added: "I thought we missed Luke Benbow – the cutting edge of a striker.
"For the first 35 minutes we looked comfortable. But then they score a goal that shoudn't have happened – the ball has squirmed out of Dean's hands – and that got them back on track."
Chesham: Gore, Kyriacou, Little, Gordon, Purse, Thomas, Fotheringham, Potton, Dillon, Roberts (Effiong 86), Wilson. Subs not used: Dodge, Graham Braithwaite, Prosper.
Stourbridge: Coleman, Smikle (Washbourne 82), Knight, Ramsey-Dickson, Geddes, Harris (Richards 72), Haines, Broadhurst, Brown, Billingham, Samsara (Canavan 65). Subs not used: Fitzpatrick, Kettle
Referee: I Rathbone.
Attendance: 728.
