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THE FOOTBALL:
Wednesday 7th October
Zamaretto Premier Division
Yeltz 5 Rugby Town 1
With the boycott lifted (see club news below) 228 fans 'swarmed' into the Grove (some people are obviously carrying on their own personal protest) to see the Yeltz trounce a poor Rugby side and alleviate their temporary, and artificial, position near the foot of the table. It took a while to break the visitors' will mind you, and it wasn't really until Tom Breward's goal gave the Yeltz a two goal lead that victory was a formality. Simon Johnson and Stefan Moore, both with Premier League experience, proved too much for Rugby's defence to cope with and both strikers could have ended up with much more than the single goal each they finished with. As impressive as Halesowen were going forward there were some ropey moments at the back that had me thinking that a better side like, oh I don't know, Leamington could have some joy if things weren't tightened up.
The team: Bussey, Connor, Morley, Hood, Eze, Breward (Bates 67), Denny (O'Brien 83), Rickards (c), Moore, S.Johnson, Griffiths (Blenkinsopp 76)
Goalscorers: Denny (43), Breward (53), Johnson (73), Rickards (75), Moore (85).
Booked: Hood (28)
Attendance: 228
Saturday 10th October
Zamaretto Premier Division
Yeltz 3 Leamington 0
 And tightened up they were in an impressive performance against a decent Leamington side. Jay Denny, goalscorer on Wednesday, was left out against his former club on the strength of a gentleman's agreement between the sides (that can't happen much in the Southern League) but it didn't matter as the Yeltz made it six points in a week with what was ultimately a comfortable win. A tight game turned with the inspired second half introduction of David Blenkinsopp who grabbed his first two Yeltz goals, the first after good work from Stefan Moore and the second when the Leamington defence didn't so much go missing as vaporise, before Tom Bates added the polish against his former club. The defeat had severe repercussions for Leamington boss Jason Cadden who was unceremoniously sacked after the game. On the surface it's a difficult decision to understand as the Brakes had made a solid start to life in a higher league but what do I know? Whatever the reasons the directors of Leamington don't appear to have made themseleves popular with the Leamington fans with their decision. Speaking of unpopular owners, the Ingram brothers provided a bit of distraction arriving at the Grove by helicopter and then strolling around the terraces seemingly on a PR mission. I know the traffic was bad in Halesowen yesterday but a helicopter? Are they mad? Don't they know those things crash ALL OF THE TIME! Plus, Halesowen fans don't like ostentatious shows of wealth. Not exactly loved before they have slumped even further in the popularity stakes.
The team: Bussey, Connor (Smith 79), Pearce (Blenkinsopp 54), Eze, Hood, Breward (O'Brien 85), Bates, Rickards (c), Moore, S.Johnson, Griffiths
Goalscorers: Blenkinsopp (64, 75), Bates (81)
Booked: none
Attendance: 606
THE REST OF THE LEAGUE, IN BRIEF
We'd be bloody fourth without the ten point penalty. Fourth! For the millionth time - thank you very much, Morell Maison.
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as of 10/10/09 |
Played |
Points |
|
1 |
Bashley |
11 |
24 |
|
2 |
Farnborough |
10 |
24 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
11 |
Hednesford Town |
11 |
14 |
|
12 |
Stourbridge |
10 |
12 |
|
13 |
THE YELTZ |
11 |
10* |
|
14 |
Evesham United |
10 |
10 |
|
15 |
Bedford Town |
10 |
10 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
21 |
Rugby Town |
10 |
2 |
|
22 |
Merthyr Tyfil |
10 |
1* |
* 10 points deducted
Many many games this week but performance of the midweek fixtures surely came from Chippenham who made light of the long trip to Truro with a 5-3 win. Whilst still unbeaten Farnborough have been dropping points lately, this time being held to a 3-3 draw by Cambridge City. And we must again mentioned the Gasboys of Amblecote who managed a 2-2 draw with Tiverton. But the big winners of the week are the surprise package of the entire season - Bashley - who firstly took three points with an excellent 3-2 win at Brackley and then went to Tiverton and won 5-0 to take them to the top of the table. I'm not sure how many people saw that coming. Brackley shrugged off their midweek defeat by going to Swindon and blitzing them 7-1. Didcot scored their first goals at home this season to beat underachievers Hemel Hempstead whilst Merthyr finally took their points tally into positive territory with a point at Hednesford.
FA Cup - Third Qualifying Round
Eight Premier League teams went into the third qualifying round yesterday and, at the time of writing, three have successfully made it into the final qualifying round with another four taking their chances in replays. The victorious sides were Chippenham and Nuneaton, who both triumphed over higher league opposition - Havant & Waterlooville and Gainsborough Trinity respectively - and Oxford City, who beat Cirencester. Truro need a last minute equaliser at home to Mangotsfield, Farnborough drew 0-0 at Heybridge Swifts, Bedford got a 1-1 draw at Bury Town whilst the great entertainers, the Gasboys of Amblecote, drew 0-0 with Hucknall Town. The only team to definitely go out were Cambridge City who would have been bitterly disappointed with a 5-0 home defeat to Hinckley.
CLUB NEWS:
It wasn't universally popular but the membership of the Yeltz Trust voted to lift the boycott following the Ingrams' assurances about the future role (or lack of) of Morell Maison at the club. I still believe it was the right decision and consequently we got to enjoy live football for a change. The Ingrams have competition though. A last minute bid from Robert McNaughton, almost certainly the favoured bid of the fans, means there are two parties vying for control. If I had to bet I would say the Ingrams are heavy favourites but I may well be wrong. All will be revealed in the coming weeks...
NEXT WEEK:
It's about to go very quiet. With two wins in a week and, even with the ten point penalty, only eight points off a play-off place, the Yeltz need to be playing. It is therefore Sod's Law (or should that be Maison's Law) that we are without a game of any description until October 28th and don't play again in the league until November 7th. The reserves are playing on Thursday so perhaps I'll write several thousands of words on that.
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