Match Report | Stratford Town (A)
Halesowen put on a glorious display to set up a tie with Grimsby Borough in the Second Qualifying Round of the FA Cup
Match Report
In similarity to Saturday, the Yeltz found themselves ahead inside the opening 10 minutes of the match. Our opener in Stratford-Upon-Avon tonight came through Jason Cowley’s fourth goal of the campaign. A beautiful pass from the back by Ryan Wollacott was hit out wide and to the left to Kyle Finn. The latter whipped in a pinpoint low cross to Cowley, who around the back of Paul McCone, side footed the ball past Jacob Weaver.
The second Yeltz goal of the evening came two minutes from the half-time restart. Todd Parker latched onto the ball after Cowley was brought down in the box, to slot the ball into the net and score his first goal since a game at The Grove against Mickleover Sports in December 2023. Less than 10 minutes later Jak Hickman added a third. A Finn cross found Cowley in the centre whose deflected strike found Hickman coming from the right of the box to smash the ball into an open net.
In similar fashion to the rainy and wet setting of The Grove at the weekend against the Bards. The Yeltz started on top, but it was the hosts who had the opening opportunity. A Kory Roberts header set them on the attack through Dan Lafferty. The latters header found the run of Henry Landers, who ran towards the by-line, and crossed, but Willets was in the way to clear. Just before the opening Yeltz strike. A Hickman cross spiralled off the back of Fin Brennan for a 5th minute Yeltz corner. The delivery from Finn into the middle was headed away by the tall presence of Alex Collard.
Two chances went begging in the five minute period after the opener, the first which saw Cowley turn provider. The Yeltz number nine switched the play to Hickman on the right, whose shot deflected off Fin Brennan and out for a corner. The delivery was hit to Willets at the back post, but was comfortably dealt with by our hosts. A Reece Mitchell sprint allowed him to find the attacking space to whip in a near post cross to Parker. The midfielder pressured the Bards keeper Weaver to put the ball behind for a corner, where Hickman’s cross was flicked away by Collard.
Just before the half hour mark, a Josh Smile ball swept forward reached Finn who found Mitchell. The two crosses from the Yeltz defender into the area were both blocked by Collard, just before Cassidy found a pass down the line to Hickman, whose cross was grabbed. The Bards defender Collard blocked everything in his path in the first half, and that included a Cowley shot after Paul McCone hit his own man Roberts which richoteted the ball into the forwards path.
The Bards grew into the first 45 just like they did on Saturday, but this time the Yeltz held firm. A central pocket of space Lafferty had picked up was spotted by McCone. The former found Harry Reilly on the right to win a throw, which was taken by Lewis Ison and flicked on by Collard, before a shot was hit over by Jourdain Masidi. Four minutes later, a Landers ball over to the left found Ty Deacon. The latter swung in a cross which flicked off the head of Willets and fell into the path of Lafferty to glimpse a header wide. The best chance of the half other than the goal fell to the Yeltz five minutes before half-time. A 1v1 between Hickman and Weaver, resulted in a superb stop from the latter to give away a corner at best. The delivery from Hickman was punched by Weaver, and cleared by Masidi.
The half-time whistle was required for a 15 minute breather after the late Stratford pressure, but this did not seem to matter. Straight from the restart in the second half, a Deacon pass found Landers in the middle, who shot just wide of Platt’s left post. A let off. Just after the Yeltz second Stratford had what turned out their last chance to make a fist of the match. A free-kick bang on the half-way line was given after a foul on Lafferty. The delivery from Brennan was flicked on by Roberts to Deacon, but Cassidy was there in the nick of time to get ahead and make the tackle. Stratford proceeded to make a double substitution which saw fullback Roberts and midfielder Masidi make way, but it was not enough to stop the Yeltz third two minutes later.
Stratford made some last gasp efforts to provoke a late comeback, but none of them were enough to test Platt. Second half substitute AJ George won the ball off Cowley on the centre line, before he burst through the centre and found fellow sub Owen James. The latter spotted the space afforded to another substitute Cyrus Bruce, but Wollacott as he did all game defended the situation perfectly.
An attacking run and cross from Harry Reilly was grabbed by Platt in the 70th minute, but it was us who went closest to another goal late on. A Finn cross from the left fell onto the head of the newly introduced Jim Kellermann who headed just wide of the right post. A fourth goal was not to be, but I think we were getting greedy at the end. The only thing that mattered was our progression in the competition, a nice trip to the coast in Grimsby in the next round, and a first win in 17 days.
Teams
Stratford XI : Jacob Weaver (GK), Fin Brennan, Alex Collard, Kory Roberts (Cyrus Bruce 54′), Henry Landers (AJ George 64′), Lewis Ison, Ty Deacon, Dan Lafferty, Paul McCone (C), Jourdain Masidi (Owen James 54′), Harry Reilly (Jamie Molyneux 72′)
Unused Subs : Josh Hawker, Jason Mukawa
Yeltz XI : Dan Platt (GK), Jak Hickman, Ben Cassidy, Josh Smile (Alex Gudger 90′), Ryan Wollacott, Todd Parker (Jim Kellermann 74′), Jason Cowley (Harry Burns 80′), Kyle Finn (Richard Gregory 85′), Milan Butterfield (Patrick Wood 90+5′), Jamie Willets (C), Reece Mitchell
Unused Subs : Martin Riley, Gael Mfuamba (GK)
Gary Whild Post Match
“This time of the year, the FA Cup is important, and to come here, a tough place, and win the way we did is brilliant. Well done to the lads. All three of our goals were good, we moved play quickly, kept possession well and had more of a clinical edge in front of their goal. Jak (Hickman) is a talented lad. It is nice to see him pick up another goal tonight because his performance deserved it. Our aim now is to get our lads ready, trained, and prepared for a tough outing at Harborough this Saturday.”