Match Report | Worcester City (H)
Halesowen fall to a first league defeat of the regular season for six months
Match Report
For the second time in three home matches this season, the Yeltz went two behind inside the opening 25 minutes of the half. Worcester had led for just 38 minutes this season before this afternoon, the second lowest tally in the league, but showed none of that in the opening stages here. A Liam Lockett run and a Felix Miles finish in the centre were the carbon copy goals for the 6th minute opener and 21st minute goal that doubled the lead. The Yeltz failed to find a response before the half-time interval to the disgruntlement of the packed Yeltz faithful. Worcester added a third goal with just three minutes of the 90 remaining, as ex Yeltz striker Dan Sweeney, off the bench bent the ball into the top right corner.
The two goals from the visitors was the blue print for a sensational first half hour for the Blues, and Chris Cornes side could made it 3-0 on two occasions just after the second. The Yeltz needed a response and found one. Early chances saw a second of two corners from Finn after Wragg knocked the ball off Jordan Lymn. Finn took it short to Wragg, whose cross was headed away in the middle by Hayden Reeves. Just before the quarter hour mark, a Gudger ball to Wragg saw the loanee brought down to ground. The delivery from Jak Hickman, after an injury delay for Zac Guinan, was claimed by Blues keeper Jack Thompson.
The best chances of the half for the Yeltz landed just before Worcester’s second goal. A header from a Finn corner by Alex Gudger found the side netting at the back post, before a Jim Kellermann ball to Finn spotted the overlap of Hickman, whose cross was again claimed by the keeper. The first 45 belonged to our visitors though, who were excellent throughout from back to front, and had numerous chances to extend the lead. A peach of a ball from Miles found the run of Guinan. The latter found Teddy Rowe, who forced an incredible last ditch tackle from McKauley Manning. In the latter stages of the half, Dan Platt was forced into an outstanding double stop to deny Rowe from a matter of yards out. Worcester were later dealt with the 40th minute substitution of the injured Guinan who was replaced by Sweeney.
A double change at half-time by Russ Penn which saw Reece Mitchell and Todd Parker replace Gudger and Kellerman was supposed to reinvigorate the side, but it didn’t. An outstanding block on the line by Ben Cassidy stopped Rowe from a deserved third. The attendance of 2,034 in the 55th minute got the biggest Yeltz cheer of the match, rare for a side who have now failed to score at home just twice in 18 months.
The game became slow and lacklustre, but only until the 70th minute where the Yeltz finally started playing some neat football. A Finn sweeped pass out to Parker on the left, saw the latter spot Manning in the middle. The Yeltz number 11, Finn, carried on his run from deep to receive the ball from Manning, and force Thompson into a ‘rare’ save. The duo of Parker and Finn were involved again three minutes later, when the former swept a pass to the latter, the opposite of the link up for the first opportunity. Substitute Parker found the bursting run of Mitchell down the right, but yet again another cross was straight at the keeper.
Worcester cruised to the win, and could have made it three before they eventually did minutes later. A Willets pass to Parker was cut out by Reeves, and worked from back to front after a pass from Kyle Belmonte out wide to Sweeney. The Worcester brace scorer Miles thread a through ball to substitute Niall Flint, whose weak effort was scuffed straight into Platt’s gloves. The last action of the game, Sweeney’s strike to make it three, gave an ironic feeling. A former Yeltz player scoring at The Grove when none of the current players could. A first defeat of the regular season since February, and home defeat since New Year’s Day costs the team their place in the top 5.
Attendance : 2,034
Teams
Yeltz XI : Dan Platt (GK), Jak Hickman (Ryan Wollacott 28′), Ben Cassidy, Josh Smile, Alex Gudger (Reece Mitchell 46′), Charlie Wragg (Harry Burns 74′), Jason Cowley, Kyle Finn, McKauley Manning, Jim Kellermann (Todd Parker 46′), Jamie Willets (C)
Unused Subs : Milan Butterfield
Worcester XI : Jack Thompson (GK), Shay Palmer, Jordan Lymn, Musa Ceesay (Kyle Belmonte 70′), Paul Downing (C), Hayden Reeves, Teddy Rowe (Niall Flint 74′), Nathan Hayward, Zac Guinan (Dan Sweeney 40′), Felix Miles, Liam Lockett
Unused Subs : Logan Stoddart, Kieron Dawes
Russ Penn Post Match
“The performance was not good enough today. As long as I’m here I will fight, but there was none of that today. Worcester played amazingly, could have scored 6 more than they did, and we just have to take that on the chin. We should take the game to any side who come here, against a Premier League or step 3 side, but we just wasted the opportunity today and a perfect Bank Holiday Monday setting. We will have to lick our wounds for a few days. The amount of chances created and goals conceded for our opponents across this season so far is a huge worry. I’m disappointed, but we have to dust ourselves down, take a break from the league, and full focus on the cup against Stratford on Saturday. We have to react, or there will be some players who won’t be here but I am confident we will.”