News Story

DMC Bromsgrove 1 Yeltz 2

The Yeltz safely progressed through to the next round of the League Cup by beating Bromsgrove 2-1, 3-1 on aggregate.

The game was delayed for a long time just after the kick-off when one of the Bromsgrove defenders unfortunately broke his leg. When the game was finally restarted, we flew at Bromsgrove and early goals from Delton and Pie-arce meant the tie was just about safe. We perhaps should have scored more, but despite a late consolation for Bromsgrove we ran out easy winners.

A CLEAN SHEET AT LEAST

Yeltz 0 Worcester 0

The first point under John Chambers was gained in a 0-0 draw against local rivals Worcester at The Grove. I guess we should celebrate a second clean sheet in a row, but three points would have been nice the way we're gradually slipping down the table.

WE LOVE THIS COMPETITION

BSC Willenhall 0 Yeltz 2

The B'ham Senior Cup holders are through. Halesowen's first victory under new management was a 2-0 victory over mighty Willenhall, with both goals coming from Steve Pie-arce. Excellent.

WHAT A GAME!

Nuneaton 4 Yeltz 3

Where 7 minutes of injury-time came from I'll never know, but it was a very promising performance under new manager John Chambers.

Such a lot happened in the game I haven't really got space to give the match justice. They took the lead early on from an easy header, and our pre-match half-joking predictions of 0-4 being a good result weren't looking so funny any more. Then Birchy curled a fantastic free-kick into the top corner and we were back in it.

Then just before half-time we took a deserved lead following a brilliant break from defence - Gardiner->Reed->Francis->Goal!

A penalty after 68 mins brought it back to 2-2, then Matt Gardiner was sent off for two bookings, the second for kicking the ball away after a foul. Piearce was sacrificed for an extra defender leaving Delton up front on his own, but Nuneaton were pressing so hard for a winner he looked really dangerous on the break. On one brilliant run he beat several players, rounded the keeper but his shot was scrambled off the line by the last defender.

Then in the 90th minute Del-boy was free again and this time slotted it past the keeper to score what looked like a famous winner. Unfortunately the ref decided there was 7 minutes of injury-time to play, and in that time Nuneaton somehow managed first to equalise and then score a last-gasp winner.

CHAMBERS APPOINTED NEW MANAGER

John Chambers , ex-Stourbridge, Dudley, Kiddy... has been confirmed as new manager of The Yeltz . I can't improve on Dave Johnson's description on the Yeltz Mailing List , so I'll copy below what he said:

"For those who don't know - John is currently with Willenhall from the Interlink Alliance. He has good local knowledge and his teams are always battlers. On the minus side, he's been operating in the lower leagues for quite a few seasons now, after being with Dudley beforehand and then apparently out of the game for a season, after Dudley crashed.   "He won the title with Stourbridge and many think he was instrumental in setting Kidderminster on their way before Graham Allner. However, on the disciplinary side, I remember him being sent off at The Grove and chasing Sean Flynn around the pitch, with the general idea of causing him some health problems. Fortunately, Flynnie was far too quick for him.   "Also, I believe John was close to getting the job when Stewart was appointed, and was quite devastated not to get it. Having managed Dudley at The Grove, he is also familiar with the set up. I suspect our strategy would go back to pulling in local talent, rather than the more expensive ex-pros of recent signings. I suspect there will be an element of surprise at such an appointment though." Dave

The League Cup game at Bromsgrove was abandoned at half-time due to fog, and has been rearranged for December 9th.

WELL THAT DIDN'T LAST LONG

Dorchester 2 Yeltz 0

After the false dawn of a couple of wins, The Yeltz are back to their depressing ways, this time losing 2-0 at bottom of the table Dorchester.

Dorchester had only previously won one game against Grantham, so this was particularly disappointing. I think the manager situation needs sorting out quickly, as the way things are going we could well be in relegation trouble before long.

Also, I've received an interesting message from Simon Swallow on the Yeltzland guestbook you might find interesting.

LONG LIVE THE KING

Yeltz 2 Merthyr 0

Colin Brookes says he doesn't want to be the new manager, but his spell as caretaker manager has started excellently. Two wins on the trot and no goals conceded . Unbelievable!

The latest victory was against last year's runners-up Merthyr. The Yeltz took advantage of the strong wind in the second half to score two excellent goals. Delton scored the first from a crisp Crisp cross, and Piearce clinched an excellent result with a controversial second, on the break after Merthyr were denied a penalty, poor things. :-)

HALL RESIGNS

DMC Yeltz 1 Bromsgrove 0

Yeltz fans were greeted with the disappointing news that manager Stewart Hall has "resigned by mutual consent". After such a poor start to the season it wasn't completely unexpected as it was clear that something had to be done.

Stewart's record in his four years in charge was excellent, taking us to our highest position ever in the non-league pyramid. Personally I found him a great bloke, always willing to chat about the game and interested in what you had to say.

Colin Brookes is temporarily in charge, and his appointment brought an immediate upturn in fortunes with The Yeltz beating Bromsgrove 1-0 in the League Cup. A late goal from Paul Birch, a top corner screamer, finally broke the run of six defeats. Phew!

WORRYING TIMES

Yeltz 0 Kings Lynn 1

And it gets worse. Another very disappointing loss, this time 0-1 at home to lowly King's Lynn and we're in big trouble. We've now lost 6 on the trot and are just two points above the relegation zone, with most of the teams below us having games in hand.

It's now pretty obvious that something is seriously wrong. Rumours of emergency board meetings must mean Stewart Hall's job is in jeopardy now. Personally I've always thought he's a brilliant manager, but I'm not sure how long the current slide can be allowed to continue without something being done.

I'm sure we'll be discussing this on the Yeltz Mailing List this week, so if you've got anything to say on this (or any) subject, please feel free to join in.

FIVE LOSSES ON THE TROT

Boston 2 Yeltz 0

Despite having close to a full strength side out, The Yeltz couldn't break out of their losing streak, going down 2-0 in a freezing Boston.

We actually played pretty well without having any luck at all. We had the better of a quiet first half without really threatening. Then just after half time, one of their players collapsed in the box after what looked like an innocuous challenge and we were one down.

From then on we were all over them, with their keeper making a fantastic save from Birch (my man of the match) and tipping a Del-boy 30-yard lob onto the bar. Then they scored a second completely against the run of play with a spectacular long-range shot, and the ridiculous Harding - for the love of God, just go - got sent off for dissent.

Even down to ten men - or perhaps because of - we still outplayed Boston but couldn't even get a consolation. Stewart looked very miserable walking off, and there were rumours of emergency board meetings being held this week. Hmmm.