Bromsgrove Sporting's long win run finally halted by Leamington

For weeks Bromsgrove Sporting had been the story of Southern League Premier Central, and this week brought the first dent in that record. Having beaten Racing Club Warwick 1-0 through a Billy Shaw goal to make it eight wins in a row and reach the FA Trophy first round proper, Tim Flowers' side were finally held, drawing 1-1 at home to Leamington with former Brakes forward Joe Doyle scoring the Sporting goal. Flowers had been wary beforehand, warning that Leamington "will come and try to get wellied into us" despite the visitors sitting 19th with only one win all season. The draw stretched Bromsgrove's unbeaten run to nine but ended the winning sequence, with Flowers already looking to fixtures against Bury, Bedford and Alvechurch in the weeks ahead. The club's Under-21s, meanwhile, have made a serene start of their own, winning all five league games with a goal difference of 24, while the first team's trip to Anstey Nomads looms in the FA Trophy first round proper next month.

Elsewhere in the FA Trophy third qualifying round, several Southern League clubs fell. Banbury United won 3-1 away at Peterborough Sports thanks to goals from Jacob Scott, AJ George and Ben Nash, before Stratford Town pushed them close in a 2-3 league defeat at the TUGO Community Stadium despite Banbury's earlier Trophy win. Leiston were beaten 3-0 by Dartford, slumping to only their third exit at this stage of the competition in nine seasons, before bouncing back only partially with a 3-2 defeat at league leaders Real Bedford despite twice coming from behind through Noel Aitkens and Adam Mills. Chippenham Town exited on penalties to Weymouth after a 2-2 draw, Alex Kieh's first senior goal forcing the shootout which Town ultimately lost 4-3. Malvern Town also went out on penalties, beaten 4-3 by Mickleover after Joe Tumelty's goal had given them the lead.

Rushall Olympic lost 3-1 at home to Stourbridge having been among the form teams of the division following a 3-2 win over Kettering Town, while manager Ian Long reflected that "anything that could go wrong, did go wrong" after two red cards shaped the defeat. Worcester City exited at the hands of Leek Town before drawing 2-2 away at Racing Club Warwick in the league, a result that also ended assistant manager Ryan Rowe's three-year spell at the club, with Tom Milward promoted in his place.

At the top of the table, Real Bedford continued their perfect league start with a 4-1 win away at Stourbridge, Conor Tee involved in all four goals, before their FA Trophy exit to Wingate & Finchley. Manager Rob Sinclair praised his side's "courage with the ball" after the Stourbridge performance, which stretched their unbeaten run to eight wins from eight in the league.

Wimborne Town and Gloucester City both progressed in the FA Trophy, the former beating Moneyfields 3-1 through a Lewis Williams brace and a Joe Smith penalty, the latter seeing off Stafford Rangers 4-0 at the KMM Energy Stadium with two from Ash Hemmings.