Match Report | AFC Sudbury (A)
Halesowen produce a stunning fightback in Suffolk in a 5-5 thriller against AFC Sudbury
Match Report
The hosts took an early two goal lead into the break, the first Callum Page’s first league goal of the season in his 20th league appearance of the campaign. The initial effort which was saved by Dan Platt, but the ball fell to the Suds ever present who, unmarked, tapped the ball into the net for a 16th minute lead. The second hosts goal arrived eight minutes later. A corner was won after the impressive Kien Connolly found 18 year old fullback Jacob Goredema down the left. The delivery landed into the middle of the box and was turned in by Fin Corrigan for his first Sudbury goal.
The Yeltz got the dream start to the second 45 when Rob Evans found the top left from a free kick for his first goal since his return to the club, but the hosts regained their two goal lead in an instant. Just seven minutes after we halved the deficit, Page added his second of the game and league season, as he again put the ball in the net unmarked. Exactly 10 minutes later, the Yeltz got a penalty when Kyle Finn was fouled in the area, and Fin Holmes quickly dispatched the ball to regain hope… for a minute.
The hosts less than a minute after the restart from the Yeltz second flew up the other end and Connolly slotted home his fourth goal in four games for his new club. Holmes proceeded to miss a penalty four minutes later, and the game looked to be coming to a close as the contest entered to the 80th minute, but the drama was certainly not over. Ben Cassidy made it 4-3 with his first goal for the club in his 74th appearance, before four minutes later, Holmes added his second and sixth of the season after he slotted a 1v1 effort into the bottom left.
It was 4-4 (we’d heard that before) and the game entered into EIGHT minutes of second half stoppage time, which did not disappoint. In the fifth minute, Liam Pearce made it 5-4, ripped his shirt off, and seemed to have grabbed a dramatic late winner for the in need of points hosts, but that was not the end of the ridiculous storyline. In the eighth minute of time added on, Jim Kellermann won a corner down the right, which was whipped in by Finn and to perfection planted onto the head of the in-rushing Ty Barnett, who powered the header home. 5-5, a scoreline you had to rub your eyes to believe.
The game started with very early Yeltz pressure. A Fin Holmes burst into the box up against 20 year old Skye Salmon saw the Yeltz teenager find Milan Butterfield. The midfielder’s effort was sliced over the bar, but the early effort was a needed positive. This was very evidently not the case, as the hosts dominated pretty much the remaining 43 minutes of the first 45. A 6th minute switch of play from Fin Corrigan saw the midfielder find Jacob Goredema down the left, who won a corner. The delivery was headed out by Josh Smile for a second corner, which was cleared out of the area.
Three minutes later, the hosts built on the earlier pressure. A Kien Connolly cross was flicked away by Rob Evans, but only as far as former Chelsea academy man Marcel Lewis. The Suds top scorer this league season, with six goals, went for a shot which looped into the gloves of Dan Platt. As the game approached the quarter hour mark, Platt soon had his palms on the ball again. A scooped ball into the box from Lewis found Callum Page in the middle, whose effort was saved. The Yeltz did counter from this effort, and forced Lennon Maclorg into his first save from Holmes, before a 16th minute Connolly lay off to Pearce saw McKauley Manning block a strike at goal. The hosts opener then arrived in the same minute.
The Yeltz improved very slightly after the sucker punch, as Holmes found Manning 21 minutes in which led to a Barnett header, comfortably saved by Maclorg. This was short lived, as the hosts doubled the lead three minutes later. The remainder of the half contained no more goals, but was stacked full of chances. A 29th minute Holmes strike was saved by Maclorg, shortly before the hosts should have added a third. A cross from talented 20 year old wide man Liam Pearce was away by Manning, but picked up by Corrigan. The scorer of the second goal hit a shot which rattled the crossbar, before a nervous Yeltz backline cleared the ball away from danger.
The final 10 minutes saw a Lewis cross cleared by Evans, a Jim Kellermann pass to Holmes see a scuffed effort, Pearce slip in a 43rd minute 1v1 with Platt, and a Connolly shot saved. A much needed breather at half-time for a Yeltz side who went in behind at the break for the 6th time this season, and two behind for the first time since August, and away from home since February. The return of the players to the pitch for the second half saw drastic action taken by Russ Penn, who brought Jak Hickman and Ryan Wollacott off for Reece Mitchell and Kyle Finn in a much needed double change.
The change temporarily worked, as our first goal of five in the second 45 arrived three minutes after the restart, and substitute Finn find Barnett for a 50th minute header the 40 year old should really have put away. A 53rd minute effort from Pearce saw him denied by Platt, before the Suds third arrived two minutes later. As the game approached the hour, the Suds backline were let off by a huge save from their shotstopper Maclorg, who gave away a corner after Finn found Holmes for the effort on target. The delivery from the former was hit short, but we failed to make anything off the opportunity.
A free kick just after the hour taken short saw Holmes force another save from Maclorg, shortly before the 19 year old wide man dispatched his penalty to grab our second, and the Suds grabbed an instant reply for 4-2. The Yeltz eventually found a third to put the pressure on the hosts, but it could have been forced earlier had Holmes converted the 70th minute penalty which was saved, or we put the ball in from a 72nd free kick which was somehow kept out of the goal.
The 10 minutes of normal time plus the eventual 10 of added time madness ensued, and what a 20 minute period in was. Four goals, all but one from open play, scored by four different players. 5-5 is not the result many expected at the start of the day by any means, but under the circumstances that progressed over the contest, a point from a 3-1, 4-2 and 5-4 deficit could be crucial come the end of the season, even if it isn’t three points. The Yeltz extend their unbeaten run to a positive six league games, but nine draws in 21 games is a concern that needs fixing.
Attendance: 325
Sudbury XI: Lennon Maclorg (GK), Charlie Lewis, Jacob Goredema, Jake Turner (C), Skye Salmon (James Eveleigh 76’), Callum Page, Liam Pearce, Fin Corrigan (Kai Fletcher 81’), Tom Dettmar (Jackson Chukwu-Nsofor 85’), Marcel Lewis (Kaidon Tower-King 64’), Kien Connolly
Unused Subs: Rocco Leeks
Yeltz XI: Dan Platt (GK), Jak Hickman (Reece Mitchell 46’), Ben Cassidy, Josh Smile (C), Ryan Wollacott (Kyle Finn 46’), McKauley Manning (Charlie Wragg 90+9’), Milan Butterfield, Jim Kellermann, Rob Evans, Fin Holmes, Ty Barnett
Unused Subs: Alex Gudger, Lewis Solly (GK)