Match Report | Bedford Town (A)

Halesowen suffer a second defeat in 48 hours as the 10 man Yeltz lose 3-1 to Bedford Town

Written by Ben Ditchfield

Penn's side have lost two league games in succession for the first time since September and despite being dominant in large periods of the match, like against Royston earlier in the month, the Yeltz fell to 10 men after drawing at the break before eventually falling to defeat.

Just like they did in the reverse fixture, Bedford came out of the blocks sharp and opened the scoring inside just three minutes. The Yeltz failed to deal with a free kick sent in from the right, that eventually found the back of the net through Eagles captain Ryan Blake, with the shot taking a slight deflection before going in.

Conor Tee won a penalty 10 minutes before the half, that just like against Biggleswade last month, he duelly dispatched to send the Yeltz in level at the half. Musa Ceesay's second yellow card gave the side a mountain to climb against a side with the second best home form in the divison. Penn's side eventually came undone and just 10 minutes after the sending off, his side found themselves two goals down.

Edward Panter was yet to score for the hosts in the one game he had played prior to today, after joining from Biggleswade last month, a place where he scored three goals in 13 league games. Bedford's number nine, got his first before the hour mark, after Leon Lobjoit's shot fell into his path to fire home. His second came seven minutes later, as he latched onto a forward ball on the right of the penalty area, before he cut inside and fired past Dan Platt.

"We've gifted them three points today, for the first 45 we were excellent, one of the best halves we have played all season. We went in at the break level and with the momentum but two minutes of madness and the game plan had gone.

"we swiped the clearance for the first and second goal, when you're under stress like we were in the second half, we didn't have any clear head. We were excellent and created many chances but we end up having to lick our wounds, i've been let down, the players and the club. We haven't done much wrong at the moment, we just haven't had the results in the last two games.

"Alex Cameron and Kieren Donnelly were brilliant in the first half and then Charlie Wragg ran his socks off when he came on, that is exactly what we need going into the second half of the season. We've had a tough four days, we went from a high to a low in less than a week but we are still in a great position, our disciplinary has been hopeless and that could let us down eventually if we continue it."

The Yeltz were in complete dominance after the opening Bedford goal, Adam Harrison made two big saves in a minute from Conor Tee and Jamie Willets, just two minutes later. Just prior to the 10 minute mark, Conor Tee put in a cross towards Kieren Donnelly in the box and just before the ball made its way to the Yeltz top scorer, Bedford managed to scramble it away from danger.

Musa Ceesay was then key in the creation of two chances on the 20th and half hour mark, his initial low driven strike when just wide before 10 minutes later his pass to Manning, saw the latter go for an effort from long range that was only just wide of the target. Bedford's number one was then forced to save from Kieren Donnelly after he raced through, following a tackle and break forward by Reece Mitchell.

The rest of the half after the equaliser seemed to fizzle out with either side happy with the level scoreline at the break. Bedford had only won two of their last 16 matches when level at the break, but thanks to Ceesay's red just 10 minutes in, it allowed the hosts to take a 3-1 lead in the 10 that followed.

Not a lot happened following the Bedford goal, but that changed when Charlie Wragg was brought on for his second Yeltz appearance on loan from Walsall. In the 20 minutes he was on the pitch, he was at the centre of the Yeltz attack, his first chance 10 minutes from the 90th, saw him hit a first time effort that took a slight deflection and forced Harrison into a brilliant save as he only just got a hand to hook it away from goal.

A minute before stoppage time, Wragg spun the Bedford defender and earnt the away side a free kick on the edge of the area, that was taken by Tee and forced another top quality save from the Bedford number one. In a desperate attempt to salvage something, the Walsall loanee hit a right footed strike that only just missed the target, in what was the last action of the game.

The defeat means the side stay second but are now five points behind Kettering and level on points with Telford following both of their draws to Stratford and Hitchin respectively, both sides with a game in hand on the Yeltz. We have lost three of our last four league matches away from home, having lost three of the previous 11, as we face three huge tests in our next three on the road against Kettering Town, AFC Sudbury and Stratford Town.

Bedford: Adam Harrison (GK), Joshua Mullins, Casey Shann, Kieron Dawes (Jack Davies 69'), Carl Mensah, Lewis Green, Scott Thomas (Harry Rush 82'), Elliott Simmons (Edward Gyamfi 32'), Edward Panter (Tyler Winters 73'), Leon Lobjoit, Ryan Blake (C) (Lewis Taaffe 69')

Unused subs: None

Yeltz: Dan Platt (GK), Ben Cassidy, Reece Mitchell, Musa Ceesay, Jamie Willets, Ryan Wollacott (C), Todd Parker, Conor Tee, Kieren Donnelly, Alex Cameron (Charlie Wragg 73'), McKauley Manning (Jak Hickman 69')

Unused subs: Nat Kelly, Josh Smile, Adi Yussuf

Attendance - 1,028