Match Report | Alvechurch (A)
Halesowen fail to impress in a slender 1-0 defeat to the imposing Alvechurch
Match Report
A difficult first half was saw a deserved opener from the hosts through Forest Green Rovers loanee Jose Marquez. The 19 year old winger scored his third goal in four Church appearances, when he netted after a bright piece of build up play from the hosts. On a cold and chilly night in Worcestershire, we could not have asked for a worse way to end the opening 45.
In the words of Russ Penn post match ‘the hosts dominated the opening 20’, and they certainly did. A Will Merrett pass from the back to the spriteful Kieran Wakefield, saw the latter lay off a ball to Callum Sullivan to put a ball in from down the left. The cross was missed in the middle by McKauley Manning, and out to Josh Dugmore on the right of the area to smash a ball off the crossbar.
The hosts proceeded to claim for a penalty after a ball from Jonny Ngandu was initially cut out by Ryan Wollacot. The defender’s poor clearance popped out to Marquez, who was taken down by the Yeltz man, but silent penalty claims were not even waved away. A minute before the 20th minute, the Church hit the bar for a second time. Tim Flowers’ expressive side worked the ball from right to left, and found Ethan Sephton in free space out wide. The fullbacks ball to the edge of the box found Ngandu who rattled the woodwork. The Church kept the ball alive with Wakefield, but Reece Mitchell was equal to his cross.
The short stages after the ‘hugely’ dominant opening 20 from the hosts, saw Russ Penn’s Yeltz best period of the half. A stunning cross field ball by Josh Smile found Mitchell. The defender played it forward one more to Manning, who won a free kick off Jessy Bavanganga. The delivery from Jak Hickman was met in the middle by Merrett, who cleared. Four minutes later, we crafted our best chance of the first 45. A sloppy piece of defensive play from the hosts allowed Manning to pick up possession, and find the dangerous run from Kyle Finn. The latter in the area was on the wrong side of Dugmore, but still managed a shot, but it was tame, and fell into the gloves of Swindon Town loanee Redman Evans.
Just after the half hour mark, left full back Sephton played a ball to Wakefield, who found Ngandu. In a central position, the latter played in backwards to Septhon, who got away a 25 yard strike that was smartly palmed away by Dan Platt in the Yeltz goal. A minute of madness came in the 38th minute, when in the space of 60 seconds, a chance a piece came at both ends. The first, came the way of the hosts, after Jamie Willets lost out to Marquez. The latter played a one-two with Ngandu, before he had a shot which was blocked. We countered from the effort, and Manning’s beautiful ball across to Finn on the loan, saw the latter cross to Jason Cowley in the middle, but it went all the way through to Nile Timson.
Either side of the hosts opener which proved the winner, we had two chances, one which fell to Hickman and the other to Butterfield. The formers chance felt similar to his goal at the weekend. He got in between two defenders, although this time closer to goal. The only difference was a chipped effort was his only option, and it unfortunately sailed wide of the left post. The second chance came in the minute before the one additional minute. A corner after a Hickman run down the left and Manning shot, saw the delivery split by Evans. The shot-stopper had the referee to thank, because as the ball dropped to Butterfield five yards out, the whistle was blown.
The second 45 lacked any clear cut chances, until the hour mark. Just after Sam Perry found himself offside in the area, a Finn ball to Manning won the Yeltz a corner off Timson. The delivery was swung in by Finn to the back post, but headed away by former Glassboys man Bavanganga. What proved our best chance of the second 45 came on 62 minutes, and to Hickman, just like our best chance in the first half. A Mitchell pass down the left hand side found Smile, who showed off more of his stunning passing vision. The ball forward had Cowley and Hickman challenging, but with the latter further ahead he took on the opportunity, but scuffed an effort wide.
As the referee’s watch struck to 70 minutes, Willets looped a header over the bar after a quick burst of pace from substitute Jim Kellermann on the by-line, set Todd Parker up for the cross. Alvechurch in the 15 minutes that followed has two efforts, one which was curled wide by Dugmore, but the second which rattled the crossbar for a third time in the contest. The latter came about after a shot from Sullivan was blocked, before substitute Dieter Schwarm curled his effort off the bar, just after a previous effort from the number 16 sub was blocked.
In the latter stages, substitute Elliott Dugan scuffed a chipped effort wide off balance, shortly before a minimum of five minutes was signalled by the fourth official. The Yeltz had two very late chances in the allocated stoppage time, but neither had any convinction. The first came from a Harry Burns throw in which was flicked on by Willets towards Cowley, but keeper Evans reached out and grabbed the loose ball.
The second, in the 6th minute of additional time, saw substitutes Kellermann and Burns link up for a blocked effort for a corner. The delivery went into the middle, but was cleared by a man in yellow to signal the full-time whistle. A disappointment result on the road to make it four this league season without a win. Even more alarming is our 12th place status in the Southern Premier Central ahead of FA Cup weekend, but still very early days and 105 points left for grabs.
Attendance :
Teams
Alvechurch XI : Redman Evans (GK), Josh Dugmore, Ethan Sephton, Sam Perry, Jonny Ngandu (Dieter Schwarm 78′), Jose Marquez (Elliott Dugan 83′), Will Merrett, Callum Sullivan, Kieran Wakefield, Jessy Bavanganga, Nile Timson
Unused Subs : Joe Williams, Krystian Pearce, Jack Sang
Yeltz XI : Dan Platt (GK), Jak Hickman (Jack Birch 84′), Josh Smile, Ryan Wollacott, Todd Parker (Harry Burns 80′), Jason Cowley, Kyle Finn, McKauley Manning, Milan Butterfield (Jim Kellermann 65′), Jamie Willets (C), Reece Mitchell
Unused Subs : Alex Gudger, Richard Gregory
Russ Penn Post Match
- “They had a good spell in the first 20, and we dealt with it well.”
- We did not have many opportunities in the game, but the ones we had were golden chances.”
- Their goal before half-time changed the game, even though we dominated stages of the second half the chances didn’t come.”
- I thought we played well tonight. We are not on the points total we want, but performances have improved since Worcester.”