Match Report | Harborough Town (A)
Halesowen battle hard to a deserved and impressive point in Leicestershire
Match Report
In a game that lacked clear cut chances, it came as a shock when the Yeltz took the lead on the 63rd minute. A piece of passing brilliance from Josh Smile after receiving the ball from Todd Parker, spotted the central run of Hickman 1v1. The defender raced away and slotted past Elliott Taylor. Harborough’s equaliser came just three minutes later, and all in all, was deserved given neither side put their print on proceedings. The scorer, Brady Hickey, had scored the once for the Bees since arriving in the summer, and got another here after hitting into the bottom left from the centre of the box.
Harborough started the quicker of the two sides in the windy Market Harborough setting. A good early tackle from Alex Gudger on Alex Morris initially won a throw for the hosts. The delivery from George Carline was cut out, and we countered through Kyle Finn. The latter found Cowley, who was tackled by Josh Walsh. The midfielder maestro Milan Butterfield picked up a 7th minute yellow, before his partner in the middle Parker received one in the 26th. In the same minute Butterfield received his booking, Harborough went up the other end and had two shots, one from Dempsey Arlott-John, blocked, and the other hit wide by Walsh.
Around the quarter of the hour mark, the Yeltz resorted to some key defensive interventions to keep the score goalless. Making his 5th start of the season, Ryan Wollacott got his body ahead of his man Brady Hickey, after some neat play from Morris and frontman Danny Newton. A Carline ball down the line was then misjudged by Alex Gudger, which allowed Hickey to break away. The latter found Arlott-John, who was crucially blocked off on route to goal by Wollacott and Reece Mitchell. After avoiding a dodgy pass back from Devon Kelly-Evans, Bees keeper Taylor under pressure found Carline in his right back slot. The defender found his former Brackley teammate Newton, who won a corner. The delivery from left fullback James Taylor was met by Carline, who flicked the ball onto Newton to shoot wide.
A dangerous cross from Arlott-John down the right after some neat was met and cleared on the edge of the area by Hickman. This came shortly before the Bees best chance of the half which fell 10 minutes before the break and to number 9 Newton. A throw-in on the right was taken long by Carline, and hit out to Walsh. The latter returned the ball to the former in open space, to dart in a cross from down the right which was headed wide. Our first shot of the game followed five minutes later, as Finn found Hickman, who passed to Cowley. The latter held off three men in yellow, and set up a 25 yard shot from Smile which went just wide of the left post.
The second 45 started in almost smash and grab fashion, like it was the end of the 90 rather than the start of the second half. Two big chances at both ends went begging for both sides, just before we had a big let off. A cross from Carline resulted in a second cross from the opposite wing, but from Riley O’Sullivan. The latter hooked the ball over to the far post, but there were no takers. At the opposite end, Cowley got ahead of Liam Dolman on the far left, but not against the tall presence of Morris, who shepherded the ball out. The let off came five minutes later from the duo of flurries forward, which both came inside the opening 120 seconds. On the wrong side of O’Sullivan, Cassidy had to retreat back, but failed. This allowed the former to shoot just wide of the right post, despite having Newton on hand as the square across goal.
Just before the Yeltz opener. A ball forward from Taylor from the opposite box was missed by Smile in the area. The ball landed into the path of Newton, who set his sights, but weak effort crawled into Platt’s arms. A high ball was headed out of play by Dolman for a Yeltz throw. The Yeltz took it short, and from a Mitchell right footed cross, the dangerous ball in was headed clear by Walsh.
The swift equaliser from the Bees was a changing point towards the last 20. Russ Penn stated his was confident his side would have gone on to win had they not let Hickey’s shot into the net, but instead we looked shaky and seemed to stare defeat in the face. Aside from one piece of neat build up play which saw Manning turn well, a cross from Finn, and Manning shot wide, the Bees were on top. A battle for the ball between Cassidy and O’Sullivan on the left, was won by the latter to get a 77th minute throw-in. Taken long by Carline to Morris, the former received the ball back from the latter, whose cross across the box went out of play.
In the space of three minutes, we made one substitution and Harborough two. A minute after the stoppages in play to allow the new lads to arrive onto the pitch, two crucial Yeltz defensive headers denied two Bees crosses. The first from Walsh was away by Butterfield from a free kick, before the second from substitute Luis Rose was headed clear by Cassidy. In the five minutes of additional time, Harborough lost the ball, had it back again, and lost it again to the dismay of the home crowd. Everything became a bit discombobulated at the end, and the full time whistle was a relief to both, because a scruffy late winner would not have come against the run of scrappy play.
Attendance – 804
Teams
Harborough XI : Elliott Taylor (GK), George Carline, James Taylor, Liam Dolman, Josh Walsh, Alex Morris, Devon Kelly-Evans, Brady Hickey (Luis Rose 80′), Riley O’Sullivan, Danny Newton (Paul Malone 83′), Dempsey Arlott-John (Ben Stephens 74′)
Unused Subs : Archie O’Donnell, Ben Williams
Yeltz XI : Dan Platt (GK), Jak Hickman (McKauley Manning 70′), Ben Cassidy (Jamie Willets 87′), Josh Smile (C), Ryan Wollacott, Alex Gudger, Todd Parker, Jason Cowley (Richard Gregory 90+3′), Kyle Finn (Jim Kellermann 82′), Milan Butterfield, Reece Mitchell
Unused Subs : Gael Mfuamba (GK)
Russ Penn Post Match
• “I think both teams played better against the wind today.”
• lWe are slowly getting there, but in my opinion if we don’t concede so quickly after we scored, we’d have gone on to win.”
• “Jamie is still recovering from that big knock last weekend, so was not 100% for today, but was crucial to use his height late on.”
• “Our fans have had a good week, we have performed better since Worcester, and have a midweek local derby on Tuesday to look forward too.”