Yeltz chief hails players

Brookes paid tribute to Shane Paul, Jay Denny and Dean Brennan, who played starring roles in the club's 3-0 midweek win at Bedford.

The trio had been substituted at half-time just three days earlier as the Yeltz slid to a surprise 2-0 defeat at home to Hemel Hempstead – their first loss in the league under new manager Morell Maison.

Paul was on the scoresheet in the victory at Bedford while both Denny and Brennan impressed, giving Maison exactly the response he was looking for.

Brookes said: "That win at Bedford was the best we have played since Morell took over, without a doubt.

"Some of the football we played was fantastic and it was just the kind of performance that Morell would have wanted after the loss last weekend.

"We actually played some good football last Saturday but we came up against a goalkeeper in tremendous form and we didn't take any of our chances.

"But Tuesday night was even better. Some of the football we played was the best I have seen from a Halesowen side for ages.

"And I was so pleased for Shane, Jay and Dean. They all got substituted at half-time against Hemel Hempstead and they were obviously disappointed with that.

"But what a response they gave Morell on Tuesday.

"It was an excellent team performance but they were head and shoulders the three best players on the field."

And Brookes also paid tribute to the players reaction to a change of formation brought about by a minor midfield injury crisis in Maison's squad.

The injury absences of player-coach Darren Caskey and captain Nick Amos allied to the suspension of experienced winger Paul Devlin left the manager short of midfield options.

So he chose to switch to a 4-3-3 formation, and Brookes was delighted with the way the players responded.

He said: "Morrell didn't have many options so he went 4-3-3 and it worked really well.

"We've only seen Dean Brennan as a striker before while he's been with us but Morell played him on Tuesday as a third forward, dropping back into midfield when we didn't have the ball but becoming a striker when we didn't.

"I was amazed how well he did, but afterwards he told me he has played lots of games as a midfielder for Luton's first team."

Maison looks set to face a pleasant selection headache in the coming weeks with Caskey, Amos and Devlin all set to return.

And he has added to his options by signing Frenchman Gerald Baptiste and Portuguese Decio Gomes.