A FINE WAY TO END THE CENTURY

Yeltz 2 Burton 1

Hope everyone had a Merry Xmas - I think we all got one of the presents we wanted with a 2-1 victory over Burton.

I'm still on me hols so I'm afraid I know nothing but the scoreline at the moment - normal service should be resumed after the Gloucester game on the 3rd (kickoff 3pm).

Match Report from Mark Wheatley

An excellent game for the Xmas season with a terrific result for Halesowen.

After Burton had the better of the opening minutes Yeltz took the lead after the ball was driven across the face of goal by Scott Gennard. Scott was involved in the secong goal when he cleverly chipped back across goal for Adrian Cooper to head home. Shortly afterwards Cooper missed a hanging volley which could have settled the game. It was then Burton who went close and forced a great save from Danny low down at the post. Their best chance was a volley which was blazed over.

The second half was a rear guard action except for a one on one for Cooper but the keeper made a good save. Burton finally got a goal and the final 30 minutes was a seige but good defending and a FANTASTIC save from Danny when one on one ensured that the 3 points remained at The Grove and sent the Albion fans probably feeling that they deserved a share of the spoils. My MOTM Danny - outstanding.

YELTZ ATTACK FROZEN OUT

Yeltz 0 King's Lynn 0

Well there was a lot of effort without any real quality, and on a freezing-cold day, some excellent goalkeeping on both sides led to a 0-0 draw.

The front two (Clinton and Payne) toiled hard without getting any decent service from midfield where young Birch was missing, and their central defenders soaked up just about everything that went their way. Danny made several brilliant saves to keep us in it, although the best chances of the game fell to new bloke Scott Gennard (poked just wide) and Payney (he blocked the keeper's clearance but couldn't force it home).

The Boldmere on Tuesday in the B'ham Senior was called off again, so our next games are now on the 27th at home to Burton (3pm kickoff) and then away to Gloucester on the 3rd (also 3pm).

I'm away over Xmas and New Year, so I'm afraid the site will be updated even later than usual (if at all) over the next couple of weeks. Anyhoo, have a jolly Xmas and a spiffing New Year.

Match Report from Travis Bickle

So cold, so very very cold. And with a result as boring as this it really was cold. The first half began well with a Neil Smith(?) header hitting the bar and the ensuing scramble failed to result in a goal. Kings Lynn then dominated the half with Danny keeping us in the game with a couple of good saves. In the last 5 minutes of the half a 35 yard shot from Matty Gardiner was well saved by Martini (shaken not stirred?). (I thought it was Wayne Lloyd - ed)

The second half was possibly the dullest 45 minutes of football I have ever seen with neither side taking any advantage due to a pudding of a pitch and a pudding of a ref. When Clinton's knee got done in again it appeared a nil-nil would be the result. His replacement Scott Gennard (one for the future) went close, but shot wide from 12 yards. We may well have got the winner when a clearance from Martini hit Payne, but he failed to score from such an acute angle. It's games like these which make me wonder why I ever bother to turn up every other week.

GONE FOR A BURTON

DMC Burton 3 Yeltz 2

Sorry for the delays in reporting what happened (nothing unusual there really), as my usual channels failed me. Anyhow, the bad news is we lost and I'll just refer you to the match reports for further details.

The Boldmere game was called off at the last minute, and has been rearranged to next Tuesday (the 21st).

Match Report from Doc

Poll, you bloody part timer

I managed the jaunt from Barnet to Burton and gosh was it worth it? (No). We lost 3-2.

We went 1-0 up with a great run and curling shot from Birchy and generally played very well in the first half. Having said that, we were lucky to go in 1 up, as Burton missed a penalty shortly after we'd scored. We were knocking the ball about really well and looked the better team. Woody was all over one of their blokes as he ran into the box and the linesman gave a reasonably valid pen. Matt Siddaway had no probs with the save though, diving to his right to stop a tame effort.

Er, then they scored 3 times in the first 7 minutes of the second half. Birchy and Crispy went off injured at half time, replaced by Darren Wright and Ashley Brown and we lost all creativity. Their first was a bullet header from a cross and the second two were after mazy runs through our by now non-existent midfield.

We battled well-ish after this but we never really created anything, oh, apart from when Payney scored with 5 minutes to go. Not even the late arrival of Ross "the new Elmeshinio" Collins could do anything and we lost 3-2.

Tosh, posh, trussock and fourpence. Bloody stupid competition anyway.

DRAB DRAW BY THE SEA

Weymouth 0 Yeltz 0

On the positive side - we got a point away from home, kept a clean sheet and stretched our unbeaten run to 4 games. On the other hand, we've still only won once away in the league.

The quality of the match reports has been excellent so far, so hopefully one of you brave souls who made the trip down there will file a match report telling us what actually happened.

It's a free Saturday next weekend so you can get all your Xmas pressies with your conscience clear, but before that we're away to Burton in the League Cup on Tuesday.

THANK YOU MR HART

FAT Yeltz 3 Sutton Coldfield 1

It's our best FA Trophy for years - getting through 2 rounds!

It was a strange game. We had loads of chances with young Payne being the most wasteful, and two the goals we're due to ex-Yeltz star Mark Hart in the Sutton goal but it was reasonably easy in the end. Seeing I was actually at the game for once you can read my match report for full details.

Saturday brings a long trip down to Weymouth , then after that there are two cup games: away to Burton in the League Cup , and then away to Boldmere in the B'ham Senior Cup .

CRISP PAIR BEATS SORRY WORCESTER

Yeltz 2 Worcester 1

There was a lot of talk at the start of the season of Worcester being favourites for promotion. I don't think our performance so far has been much to gloat about, but whereas we're solidly in mid-table, they are stuck second from bottom.

An early penalty and a 70th minute winner from top scorer Richard Crisp led to a welcome three points after a couple of defeats in the League. We've had some excellent match reports so far so hopefully more details will appear ASAP.

Saturday puts us back on the Road to Wemberlee with the visit of Western Division Sutton Coldfield to The Grove in the FA Trophy. I'm out of the country on business for most of the week, so if the site gets updated even slower than usual, I can only apologise in advance.

COLLINS DOUBLE PUTS US THROUGH

DMC Evesham 1 Yeltz 2

We're on the march with Chambers army! Two goals from Ross Collins and the mighty Yeltz are off on an epic run in the League Cup.

OK I'm just trying to stir up a little excitement here, but it is nice to think we might actually do something in this competition for once. After all, we haven't got that much to look forward to in the league :-( As usual, any match reports are welcome as long as they are genuine!

Saturday brings struggling local rivals Worcester to The Grove - they've only won once against Grantham so far but I'm not going to tempt fate by predicting anything (except in Fantasy Island of course)

Match Report from James Pearson

Same Old Story (or ******* awful to quote John Chambers)

On a cold night at Evesham there was more interest in the passing trains than in a lacklustre Halesowen performance typical of so many against lower division sides. Having said that a win is a win so we live to fight on (and hopefully play some football!) in the next round.

With no Clinton or Evron in the side you had to wonder where the goals would come from and that was pretty much how the first half went. A drab affair with little football, they scored from a good break down the left by their no. 3 who crossed the ball for a simple goal. A hopeful punt into the box saw their keeper challenge Neil Smith (at least I think it was Neil Smith but I may have been mistaken - it must have been a mirage) in the box and concede a penalty. It was not a penalty by any stretch of the imagination but never turn down a bad decision!! Crispy fired it low and to the goalkeepers right but to maintain justice he flung himself down well and saved it.

We looked brighter in the second half but then again we would have struggled not to. Standing behind the dugout gives a whole new impression of management, anyone with any more motivating alternatives to the phrases ******* awful or ******* useless should contact John Chambers urgently. If it had been a fly on the wall BBC documentary then the only clip they could have used was "Payney in the middle NOW" (repeated several hundred times). Bringing on Birch and Collins about 20mins into the half turned the game They linked instantly to test the keeper and within a couple of minutes Collins buried a ball from the left to put us on level terms. While a relief the score still flattered us with Evesham still creating good chances but causing more danger to the cafe queue than Danny with their finishing. With only seconds remaining there was a steady migration to find a hot drink with the dread of extra time seeming a certainty when an aimless ball into the box was somehow forced home by Collins (at the time I couldn't tell who got the last kick but I gather Collins hit it).

Star player: Couldn't be really anyone else but Collins however Ashley Brown made some good runs on the right and could have been a contender with more consistency.

Anyway things will look brighter at the Stourbridge Road End on Saturday when we can all look forward to a well mannered polite game against Worcester - or should we all be putting spread bets on the number of yellow cards now ????

HERE WE GO AGAIN

Merthyr 1 Yeltz 0

After starting to put a decent run together, we've now lost two 1-0 away games on the trot.

We were on the pools for the first time for ages because most games had been rearranged because of the Scotland-England game. I'm not sure how many of you decided to loyally make the trip down to Wales, but I'm sure the rest of us part-timers would appreciate it if you sent in a match report.

A little bit of good news is that Stuart Payne has been signed from Kiddy after a successful loan period, and we've also signed midfielder Neil Cartwright , who's previously been at Telford, Kiddy and the Albion.

Contrary to what I might have said earlier, the League Cup game against Evesham is away, and this Tuesday (16th) . Apologies if anyone was misled, but I wouldn't depend on any information you find on this site :-)

Match Report from Kev Without Trev

AS ONE OF THE VERY FEW WHO BOTHERED TO GO, I GUESS IT'S MY DUTY TO WRITE A REPORT. THE LAST TIME OUR SUPPORT WAS OUT-NUMBERED BY THE COMMITTEE WAS A COLD THURSDAY NIGHT IN GRETNA AND LIKEWISE THE TRAVELLERS ON SATURDAY NOW HAVE A CLAIM TO FAME. WE WERE THERE WHEN OUR SUBS BENCH WAS ANNOUNCED AS WRIGHT, WRIGHT AND CARTWRIGHT. THE REST OF THE TEAM WAS AS FOLLOWS:-

DANNY, LLOYDY, WOODY, GARDS, JASE, BROWN, BIRCHY, SMITHY, CRISPY, CLINTON, PAYNEY.

THE GAME STARTED IN CONTRAVERSY BEFORE I HAD EVEN WALKED AROUND THE BACK OF THE STAND. LLOYDY APPARENTLY HAD TAKEN OUT THEIR RED HOT MARKSMAN MITCHEL AND GOT HIM CARRIED OFF WITHOUT BEING BOOKED, WHICH WAS NICE! IT SOON BECAME APPARENT THAT THE REF HAD LEFT HIS CARDS AT HOME AS THERE WAS NO END OF TICKING OFFS WITHOUT A CAUTION IN SIGHT.

MERTHYR HAD THE BEST OF THE FIRST HALF BUT NEVER LOOKED LIKE GETTING PAST DANNY. WE DID NOT LOOK SHARP AND JUST LIKE TUESDAY WERE FAR TOO CAUTIOUS IN THE EARLY STAGES. OUR ATTACKING PLAY REVOLVED AROUND OVER THE TOP BALLS FOR CLINTON TO CHASE WITH PAYNEY ON HAND TO PICK UP THE SCRAPS.

JUST ON THE STROKE OF HALF TIME PAYNEY BROKE CLEAR OF THEIR DEFENCE WHO LOOKED A MILE OFFSIDE TO ME, BUT SHOT EMBARASSINGLY WIDE WITH ONLY THE KEEPER TO BEAT. WE LOST CLINTON AT THE START OF THE SECOND HALF WITH A KICK ON HIS ALREADY INJURED KNEE. EVRAN WAS THE REPLACEMENT AND WE STARTED TO LOOK AT LITTLE MORE DANGEROUS.

THEY WENT AHEAD HOWEVER ON AROUND 70 MINUTES, SLIGHTLY AGAINST THE RUN OF PLAY, WITH A LUCKY TWICE DEFLECTED SHOT. THIS FORCED US TO BE MORE ADVENTUROUS. HOWEVER, THEY SOAKED UP THE PRESSURE, EVRAN COMING CLOSEST WITH A HEADER CLEARED OFF THE LINE IN THE LAST FIVE MINUTES.

GENERALLY, WE ARE LOOKING TO DEFEND RESULTS TOO MUCH AND ARE GIVING THE OPPOSITION MORE RESPECT THAN THEY DESERVE. THE GAME SEEMED TO BE CRYING OUT FOR SOME OF ADA COOPER'S PENETRATING LEFT-HAND RUNS INTO THE BOX BUT, FOR SOME UNKNOWN REASON, HE WAS DROPPED COMPLETELY BY CHAMBERS.

AFTER THE WHISTLE, LLOYDY CAME UNDER A TORRENT OF ABUSE FROM THEIR FANS AND NUMEROUS THREATS WERE MADE TO HIM. UNFORTUNATELY, THE COACH LEFT AT 5.15 PM, SO I WAS UNABLE TO FIND OUT IF ANY OF THE THREATS WERE CARRIED OUT.

LAST RITES?

Grantham 1 Yeltz 0

The end of a good run but unfortunately there's a reasonable chance it won't matter at the end of the season.

Grantham are in severe financial difficulties, and it could well have been their last game ever (you can read all about it at the Grantham web site if you're interested) as they are on the verge of bankruptcy. If they do go under, I guess the game will be annulled, but we really don't want that to happen - and for the more one-eyed of you out there, don't forget we'd lose the three points we gained earlier in the year.

I don't have any details of the game as yet, but hopefully some of you will send a match report to fill the rest of us in

Match Report from Darren Marklew

Team : McDonnell, Brown, Cooper, Wood, Lloyd, Gardiner, Birch, E Wright, Crisp, Smith, D Wright. Subs: Thomas, Owen (not sure who the other one was)

Well how depressing. It was just like being at Welling to watch Dartford's last game (only Adam Patrick didn't score the winner in the 53rd minute!)

We had a few chances at the end, especially when Crispie hit the bar, but really we didn't create much and Grantham scored the only real chance they had early in the second half. I guess you can't expect much considering Evran started (and finished) the game upfront on his own.

Rumour mongers were out in Grantham though, and suggestions are we may well sign a bloke called Andy Jones from Halesowen Harriers (proven goalscorer, hmmmm!!) and Payne may still come if Kiddie pay out some or all of his remaining contract.

So I guess it was worth going if only for these rumours (even if they do have a habit of being wrong!)

SOLID OR WHAT?

Yeltz 3 Clevedon 0

That's 4 games on the trot without letting any in now, and subsequently we've climbed to a magnificent 10th place in the table. First-half goals from Matt Gardiner and Evran Wright set us well on our way, with Evran scoring a third after the break.

In a surprising and (slightly) dsappointing move, Lyndon Rowlands has been allowed to go to King's Lynn for a "nominal fee". With Stuart Payne back at Kiddy, we're a little short of cover up front now. Still, if Clinton and Evran keep doing the business it's not looking so bad.

I've been tinkering with the site this week, so hopefully everything is working OK. The main new feature is to let you lot to add your own match reports.

I'm finding it harder to get to Yeltz matches regularly, so I'm hoping there'll be loads of you who want to contribute to the site. Simply click on the link below and follow the instructions when you get there. Don't worry, you don't need to know HTML or anything - just send your report and I'll do the rest.

Match Report from Andi

A great game in the cold cold Halesowen air. Man of the Match was Clinton Thomas (could it be anyone else?) as he helped set up Evran (2) and Matty Gardner. A surprising absentee from the game was Richard Crisp, so Ashley Brown was recalled at right back.

Somehow their number 4 didn't get sent off after continually fouling Clinton the whole game and was only booked. He also got Clinton booked.

Adie Cooper cleared what would have been a consolation goal for Clevedon off the line. The result puts the Yeltz and 10th and drops me to 4th. (Fantasy Island)

http://www.go.to/theresonlyoneclintonthomas