Match Preview | Bishop's Stortford (H)

Jan 306 min read

Halesowen start a crucial month of fixtures against an upbeat Bishop Stortford

Written by Ben Ditchfield

Halesowen host a Bishop’s Stortford side who are fresh off their biggest victory of the season and who have kept two clean sheets in back-to-back matches as the Yeltz look to continue their remarkable recent home record and jump back up to the top.

This will be just the third meeting between the two dating back to the 1980’s. The Yeltz have a 100% win rate against Stortford, having won both previous matches, the reverse game last October and the match against them in 1987. Throughout the two fixtures, only two Yeltz players have scored in the matchup, Kieren Donnelly who got the brace in the 2-1 win last year at The Woodside Park Ground, and Peter Sturgess who scored the only goal in a 1-0 FA Cup fourth qualifying round victory at The Grove in 1987.

The most recent game, saw the Yeltz come away with the three points thanks to a Kieren Donnelly masterclass. Donnelly opened the scoring in the 18th minute, before a goal from The Blues’ ever-present this campaign, Cole Dasilva. The Yeltz who had lost three of their five matches prior to this game in mid-October, managed to snatch a late winner through their top scorer in the 88th minute. The Yeltz arrive at this weekend’s game against The Blues in mixed form, following a fourth successive game without a victory on the road with the defeat to Stratford Town, but crucially just one defeat since September in matches at The Grove.

Ahead of the game, Russ Penn spoke to Radio Halesowen Town’s Ben Ditchfield on the matter. “I think since the Bromsgrove game on New Year’s Day, the few postponed fixtures gave us a real re-charge. We were excellent in the three games leading up to Stratford last weekend, and for some reason, whether it was tiredness or one game too far, we never got going in the game. It does not surprise me that we have a good home record, as every aspires to create a fortress at their own ground.

“In terms of this Saturday, we play an in-form side which is never easy, but we have six wins in our last seven here, so they will not be too pleased to be playing us either, whether they travel well I’m not too sure, but our home record speaks for itself. We need to be organised against Bishop’s Stortford, cause their form is a big strength of theirs at the moment, and that builds confidence. They have players who can score from all over the pitch, which is always difficult, whether it is set pieces or scoring from different positions or open play situations."

Penn also spoke about the recent form of Yeltz forward Conor Tee, who has scored five goals in as many home matches, as well as Kieren Donnelly’s recent goal drought. “It is not too surprising that Conor is in this form, I know he scored 15 goals last season and 14 the year before. He has been immense for the whole of this season, even when we were having a rough time at the start of the year he was still producing and playing games.

"Kieren is getting unlucky in front of goal at the minute, whether the goalkeeper keeps him at bay or he hits the post, these missed chance can affect players confidence. As a striker you want to score in every game and when you go a couple without finding the net, it can make you question yourself, especially if the run continues. On the flip side though, he is available every week, he is creating these missed chances for himself, something I would be more worried about if he wasn’t getting them."

The Yeltz come into the game after a 2-0 defeat to Stratford Town last Saturday at The Arden Garages Stadium. Penn’s side went behind early on due to a goal from Owen James, who tapped into an open net following a Dan Platt save from Callum Ebanks and a shot that ricocheted off the post from Dan Lafferty. Kevin Joshua doubled the Bards advantage 20 minutes into the second half. The best chance Halesowen could muster, came late on in the match, when Jak Hickman hit a free kick that smashed off the post. The late fightback was not enough to avoid a third away defeat in four.

Bishop’s Stortford on the other hand, come into Saturday’s clash against the Yeltz, fresh off a 4-0 victory over Lowestoft Town. Their most recent winter signing from Oxford City, Louis Walsh, scored the opener and in the process claimed his first goal for the club, less than five minutes into the contest. Erin Amu also claimed his first goal for The Blues, two minutes into the second period, on his 23rd appearance for the side. Bishop’s Stortford wrapped up the win with two goals either side of the hour mark, the first through Ryan Charles and the second from Fabio Virciglio.

Our opponents were one of the founding members in the creation of the second tier of the non-league pyramid (what is now called the National League North/South) back in 2004. In its creation, the league was called the Conference North/South, and Bishop’s Stortford spent 13 straight seasons playing at the level and were even just two wins away from promotion to non-league football’s premier competition, what is now the National League back in the 2006/07.

The club lost in extra time of their two-legged play-off semi-final against Salisbury City. The club would eventually end their 13 year stay at the level, as they suffered relegation to step 3 in 2017. The side proceeded at the level for seven straight years, before they eventually regained their status as a step 2 side at the start of last season, after winning the Isthmian League title in the 22/23 campaign. The club had a horrid time on their return to the division, and were only able to win six of their 46 league matches, hence their instant return to step 3.

Their relegation to this years Southern Premier, saw previous boss of two years, Steve Smith depart the club, which paved the pathway for their current boss Steve Castle. A former Cambridge United assistant manager, Castle joined The Blues last year, following a successful decade long stay at Royston Town, where he most notably led them to step 3 back in 2017, before keeping The Crows in the division for seven successive seasons. His departure at Royston led him to the decision of taking a six month break from management, before taking over in the hot seat at Bishop’s Stortford. Castle has managed 33 games at the Hertfordshire side, where he has 42% win ratio, which has seen his side score 47 goals along the way.

Bishop’s Stortford have two ever presents in their 33 matches this campaign, Jake Thompson and Cole Dasilva are the duo in question, and the latter is in fact the only one to have started in all 33 of those matches. Bishop’s Stortford have had 16 different scorers this season in the league, only St Ives have had more.

20-year-old forward Jack Roberts is the club’s top scorer, having scored nine goals in 17 matches across the season, however the former Rangers academy player is a doubt for the match having not featured for Bishop’s Stortford since their final game of 2024. Brad Russell could be the sides biggest threat on the day in the absence of Roberts, as the midfielder, who has started 28 matches this season has scored seven times.

The Yeltz will need to be aware of The Blues ability to score just after half-time, as they have more goals (11), than any other side in the league in the 15 minute period after the break. The club in contrast are very unlikely to appear in a late show this weekend, as only Biggleswade and Stamford (4), and Banbury (3) have scored fewer goals after the 75th minute in games than Bishop’s Stortford (5).

Steve Castle’s side also struggle to mount comebacks in matches this campaign, only Banbury (2) and Bromsgrove (1), have won fewer points from losing positions than Bishop’s Stortford who have only won three. The side also have a terrible record of just one win in their last 50 league games when conceding first in a game, a record that took a battering last year, when they conceded first in 25 of their 43 league games across the year.

**Extended clips of the Russ Penn interview will be available on the clubs social media pages across Friday afternoon**

Key Seasonal Stats

Halesowen

League Position - 4th

Season Record - PL32 16W 4D 12L 53GS 42GC

Form (Last 5 Games) - LWDWL

Top Scorer - Kieren Donnelly (18 Goals)

Most Appearances - Ryan Wollacott, Conor Tee, Todd Parker & Jak Hickman (31)

Most Starts - Ryan Wollacott (31)

Biggest League Win - 5-0 vs Lowestoft Town & Barwell (Away - 5th November & 14th December)

Biggest League Defeat - 4-0 vs Hitchin Town (Home - 21st September)

Longest Unbeaten Run - 6 Games (5th October - 16th November)