STOURBRIDGE skipper Richard Bradley hailed his side’s return to the Birmingham League and admitted - “It’s been a long road back.”

Victory at Worcester last Saturday sealed the Worcester League title with three games to spare and ended an eight year absence from the Birmingham League.

That period has so often been one of frustration for the Amblecote side, with previous promotion attempts twice being derailed by off-field issues and points deduction - the first of which lead to a brief spell in Division Two.

But with Bradley’s side close to achieving a record-breaking campaign, things are very much looking up.

He said: “It’s a great feeling and there are going to be plenty of celebrations around the club in the coming weeks - there are a number of parties planned.

“We have certainly had our problems as a club over the past few years and we’ve even been relegated from this division at one stage. There’s no doubt it’s been a long road back.

“Seasons like this don’t just come about by chance. It’s been about building a team for the last two or three years and getting the guys together.

“This year we’ve benefited from having that extra bit of knowledge and experience and we’ve managed to keep a solid team together too.”

For a while last season it seemed Stour’s planning may come to nothing as they sat bottom of the Division One table at the halfway point, having failed to win a game.

But with their backs against the wall, they came out fighting. Bradley’s side were the form team for the second half of last term and this year led the league from the start.

After 20 games, their average points-per-game stands at just under 20, just eight more points are required to break the Division One record and passing the 400 point barrier is a real possibility.

Bradley added: “I think the thing that makes me the most proud is we have been top since week one and have stayed there.

“We have been up there to be shot at by everyone else but we have always been able to come up with the answers.

“I certainly didn’t expect at the start of the season to do this well, collect so many points, or win the league with three games to go.

“There have been a number of big moments - the winning draw at Astwood Bank early in the season certainly gave us confidence.

“But the one that really sticks out was at Worcester Nomads a few weeks ago. We only posted 170 and had they chased that down maybe the nerves would have kicked in.

“We went and bowled them out, all our other rivals dropped points and that gave us the cushion we needed.”