Match Report | Real Bedford (H)

Halesowen claim a vital comeback win to inflict Real Bedford’s first loss of 2025

Written by Ben Ditchfield

Match Report

The Yeltz went behind for the second Saturday in a row, when Ben Stevens curled an effort into the top left after a breakaway from a McKauley Manning shot, and pass from Josh Setchell. After a tough opening 25 minutes, we scored the equaliser a minute later, but in the most obscure way and the most unlikely source. Our number two Jak Hickman, who won the corner in which the goal came from, placed in a cross from a free kick which was headed away by Jack Davies. Just like McKauley Manning away to Redditch in the FA Trophy last season, Hickman scored directly from the corner, and got his first goal since our win over Royston Town in March 2024.

The Pirates retook the lead in the first minute of first half stoppage time. A sprint past Cassidy from Setchell left the Yeltz defender on the ground allowing space to open up. An Archie Jones cross was hit off Alex Gudger for a corner which fell to Drew Richardson on the edge of the box. The latter put the ball in the danger area, which allowed Joey Evans to touch the ball in from a scramble for his 30th goal of 2025. It was a third successive game to start the season where the Yeltz found themselves with work to do in the second half, but yet again we found a way. The second equaliser came just after the hour mark from Jason Cowley’s scrambled finish from a yard out. 84 minutes on the clock and with a draw becoming, Milan Butterfield stepped up with his first goal for the club in his 21st appearance, bundling in the ball from a Kyle Finn corner.

As mentioned, the Yeltz suffered a difficult opening period of the first half, which contributed to the opener. Real Bedford crafted several chances prior to Stevens’ goal. Three minutes in, Richardson played a ball into Setchell in the box, who wriggled through a tight space, before a crucial tackle from Ben Cassidy. The ex Yeltz man Conor Tee whipped in a cross which was hit out by Gudger for a corner. The delivery from Stevens made its way to Jones at the back post, who headed wide of the right post.

The visitors were then awarded a free kick with 10 minutes on the clock after Hickman took down former teammate Tee. The delivery again from Stevens was this time not as good as his one prior, as Platt from a comfortable height punched the ball clear. A minute before the away sides opener, and the moment that resulted in the counter for the goal, we very nearly took the lead ourselves. A clearance without conviction from Shaheim Ward dropped out to Finn outside the penalty area, whose ball to Charlie Wragg and shot from the latter in the area was turned away by Tyler McGregor.

Real Bedford should have made it 2-0 four minutes after their first goal, and if the pass from Setchell or run from Stevens was timed better, it would have been. The same pair who crafted the opener linked up for the huge chance, after Josh Smile lost the ball from a Yeltz free kick. This chance was the wake up call, as the equaliser followed shortly after, and the Yeltz dominated the latter stages despite going behind at the break.

A show of strength from Cowley to outmuscle Davies, allowed the Yeltz front man to win a corner off Tee. A Smile shot from Finn’s delivery led to another, which unfortunately went out for a goal kick. A superb piece of defensive work from Manning to win the ball off Ward in the Yeltz attacking third, resulted in a Butterfield shot which blocked off Richardson. On the 42nd minute, we broke forward after a Tee cross to Setchell which saw a Cassidy block and a Butterfield headed clearance set us away on the attack. The Walsall loanee Wragg headed the ball onto Manning, who found the run of Finn, but he was stopped in his tracks by Davies.

The second half was well… incredible. Real Bedford did not have a sniff at goal for the whole half, and instead it allowed us to find an equaliser and the late winner. To express how much we dominated the half, three big chances went close in the first 15 minutes of the second 45. A Manning header to Cowley saw a burst forward from the latter, and a shot that dipped just wide of the right post. The Yeltz number nine was involved shortly after, when a ball from Smile was headed away by Sam Cartwright. The loose ball picked up by Cowley set Finn free to square across to Manning, whose shot was hit straight at McGregor. The two aforementioned Yeltz men were involved two minutes before the equaliser, when this time it was Manning finding Finn. The latter found Wragg who won a corner, which was delivered in by the former to Willets to head over.

In the final 10 minutes, the key to the lock was found, and it did not take an expert to know a goal was on the way. Two chances in two minutes came before the goal, the first of which a Cowley shot which was blazed over the bar from a Manning pass. The second saw an interception from substitute Todd Parker set off a one two between Cowley and substitute Harry Burns, which allowed the latter to shot just wide. An incredible win, a player with their first Yeltz goal, another with their first for over a year, two games with over 1,100 in attendance and two wins. What more could you want from five days of football?


Yeltz XI : Dan Platt (GK), Jak Hickman (Reece Mitchell 62′), Ben Cassidy, Josh Smile (Todd Parker 74′), Alex Gudger, Charlie Wragg (Harry Burns 74′), Jason Cowley (Jim Kellermann 88’), Kyle Finn, McKauley Manning, Milan Butterfield, Jamie Willets (C)

Unused Subs : Ryan Wollacott

Real Bedford XI : Tyler McGregor (GK), Drew Richardson (C), Jack Davies, Sam Cartwright, Josh Setchell, Archie Jones (Isaac Galliford 88′), Joey Evans (Josh Allen 80′), Ben Stevens (Tom Hitchcock 90′), Conor Tee, Ben Weyman (Lee Watkins 62′), Shaheim Ward

Unused Subs : Anthony Agemoh-Davies

Yeltz Man of the Match – Kyle Finn
Attendance – 1,147


Russ Penn Post Match

“We played a team today who were very good, and a side that step 3 is not used too. We were worked all over the park, but when we got to grips with it, we were excellent. Are we slow starters? I don’t know. I wouldn’t say teams are carving us open, but it is the way we concede, like from the set piece today that annoys me the most and had gone on to lose from that you’d have seen a different me. We recharged at half-time, got to grips with what they were trying to do, and found the solution.

“Fair play to the lads for winning the game convincingly with the amount of chances we had. We have scored eight goals in three games, and could have scored more, and stopped them from playing before we pounced on their vulnerabilities from set pieces. We have had a tough week, with three games and the long journey last weekend. I am also just glad we have continued the excellent home form we had at the end of last season.”