A FINE volleyed goal from Drew Canavan was the highlight as Stourbridge qualified for the Worcestershire Senior Cup final.

The midfielder fired home after exchanging passes with Tom Turton to break the deadlock near the end of a dire first half.

Late goals from Sean Geddes and Luke Benbow then secured Stour’s passage to the final.

Evesham’s best chance fell to Henry Eze but he was brilliantly denied by home keeper Lewis Solly.

Benbow missed a chance to make it four with the final kick of the game but that really would have put an unfair slant on the score line, though there is no denying Stour were the better team and deserved the win.

Reaching a cup final is never a bad thing, even if you do only play one game to get there.

But up until Canavan’s fine strike, three minutes before half-time, it was difficult to see where any goal would come from after an opening period which was the perfect cure for insomnia.

Not for the first time this season at Amblecote, Stour looked flat and short on ideas and the contrast between the quality of the game and the strike could not have been more glaring.

Benbow had shown much needed urgency to win possession and ball found its way to Canavan, who cut in from the right flank before passing to Turton and then firing the lofted return past Tom Cross in the visiting goal and into the far corner.

Up until then, Stour’s only chance had been an acrobatic Benbow effort which fizzed wide of the post.

Evesham had shown more endeavour with Dwayne Spence a constant nuisance, sending three efforts off target. The striker was guilty of perhaps too much enthusiasm as he picked up one yellow for a foul on Sam Smith and came dangerously close to a second on at least a couple of occasions.

Mercifully, the second half was much better and after Leigh Downing had tested Solly with a shot from 20 yards out, Stour began to find their passing game and groove.

Chris Knight was inches away from meeting a Benbow through ball, while Geddes fizzed a free-kick just over the bar and Eze had to be alert to clear a dangerous Knight cross.

But the lead was still only one goal and Stour had their keeper to thank for keeping them in front midway through the half.

Solly was totally wrong-footed when Danny Schleppel’s free-kick deflected off the wall but somehow picked himself up to bear away Eze’s shot, after the big defender appeared to have been left with the simplest of finishes.

At the other end, Geddes sent another drive from distance just over. Benbow and substitute Ben Billingham also went close.

A nervy finish looked possible but with seven minutes to go Stour sealed it. Leon Broadhurst, a recent arrival, was adjudged to have been fouled by Eze and Geddes drilled his spot-kick hard, low and to the right of Cross.

Benbow then padded the final score in stoppage time when he met a Sean Evans flick on and beat a suspect Cross at the near post.

GLASSBOYS: Solly, Knight (Broadhurst 78), Smith, McCone (c), Geddes (Dyson 85), Hurren, Oliver, Turton, Benbow, Evans, Canavan (Billingham 65) Subs not used: Bennett, Lloyd.

Goals: Canavan 42, Geddes 83 pen, Benbow 90+2.

EVESHAM: Cross, Kalonji, Osborne, Eze, Clarke, Williams, Downing (Hardwick 78), Blake, Spence (Palmer 69), Nisbett (Vernaschi 69), Scheppel (c) Subs not used: Meredith, Babayo.