WINNING IS EVERYTHING
Welling 3 Yeltz 1
12 April 2003
In a very disappointing game, the Yeltz threw away three points in a crucial relegation battle at Welling .
We took the lead early on when Jason took advantage of some hesitant defending to nip in and lob the keeper. The play from both teams was pretty scrappy, but we looked the better team and quite comfortable. However once they'd equalised after half-time, they basically over-ran us and gained a deserved victory over a pretty poor team to be honest. With some idiot trying to start a fight with fellow Yeltz fans at the end, it was a very depressing day.
The other results weren't too bad, with Grantham and Hednesford losing. However, with Hastings winning we've dropped another place to 20th and are in deep trouble.
This all means next Saturday's game at home to Grantham is an absolutely must win game if we are going to avoid the drop. However, before that we've got the League Cup Final First Leg at The Grove on Tuesday against Crawley to distract us from more concerning matters.
Match Report from DJ
Welling United: Knight; Burgess, O'Shea, Hone, Edwards (Hogg 68), Farley, Riviere, Watts, Abbott, Booth (Jones 88), Aboagye. Unused Subs: Sodje, Virgo, Standen
Halesowen Town: Clarke; Colwell, Hines, Bauress, Collins, Stone, Williams, Ashby (Danks 71), Blackwood, Gibson, Trainer. Unused Subs: Smith, Spencer, Leadbeater, Hateley.
Referee: S. Choate Attendance: 548
Halesowen slipped to third from bottom after throwing away a promising half-time lead at Welling.
Tim Clarke collected Gary Abbott's 2nd minute shot as the striker fell to the ground but Halesowen won the first corner on 6 minutes with Russell Edwards clearing the kick from Lee Williams.
Halesowen then took a 9th minute lead when Mark Hone missed heading away a long clearance allowing Jason ASHBY to nip in and chip goalkeeper Glen Knight from 10 yards. Gary Bauress then suffered a head injury requiring stitches but battled on bravely with a bandage and Phil Trainer played a neat one-two for Michael Blackwood to strike wide of the post on 14 minutes. Clarke beat out Welling's first corner on 15 minutes but Halesowen were well on top and an 18th minute cross from Blackwood was met on the volley by Williams with Knight on hand to save. Blackwood then robbed Tim O'Shea in his own area but screwed his 5-yard shot wide in the 20th minute and three minutes later Knight beat away an 18-yard curling effort from Neil Gibson for a corner with the Wings flapping under sustained pressure.
The second-half proved a different story with Welling playing more positively. Clarke failed to gather a 50th minute cross but Les Hines turned the ball away for a corner. Bauress headed the resulting corner from John Farley off his goal-line following a back-header at the near post. There was more than a hint of fortune about Welling's leveller on 56 minutes when a 25-yard shot from Ray ABOAGYE took a cruel deflection to land in the corner of Clarke's net and a minute later an Abbott strike landed inches over Clarke's bar.
Ashby curled a 62nd minute effort at Knight and Blackwood weaved through to shoot wide but Welling went on to gain the upper hand and cruised to victory with two late goals. In the 73rd minute ABBOTT stole in behind the Halesowen defence to head home Anthony Hogg's long free-kick at the far post. Hogg then struck the side-netting before Paul BOOTH beat the offside-trap and outpaced Bauress down the centre to hit past Clarke from 15-yards in the 77th minute. With their precious points lost in a poor second-half performance Halesowen could only play out the remaining minutes with Blackwood hitting an 86th minute shot to earn a corner.