Stanway player-boss Steve Ball has told his side they must win their last seven games if they are to gain promotion.

Two first-half goals sent them crashing to a surprise defeat at the Hawthorns last night.

And Ball said it was the last set-back they could afford in their bid to claim the second promotion spot behind Norwich United, who look set to go up as champions.

Ball said: "A few weeks ago I said we could afford one defeat in our last ten games, but I didn't expect it to come against Cornard.

"It was a serious dent to our promotion hopes and now we can't afford any more slip-ups. We must get 21 points from our last seven matches."

Rovers were missing three key players in Mitchell Springett, Lee Abrehart and top-scorer Andy Sapey.

Roy McDonough featured in the home defence who were untroubled for the first half-hour before conceding twice in the space of five minutes.

The first goal came from a goalmouth scramble before the Stanway defence were caught out pushing up, allowing a visiting striker to sneak in on the blind side and double his side's lead.

Cornard were happy to sit and protect their two-goal advantage and Stanway struggled to create any decent openings.

McDonough missed a couple of half-chances, while Martin Curtis, who has enjoyed an excellent run of goals recently, struggled to find any form.

Ball said: "The three players we had missing are probably our most attacking and creative players and we struggled without them.

"My squad is not really big enough to cope without so many key players and we never really looked like scoring.

"But full credit to Cornard, they came with a game plan and fully deserved their win."

Published Thursday, March 14, 2002