Match Report | Grimsby Borough (H)
Halesowen batter Grimsby 6-1 to set up a Third Qualifying Round FA Cup meeting with Aveley
Match Report
The Yeltz opened the scoring in the 8th minute through Jason Cowley when he slotted a penalty past Seb Auton, who went the right way after the keeper brought Cowley down in the box. It was the fourth time this season the Yeltz number nine had scored in the opening 20 minutes of competitive action this season. The visitors put the Yeltz under some pressure situations in the opening half hour, and got their reward a minute later. The frontman Dayle Southwell who had the one solitary appearance off the bench in their league campaign too date scored his first of the season.
The clock ran down to 38 minutes, and to avoid a tense second 45, a bit of magic was urgently required. Step forward Kyle Finn. The Yeltz number 10 received the ball from Jak Hickman on the right, before passing to Charlie Wragg. The Walsall loanee returned the ball to Finn, who danced from the right and into the centre, to craft the space, and find the bottom right. A minimum of two minutes went up at the end of the 45, and in the third, Wragg added a crucial third to extend the lead. The teenager received a ball from midfield, sprinted clear of the closest defender and coolly slotted past Auton.
The fourth Yeltz goal and second of Cowley’s three came six minutes from the break. A pass from Milan Butterfield found Hickman on the right, whose forward pass found Cowley. The latter hindered by the angle, slammed the ball superbly across the goal. The Yeltz number 9 claimed his hattrick with 19 minutes of the 90 to play. A ball from the right was played over to Cowley on the left, who ventured towards goal, and bent the ball beautifully into the bottom right. The sixth and final Yeltz goal arrived 10 minutes later, when after initially having a shot saved from Auton, Wragg received a cross from McKauley Manning to poke home his second of the game.
The Yeltz forced the visitors into early defending inside the opening three minutes. A Hickman burst down the right and cross in the middle to Cowley saw the latters header partially cleared by Jack Richardson. The ball fell out to Manning, whose shot was blocked by Brad Wood. We survived a huge let off two minutes later, when in all honesty Grimsby should have opened the scoring. A loose pass in our own half was picked up by Dayle Southwell. The striker was forced wide, but still forced Platt into a save, before the rebound from Jack Richardson was blocked by Alex Gudger.
Our first goal followed the close call three minutes later, and another goal could have come four minutes after that. It was end to end stuff. An initial combine between Finn and Wragg on the right set up a shot from Josh Smile, which looped just over the bar. That was a minute before an Arun Jones cross down the Grimsby right which was met by goalscorer on Saturday Reece York, who forced a save down low to right from Platt. Five minutes later a free kick which was awarded our way after Wragg received a ball from Hickman and was taken down by Alfie Taylor. The set piece was taken quick to Hickman, whose cross came off Luis Adlard swapped from wearing number 9 to 3 for today, and into the gloves of Auton.
In the minutes which led to the Grimsby Borough equaliser, Auton on loan from Grimsby Town, was forced into two quick fire saves. The first came from a Cowley header was superbly tipped away to Finn, who drilled in a cross which was turned away for a corner by Wood. The second after a Smile ball forward to Finn, who placed through a perfect ball to Cowley. The Yeltz number 9 rounded the keeper, but failed to shrug off Wood. The half clearance fell to Hickman, but Auton got back quick to pull off the stop. The resulting corner from Finn found Cowley, whose header bounced off the turf and narrowly wide of the left post.
Two final chances of the half aside from the two late first 45 goals came a minute before stoppage time. A Butterfield ball forward from centre half found Finn who won a free kick after being brought down by Josh Venney. The delivery from Manning was headed on by Gudger, but cleared in the middle by Wood. 30 seconds later a shot from Finn was blocked for a corner, which saw Gudger attempt to keep the ball in at the back post, but fail up against Arun Jones leading to the award of a goal kick.
The first goal of the second half happened so quickly there was only one flurry forward beforehand. It came from a Wragg cross on the right which saw a clearance from Wood which fell to Finn on the edge of the box. The scorer of the Yeltz second found Manning on the left, whose cross was blocked away by Jones. The fourth Yeltz goal, and first of the second 45 saw an influx of substitutions. Charlie Burden-Whittleton, Tom Rennardson and Brody Robertson replaced Richardson, Southwell and Rio Molyneux for the visitors, and Jim Kellermann replace Finn for the Yeltz. A double substitution was in order for us after the fifth goal, when in the 72nd and 76th minutes respectively, Harry Burns and Ben Cassidy replaced hat-trick hero Cowley and Reece Mitchell.
The three Yeltz second half goals was the main highlight of the second half, but chances for more still arrived. In the 60th minute, Smile found Manning on the left, who spotted the overlap of Mitchell. The defender returned the ball to Manning, who found Finn to get a strike away which was saved by Auton, even though Cowley almost got a touch on the ball to divert into the net. A minute and two later Wragg found Finn in the box, whose shot was cleared off the line by Jones, before a Manning strike from 25 yards flew wide of the left post. On the cusp of the 70th minute a rare Grimsby chance saw substitute Rennardson’s audacious lob tipped over for a corner which missed all in white by Venney, before an 87th minute long range strike from Kellermann stung the palms of Auton. The Yeltz got over the finishing in line in style, could have scored 9 or 10, but more importantly are through the third qualifying round. Apologies if the match report is slightly discombobulated or lengthy, but so much happened that was too hard not to include!
Attendance : TBC
Yeltz Player of the Match : Jason Cowley
Teams
Yeltz XI : Dan Platt (GK), Jak Hickman, Josh Smile (C), Alex Gudger, Todd Parker, Charlie Wragg, Jason Cowley (Harry Burns 72′), Kyle Finn (Jim Kellermann 66′), McKauley Manning, Milan Butterfield, Reece Mitchell (Ben Cassidy 76′)
Unused Subs : Jamie Willets, Martin Riley, Gael Mfuamba (GK)
Grimsby Borough XI : Seb Auton (GK), Arun Jones, Luis Adlard (Josh Morrell 83′), Jack Richardson (Charlie Burden-Whittleton 56′), Brad Wood, Alfie Taylor, Rio Molyneux (Brody Robertson 63′), Alex Flett (C), Dayle Southwell (Tom Rennardson 63′), Josh Venney, Reece York
Unused Subs : None
Gary Whild Post Match
- “In the FA Cup you want to get into the next round, and that was always on our mind. We are delighted. The lads were frustrated by recent games and took it out on Grimsby tonight.”
- “It is great to see Jason score a hat-trick and Charlie get a couple as it gives them confidence to get more and more. They were both a handful. As was as Milan’s passing and defensive work in his less so natural position at centre half.”
- “The pitch today was excellent tonight, which helped us get the ball out wide and work it forward. A big factor in why we looked so sharp. Out pitch is one, if not the best around.”