EVENTFUL
Yeltz 4 Dunstable 4
09 October 2004
It's certainly not dull at the moment is it? Another wildly entertaining match involving the mighty Yeltz occurred on Saturday when we drew 4-4 at home to Dunstable.
By all accounts we played very well going forward but defended poorly (the score says that really). It was 3-3 at half-time, they took the lead with 8 minutes to go but we equalised in injury-time (again!) and they also had 2 players and probably two other staff sent off. Full Details in Dave's match report!
All that means we still lead the league , although only on goal difference.
On Saturday Glasshoughton Welfare are the visitors in the 3rd Qualifying Round of the FA Cup. They are from the Northern Counties East League, where they are mid-table but have several games in hand. We should take nothing for granted, but this is a pretty good draw at this stage and on current form we are strong favorites to go through.
Match Report from DJ
Halesowen Town: C. Taylor; Cooper, Haywood (Danks 90), Robinson (Moore 85), Pope, Jones, Cowley (Steane 60), Haarhoff, Moore, Baker, Forsdick. Unused Subs: Skidmore, Grocutt.
Dunstable Town: P. Taylor; Childs, Turner, Strange, Kefford, Fontenelle (Barnett 80), Kean, Spring (Francis 58), Carney, Drew, Okai. Unused Subs: Mills, Pugh, Massie.
Referee: I. Hamilton (Cheltenham) Attendance: 454 Bookings: Drew (26), Carney (27), Cowley (49) Sent Off: Drew (90), Carney (90)
Halesowen preserved their long unbeaten run in a gripping eight goal draw with a late equaliser in a sensational injury time period that also saw undisciplined Dunstable having two players and two of the management team ordered off the pitch.
Dunstable were the last team to beat Halesowen nine games earlier and the two fixtures between the sides have clocked up a remarkable 14 goals. Halesowen scored four excellent goals but were guilty of lax defending in a game that provided splendid entertainment for fans but could bring on nightmares for managers.
But Dunstable had a bad start to the day when their coach failed to start and several players travelling by car managed to get lost en route to Halesowen resulting in a 30 minute delay to the kick-off.
After the delayed start Karl Spring set the tone for an ill-tempered Dunstable afternoon by making a wild challenge on Ian Cooper in the 2nd minute. The visitors then drew first blood in the 5th minute when a long ball from Marc Kefford evaded defender Richard Robinson on his full debut and Carl DREW crashed the ball beyond goalkeeper Chris Taylor with Steve Pope's attempted clearance only helping the ball into the roof of the net.
Cooper's 6th minute drive was saved by visiting goalkeeper Paul Taylor and a minute later Simon Forsdick clipped the ball past the goalkeeper but Matt Childs cleared for a corner. Lewis Baker then glanced wide in front of goal in the 8th minute.
Alex COWLEY levelled the scores in the 13th minute after picking up Forsdick's cross and side-stepping the last defender to smash a goal of quality past helpless goalkeeper Paul Taylor from 12 yards. Jimmy Haarhoff was then put free in the 15th minute but his chip was easily gathered by the Dunstable 'keeper.
Big, bustling Dunstable continued to knock the league leaders off their stride by exploiting the space down the left and in the 19th minute Drew back-heeled into the arms of goalkeeper Chris Taylor from Parys Okai's cross. Anthony FONTANELLE then regained the lead for Dunstable in the 20th minute by following up from 6 yards after Baker had initially cleared Drew's effort off the goal-line.
In a flurry of goals before half-time, Halesowen first took the lead but then gave it away within a minute. COOPER levelled the scores with his first goal for Halesowen on 41 minutes by taking the ball around goalkeeper Paul Taylor and slotting home after being put clear by a defence-splitting pass from midfield by Richard Burgess. Dangerous Forsdick then went on a mazy run from midfield and squared the ball for BURGESS to smash the ball into the top corner from 10 yards in the 44th minute. Unbelievably, Dunstable then notched the sixth goal of a pulsating first half on 45 minutes when sloppy home defending allowed Drew to cross for FONTANELLE to convert from close range.
The second half started in more subdued fashion with Halesowen going off the boil before the dramatic last ten-minute finale. Haarhoff's 46th minute shot along the ground was easily collected by Paul Taylor and Baker headed just wide from Dave Haywood's cross five minutes later. Dunstable forward Karl Spring collided with goalkeeper Chris Taylor in the 58th minute and was taken to hospital with three broken ribs.
With the visitors still causing problems for Halesowen's shaky defence, home goalkeeper Chris Taylor produced two fine saves in the 62nd minute to keep the scores level. Taylor dived to his right to turn away the ball for a corner after a cross from Fontanelle skimmed the head of Carney and then made a point-blank save to keep out a header by substitute Anthony Francis from the resulting corner.
Burgess and substitute Ben Steane both shot weakly at Paul Taylor before the explosive final ten minutes. Dunstable regained the lead yet again and looked to have claimed all three points in the 82nd minute through OKAI's clever close range back-heel flick from Drew's cross. Dunstable then caused danger again in the 88th minute when both Carney and Drew failed to convert a goal-line cross from Francis.
The game exploded in nine minutes of added injury time with Halesowen playing four forwards to try to retrieve the situation. Drew was shown the red-card for dissent and was followed shortly afterwards by Carney for a tackle from behind. Breathtakingly, POPE salvaged a point for Halesowen by cracking home directly from the resulting 25-yard free-kick in the 95th minute. Dunstable found few friends in Halesowen in the final ugly moments with manager Darren Croft and his physio both being dismissed from the dug-out and it was several minutes after the game ended until calm was restored.