Match Report | Leek Town (H)
Halesowen exit the FA Trophy at the first hurdle for the first time in 3 year with defeat to Leek Town
Match Report
The Yeltz fell behind to a deserved first half opener for our fellow step 3 visitors, when Alex Hurst scored his fifth goal of the season. Midfielder Adam Porter found wide man Lucas Weir on the left, whose cross came off Alex Gudger in the middle and fell out for Hurst to curl the ball into the bottom right. The Yeltz pushed for an equaliser in the second 45, and found one through substitute McKauley Manning.
A pass from Reece Mitchell to Fin Holmes on his first start for the Yeltz, saw the teenager’s low cross find half time substitute Charlie Wragg. The Walsall loanee saw not option at goal, so set up Manning, whose powerful effort on the edge of the box found the same corner as Hurst’s first half opener for the visitors. As penalties loomed, Leek with one of their rare flurries forward in the second half, managed to find a late winner. Just as Paul Essom announced the six minutes of additional time, a cross from the right found substitute Jordan Hodkin. The latter’s header was superbly palmed away by Dan Platt, but straight to Weir, who headed into an open net for his third goal of the campaign.
Both sides started the first 20 strong. The away side hit the bar through Porter just five minutes in, after a cross came into the box from Billy Reeves. The visitors kept the ball alive, as a Tom Curl cross from left back was headed wide by Ollie Shenton. Just after the quarter hour mark, Holmes fashioned two fantastic opportunities. The first saw his dangerous cross headed away by 20 year old centre half Charlie Hayes-Green and the ball fly out to Josh Smile, whose shot was saved by Dino Visser. Shortly before the recent Yeltz arrival from Solihull Moors struck the bar.
Just after the 20 minute mark, a Mitchell sprint down the left saw him find Holmes. The 19 year old ventured towards goal, passed central towards Smile, who passed on one more to Hickman. The latter’s cross was away by Curl to Finn, who skewed a shot wide. In the following minutes, a Cassidy pass to Cowley saw the Yeltz number 9 from 25 yards test the gloves of Visser. Bang on the half hour mark, Cowley met the ball with his head after a Cassidy and Hickman link-up down the right, but the Yeltz striker headed just wide of Visser’s right post.
The final 15 minutes of the first half saw Leek dominate, and midfielder Porter seemed to be in the thick of the action. First Shenton played a pass through to the 1v1 Connor Heath who was offside, but the proper clear cut chances followed shortly after. A knock down from Heath to Shenton in the middle saw a cross from the latter directed towards the aforementioned Porter at the back post. The Leek number 8 got around the back of Hickman and hit a volley just wide. Three minutes later Porter received a pass down the line from Hurst. The former was tackled by Hickman, but as the Yeltz made a mess of clearing the ball, Porter had the chance to square the ball across goal, but instead his pass found the feet of Gudger. The Leek opener followed a minute later. It was the 11th goal the Yeltz had conceded in the first 45 of our 16 games this season, and to put that into context, we have conceded just four second half goals this campaign too date.
Leek number one Visser was in the thick of the action himself at the start of the second 45. A 49th minute link-up between Todd Parker and Smile saw the latter sweep a ball out to Hickman. The fullback’s cross came off Reeves for a corner, which was just about tipped over by 36 year old Visser from Finn’s delivery on the right. Four minutes later, the former Hereford keeper was again forced into action. A Mitchell pass to Holmes saw the younger find Finn, who knocked the ball off Liam Buckley for a corner. The delivery from Hickman found the in rushing Cowley on the left of the area, whose header stung the palms of the Leek keeper.
Yeltz defender Gudger almost had a moment to forget, when his mistimed header just before the hour mark saw Heath initially go 1v1 with Platt. The Yeltz number six got back in time to rectify his mistake, even though he fell over and required help from Butterfield to give away a corner at best. The delivery on the right was met by Halifax Town loanee Hayes-Green at the back post, whose low strike fizzed wide of the right post. Russ Penn proceeded to make the eye catching substitution which saw Wragg come on for Butterfield, but it certainly helped the Yeltz craft more going forward.
Smack bang on the hour mark, Parker found Wragg, who chopped past one man in yellow in the box, fashioned an angle at goal, but had his shot blocked. We kept the ball alive in the box, which resulted in a strike from Holmes which was whipped wide. Two minutes later Wragg received the ball after Parker passed to Finn, but the loanee shot was blocked by Hayes-Green. As the final 20 minutes approached, Hickman found Holmes on the left who beat Buckley for pace but could only win a corner at best off the covering man Shenton. The Hickman delivery went all the way through, and led to a goal kick. The Yeltz felt aggrieved and shocked just after the 75th minute, when a Hickman sprint and pass to Cassidy, saw a cross which Cowley met at the back post, and Visser somehow keep the ball out on the goal line.
The Yeltz equaliser followed five minutes later, but Penn’s side failed in their efforts to find a later winner. Instead Leek were the ones to take the spoils. A third game without a win is worrying, and ending our 387 consecutive minutes without Butterfield conceding a goal at centre half. The Yeltz return to league action after three cup games, with the 200 mile round trip to Royston Town. A game which could prove crucial to pick up a win before tough games against Redditch United, Banbury United and Quorn in the remainder of October.
Attendance : 699
Yeltz Man of the Match : Josh Smile
Teams
Yeltz XI : Dan Platt (GK), Jak Hickman, Ben Cassidy, Josh Smile (C), Alex Gudger, Todd Parker, Jason Cowley, Kyle Finn (McKauley Manning 69′), Milan Butterfield (Charlie Wragg 58′), Fin Holmes, Reece Mitchell
Unused Subs : Harry Burns, Jim Kellermann, Gael Mfuamba (GK)
Leek XI : Dino Visser (GK), Liam Buckley (Julius Ndene 87′), Tom Curl (Ollie Heywood 46′), Charlie Hayes-Green, Liam Edwards, Billy Reeves, Alex Hurst, Adam Porter, Connor Heath (Jordan Hodkin 58′), Ollie Shenton, Lucas Weir
Unused Subs : Xander Parke (GK), Saul Fox-Akande
Russ Penn Post Match
- “The lack of a cutting edge up top had bitten us on the backside again, which is disappointing. But we can’t keep complaining about that because we conceded two really poor goals today.”
- “We have had a lot of possession in recent games, but haven’t reaped the rewards of it. This means we’ll have to change again, whether it’s the personnel or the tactics.”
- “Milan had been tight this week with his groin, which is why he came off. I didn’t want to play him but the Wollacott situation didn’t help. He will be out for a considerable time after the injury on Monday.”
- “We need some much needed rest (when speaking on no game on the 25th) because some of the lads are tired. 16 games in under eight weeks is a lot of games, but we head into next week having won our last two league games to give us confidence.”