Match Report | Stourbridge (A)
Halesowen make it five without defeat in the number 9 derby with a passion filled win at a misty War Memorial Ground
Match Report
Just like the last two number 9 derbies at The War Memorial Ground, we took the lead in the first half hour. On the cusp of the 30 minute mark, a counter saw Jak Hickman thread a ball through to Fin Holmes. The teenager shrugged off the defender, rounded Charlie Price, and slotted the ball into an open net. We were in dream land five minutes later, when a Hickman cross on the right was headed into the net by Jim Kellermann for his second Yeltz goal, and first away from home.
One swiftly became two for the Yeltz number 16, who four minutes after his first, he headed in his second, and who else put the cross into the box, but Hickman. The latter setting up two Yeltz goals today, now eight assists for the season, going just one behind the assist leader Kyle Finn. A perfect 45 minutes put celebrations on temporary hold as a 57th minute pass from Jack Fletcher saw a Jai Verma cross on the far right fly all the way off the post and into the bottom right. But after scuffles, a change of a linesman, the start of a very strong mist, and 15 minutes of second half stoppage time, we saw the win through.
The start of the contest was the complete opposite to the half-time scoreline, which 28 minutes into the game seemed a million miles off. In the opening 10 minutes, a Jai Verma scuffed shot went wide of the left post two minutes in, before a Dom Lewis lay off to Olly Shaw on the edge of the box, saw the latter test the palms of Platt. A 12th minute Jak Hickman free kick proceeded the early Stourbridge pressure, and it was delivered in low by the Yeltz number 2 to Fin Holmes. The former Glassboys man hit a shot on the right of the box, which was deflated on route to goal and out for a corner by Jack Fletcher. The delivery from Kyle Finn into the middle was claimed by Charlie Price.
The Holmes shot was our only effort at goal in the opening 20, and as the game went past the quarter hour mark, the Stourbridge pressure came back. A foul on Ben Cassidy in the 16th minute on Aaron Bishop gave the hosts a free kick on the left, just outside the area. The free kick delivered in by fullback Brad Bood was delivered towards the far post, and headed over by goalscoring centre half Jenson Sumnall, who failed to add to his six goals this campaign. Two minutes later, Bishop would have found himself in on goal down the right of the box, but a crucial last ditch tackle from Rob Evans, sorted out the danger, and allowed us to clear.
The tackle from Evo was the turning point in the match, as the Yeltz pressure grew and grew past the 20 minute mark. A sprint down the left and down pretty much the whole of the turf from Holmes, saw him win a corner on the by-line off Fletcher. The delivery from Hickman on the left was punched away by Price, before a Kellermann shot spun out for a goal kick. Six minutes later, a Cassidy pass from right back to Finn, saw the latter set Hickman off with the ball on a run down the right. The latter’s cross went towards Ty Barnett, against his old side at the back post, but former Yeltz defender Joe Hull flicked the ball away from the Yeltz number 23. Our three goals followed, but that was not the only late action in the half, as a 31st minute shot from Holmes was saved, and a shot at the other end from Shaw, went wide of Platt’s left post.
The start of the second 45 was very stop and start. A couple of early Glassboys substitutions, the Verma goal, a couple of scuffles near the dugouts and the injury to the linesman didn’t see play properly get underway until the 66th minute. A minute after that in fact, the first Yeltz shot of the half arrived, when a Kellermann pass to Homes, saw the latter tackled but retrieve the ball and curl a shot at Price. The hosts dominated the last 20 minutes plus stoppage time, but with a game to chase, it was no surprise.
The second half substitution which saw ex Alvechurch man Shay Willock arrive onto the pitch, seemed to give the hosts a bit more of a threat, but not enough to properly test Platt. A 70th minute pass from Willock to Verma on the right, saw a cross flicked behind for a corner. The delivery from Bood was punched away by Platt, and the loose ball cleared by Finn.
As the game stretched past the 80 minute mark, the efforts at goal came quick, very quick. A Kellermann pass to substitute Reece Mitchell on the left, saw Barnett head wide at the back post, while a Bood curler deflected off Willock on route to goal, and a curled effort from the latter curl wide for the hosts. In stoppage time, a Bood cross missed Bishop in the middle, before a Lewis shot was saved by Platt.
In the 96th minute, a sprint down the left from substitute Chisom Afoka, played the ball back to Bood whose cross was away by Milan Butterfield, before a shot snuck wide of the left post by Luke Rowe. The game went near enough to the 15th minute of stoppage time, but the Yeltz were able to hold onto the victory, enter into the top five for the first time since late August, and record a fifth game without a competitive defeat to the Glassboys.
Attendance: TBC
Stourbridge XI: Charlie Price (GK), Jack Fletcher, Brad Bood, Luke Rowe (C), Joe Hull (Harvey Portman 46’), Jenson Sumnall, Jai Verma, Dom Lewis, Aaron Bishop, Olly Shaw (Shay Willock 48’), Zidan Sutherland (Chisom Afoka 75’)
Unused Subs: Jake Cooper, Tom Solanke
Yeltz XI: Dan Platt (GK), Jak Hickman (Charlie Wragg 72’(Luke Postle 90+11’)), Ben Cassidy, Josh Smile (C), Kyle Finn (Reece Mitchell 83’), McKauley Manning, Milan Butterfield, Jim Kellermann, Rob Evans, Fin Holmes (Rahis Nabi 90+3’), Ty Barnett
Unused Subs: Alex Gudger