Dec 20, 20246 min read

Match Preview | Redditch United (H)

Halesowen welcome Redditch United for the fifth and final time this year as The Grove bids farewell to 2024

Written by Ben Ditchfield

Following the 5-0 thrashing of Barwell last weekend, the Yeltz welcome a familiar face in Redditch United against former Halesowen boss and recently re-appointed Red’s manager Matt Clarke.

As referenced with the ‘familiar face’ remark, this is the fourth time the two sides have met this season and the sixth time since the start of last season. Despite failing to win in the league and FA Cup matches, both played away from home in August, the most recent matchup came at the start of October, when we yet again travelled to The Valley and came out with a 3-0 win thanks to goals from McKauley Manning, Kieren Donnelly and the recently departed Jordan Ponticelli.

The fixture has been played 35 times in the last 45 years, and has included 15 wins for Halesowen alongside 9 draws. Despite our convincing win over the Reds two months ago, the side have a terrible recent record against our opponents, which has seen us win just two of the last 10 matches, as well as being winless in our last three home games in the league against them. Dan Platt is the only remaining player left at the club who featured in the club's league win over Redditch back in April 2019.

“There is a buzz around the place for this weekend after the display and performance against Barwell and I hope we continue it for Redditch”, said the Halesowen boss Russ Penn when speaking to Radio Halesowen Town’s Ben Ditchfield during the week. “It will be a tough game on Saturday, their boss Matt Clarke is well respected and before he left a month or two prior to their defeat to Leamington in the play-off Semi-Final last season, his Redditch side was excellent, hence why we signed some of their players.

"He has helped build the club, he has played and managed for the club so emotions will be high. We need to be on it on Saturday, the focus needs to be on us, if we are at our level then I’m confident we will win, if not, I don’t think we will get a result. I don’t read too much into our poor record against them, our 3-0 win in October will help for Saturday but since then Redditch have changed manager and brought in numerous players. We are at home, we haven’t had a home game for four weeks and will have a huge crowd cheering us on as always, we need to get behind the team and make it about us this weekend.”

After featuring in all but one of the 59 league games the club have played since the start of last season, the start of his suspension means the side will be without club captain Ryan Wynter today as he starts his three-match ban, “He is going to be huge miss”, stated Penn. “His presence is massive, which was shown with his performance last weekend against Barwell, but we have players to replace him that are desperate to play and want to show their importance to the squad, whoever plays against Redditch in Ryan’s place, I expect to shine and have a strong performance."

His replacement for this game could be Nat Kelly, the Yeltz boss shared a few words about him during the week, "Nat has been frustrated these last few weeks and has been out the team for one reason or the other, he is professional, always fit and makes big impacts off the bench, so he will be ready to help and contribute whether it’s this weekend or beyond.”

Notable Halesowen players who used to play in the red of our opponents include recent signings, Ryan Wollacott and Musa Ceesay. Wollacott spent three years at Redditch before joining Russ Penn’s side in the summer while Ceesay joined the club as recently as October after featuring 12 times this campaign for our opponents, scoring three times, including a goal against us in the reverse league game in August.

“Ryan has played basically every game this season and his performances have gone from strength to strength, said Russ Penn. "I knew his capabilities and he took time to settle in, but now he is at his best and is striking a brilliant partnership with Ryan Wynter. Musa has also been excellent, we have lost one league game since he joined. He wants to play every week, which he hasn’t, but when he does play, he is a huge character on and off the field and will be here for a while under me because he epitomises what I want from this team and what we are trying to bring to the club.”

Kieren Donnelly will have the chance to become the first player in over 50 years to score in 10 games in succession if he scores against his former side today. He will also have another eye on Joinson’s most goals in a season record for the club that currently stands at 49, although Donnelly will have a maximum of 44 games to break the record compared to the 61 Paul Joinson had. He has currently scored 18 in 21 games this season, a close tie to the 18 goals that Joinson managed in 19 games that season.

“Kieren’s all-round game has improved massively this season", said Penn. "When I joined in February, I believed he could play up front, and he has proved it. I didn’t think he would score this many, but I knew he had the energy to play the role. He plays with no fear and is a little rough diamond for this level now and long may it continue”

The side from Warwickshire are currently on their worst run this season, with just one win in five, which has seen them go from third in the league to 7th in just a month. They are however just second in line to the throne and title of becoming ‘the kings of away days’ as only Stratford Town have won more points on the road than them this campaign, despite being winless in their last two on the road, they are unbeaten in 12 of their 18 matches played over 90 minutes, having won 10 of them.

Red's boss Matt Clarke is currently in his third spell in the hot seat at The Valley after replacing Tim Flowers who resigned from the job last month. Clarke was previously in charge for the 2018/19 season as well as from the summer of 2020 to February this year.

He has only lost once in the five games in all competitions he has overseen since his return but they have failed to win in their last three league games under him, all against sides that are in the bottom half of the table (Royston Town (A), Spalding United & Biggleswade Town (H)).

Redditch are a side that rotate their squad a lot. 35 players have featured for them in the league this season, only Bedford Town have had more players feature. The Reds have made several signings and outgoings in recent weeks.

They have signed Ollie Taylor from Stourbridge, Nick Clayton-Phillps from the Yeltz, Ryan Inman from Harborough Town, Callum Chettle on from Spalding United, Femi Olofinjana on loan from Birmingham City, Jack Kelly from Sporting Khalsa, Jahvan Davidson-Miller from Mickleover and Kyle Rowley from Walsall Wood, George Burroughs from Telford, all since the start of October.

Redditch have only led at half time in one of their last nine league games, a contributing factor to them winning a fairly respectable 14 points of the 27 that were available to them in that time. Considering the losing position they so often put themselves in, their inability to start games on the front foot is one of the main reasons for their recent drop down the league.

Key Seasonal Stats

Halesowen

League Position - 2nd

Season Record - PL24 13W 3D 8L 46GS 31GC

Form (Last 5 Games) - WDLLW

Top Scorer - Kieren Donnelly (18 Goals)

Most Appearances - Todd Parker (24)

Most Starts - Ryan Wynter, Ryan Wollacott (23)

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)

Longest Winless Run - 3 Games (30th November - 14th December)