NEARLY, BUT NOT ENOUGH (AGAIN)
Yeltz 2 Welling 2
03 February 2001
A fighting performance, but the mighty Yeltz dropped another 2 crucial points in an increasing desperate relegation battle.
A first-half Lloydy goal put us into a lead we held until the 78th minute, and despite Pie-arce scoring an excellent goal from a tight angle with only 6 minutes left, we once again threw a lead and important points away. With other teams winning again (Fisher, Tamworth - for no bonus points what's the connection between those two?) we're still in last place , now 5 points from the safety zone.
This week's transfer news (a very regular feature now): Nick Carter , a 19 year old left midfielder has signed from Tamworth.
Next Saturday sees the start of a very difficult set of games as we travel down to play Bath City . Thanks to everyone who mailed me with the updated fixture list .
Match Report from DJ
Halesowen Town: Quy; Crisp, Comyn, Wood, W. Lloyd, Ford, Carter, Piearce, Bowen, Smith, Hines. Subs: Mason, Sutton, P. Lloyd
Welling: Knight; Bower, Chapman, Hone, Edwards, Budden, Riviere, Rutherford, Rowe, Harland (Glover 69), Dolby. Subs: Saunders, Farley
Booked: Edwards (44), Ford (44), Crisp (48) Referee: S. Tomlinson (Farnham) Attendance: 458
Despite an improved battling performance Halesowen remain bottom of the table and paid dearly for letting Welling equalise twice to claim a draw. The game once again highlights that Halesowen's plight is due to a miserable home record and their continual failure to hold onto winning positions.
The visitors quickly adjusted to the muddy playing surface and Halesowen had an early escape when Zeke Rowe was judged to be offside when he slotted home after a dangerous run by Anthony Riviere in the 23rd minute. But it was Halesowen who took the lead in the 35th minute when Jon Ford held off the Welling defence before laying the ball into the path of new signing Nicky Carter and his low cross was turned into the net by Wayne Lloyd from two yards out.
The high-flying Wings levelled in the 78th minute when Matt Bower struck a dipping shot into the roof of the net from 20 yards out. In an exciting ending, Halesowen regained the lead in the 84th minute through a tremendous individual effort by on-loan Steve Piearce who fought off three defensive challenges before lashing the ball past Glen Knight from an acute angle. However, just three minutes later Halesowen let a vital lead slip again when they failed to clear their lines and then backed off from Riviere who worked through the penalty area to beat Quy.
Halesowen almost grabbed a third in a frantic injury-time goalmouth scramble that saw Andy Comyn and Ford miss close range efforts whilst at the other end Wayne Lloyd made an important last gasp tackle to prevent Rowe winning the game for Welling.