THE hard work starts now, says Glassboys boss Gary Hackett.

Stourbridge completed their campaign with a 2-1 away defeat to Skelmersdale last Saturday.

It meant they finished the season in 16th place after winning just one of their last 19 games.

Hackett said: "The game against Skelmersdale summed up the season. We had the chances to win but didn't take them.

"The weak spine of the side was highlighted once again.

"We can't do anything about it now. All we can do is try to put it right and make the changes we need for next season.

"There is no doubt that this season was a big wake up call.

"The hard work starts now. It will be one of the busiest and toughest pre-seasons I have had.

"A lot of great work has been carried out on the ground and that is a massive positive for the club. We now need to get it right on the pitch to match that."

Against Skelmersdale, despite the boost of an early goal, Stourbridge were made to pay for not taking first half chances to double their lead as the home side fought back to level just before the break and then netted what proved to be the winner just short of the hour mark.

Stour forged ahead with just six minutes played. A long clearance by Lewis Solly was flicked on by Luke Benbow and Chris Lait stretched out a leg to toe it past the advancing Andy Paxton and into the roof of the net.

Skelmersdale had the ball in the net themselves two minutes later but the offside flag had long-since been raised, but they squandered a legitimate chance on 14 minutes as Kenny Strickland forced a good save from Solly, with Tyrone Williams alert to steer the loose ball behind for a corner.

At the other end, Benbow cut in from the left wing 60 seconds later but saw his low driven effort comfortably held by Paxton but generally it was the home side who were doing most of the pressing, and they went close again on 23 minutes as Scott Bakkor got in behind the visitors' back-line only to see his shot roll just wide of Solly's left-hand post.

Stour's missed chances proved costly three minutes before the interval as right back Valter Fernandes latched onto a clearance from a Skelmersdale corner and tried his luck from outside the box. Solly was perhaps a little unsighted as the ball found it's way in off the foot of his right-hand post to bring the scores level.