Match Report | Banbury United (A)
Halesowen produce fine display to trounce leggy Banbury
Match Report
The Yeltz looked hungry early on, and the opener came just after the 10th minute. A ball forward and over the top from Dan Platt found Fin Holmes. The teenager knocked the ball off Nico Jones for a corner which was delivered in by former Puritan Jak Hickman. The defender’s low cross was met by Jason Cowley, whose shot came off Jack Harding and fell to Alex Gudger for a two yard tap in. The Yeltz number six’s first goal for the club in his 16th appearance.
It was a stunning opening 45, which saw a second and third added inside seven minutes after the half hour mark. Our second of the game came from a Hickman cross down the right to Cowley who slotted down the middle. The third through Holmes’ first goal for the Yeltz in his 12th club appearance. Another Hickman cross found Kyle Finn, who knocked down to Holmes to place the ball into the top left. The perfect opening 45, which surely could not be matched in the second half. Could it? Unfortunately not, but still an unreal performance.
The game started slow with a lack of chances at either end, except for a Luke Stokoe pass to Keegan Bloom, whose cross was claimed by Platt inside five minutes. As well as a free kick, given away by Milan Butterfield for a foul on Chris Wreh, which was put over the bar by Stokoe. The opener was needed, because not only did it improve our confidence on the ball, but chance creation. Some superb hold up play by Cowley up against Yaw Ofusu and Jones saw the Yeltz number 9 win a corner. The delivery down the right from Finn was whipped towards the goal, but claimed by Harding.
Two minutes later Reece Mitchell went past Ofusu to somehow keep the ball in play on the by-line. The dug up cross went in low towards Finn, whose shot went into Harding’s gloves five yards out from goal. On the cusp of the 20 minute mark, a Yeltz free kick, which saw Hickman and Finn stand over the ball was taken by the latter. Finn’s delivery was headed away by Ofusu, before the ball into the box that followed from Josh Smile was headed clear by Jones. A minute before our second, Smile found Finn in space on the right. The latter’s crossed delivery into the middle saw a Holmes shot blocked for a corner, which was cleared by Ofusu.
Two could have been three, even before Holmes’ strike that eventually added to the scoreline. As a Cowley shot from range flew into Harding’s gloves. Either side and it would have gone in. A rare Banbury chance in first half stoppage time saw Josh Flanagan sweep a cross field ball to the opposite fullback Bloom. The latter and Banbury number 3 passed to Wreh in the area, whose shot on route to goal was blocked.
The Yeltz unsurprisingly failed to create the bulk of the chances in the opening 30 minutes or so of the second half, but it was unnecessary. Banbury number 2 Flanagan knocked the ball off Finn for a corner, in which four followed, two cleared by Cowley and one by Smile. The fourth delivery from Stokoe was claimed by Platt. Three minutes later and just before the hour, Aaron McCreadie passed to Stokoe on the left. The latter passed it backwards to Bloom, whose cross was headed away in the centre by Mitchell.
Russ Penn’s side felt very comfortable throughout the second 45, explained largely by Banbury’s exploits in the FA Cup, which saw their replay finish at 10:30pm on Tuesday night. Three substitutions in four minutes, which saw midfielder Peter Abimbola and strikers Reece Styche and Jonathan Lawson come into the pitch, slowly started to work, but not enough to get them back into the game. On 67 minutes, a Joel Anker pass to Abimbola on the edge of the box, saw the latter find Styche. The 36 year old was fouled by Butterfield for a free kick on the edge of the box, which was blocked in the wall by Cowley.
The next best Banbury effort had to wait almost 15 minutes, as substitute Lawson got in behind. Hickman dealt with the Watford loanee and Gudger cleared. As the game petered out for the hosts, the Yeltz nearly made it four in the second minute of four added in second half stoppage time. A knock forward and ball over the top from Smile, saw Harding race out of goal, fail to get to the ball first, but Cowley shoot just wide towards the open net. A fourth would have been the icing on a very delicious cake, but the three points and our first away win of the season is all that matters.
Attendance : 606
Teams
Banbury XI : Jack Harding (GK), Josh Flanagan, Keegan Bloom, Aaron McCreadie, Yaw Ofusu (C), Nico Jones (Peter Abimbola 60′), George Ball, Alex Prosser (Harley Giles 72′), Chris Wreh (Reece Styche 64′), Luke Stokoe (Jonathan Lawson 60′), Joel Anker
Unused Subs : Nathan Whitman (GK)
Yeltz XI : Dan Platt (GK), Jak Hickman, Ben Cassidy (Rahis Nabi 88′), Josh Smile (C), Alex Gudger, Todd Parker, Jason Cowley, Kyle Finn, Milan Butterfield, Fin Holmes (Jim Kellermann 74′), Reece Mitchell
Unused Subs : Stan Straw, McKauley Manning