Express & Star

Halesowen 1 Coalville Town 3 - Report

Halesowen slipped to second from bottom in the table after shipping three goals in a nightmare first-half.

Published

Lee Hughes missed a great chance for the Yeltz at the far post after returning loan player Joel Taylor made a superb run down the left in the 6th minute.

The Yeltz soon paid the price and fell behind in the 7th minute when Andrew Wright drilled home into the bottom corner after the home defence hesitated to clear.

Dan Platt then made a good low save at his post after Scott McManus found space down the left in the 12th minute.

Kieran Morris went close for Halesowen in the 22nd minute on the turn but Coalville soon established their overall superiority with two further goals.

The visitors doubled their lead when Alex Dean's 25 yard shot took a wicked deflection to deceive goalkeeper Platt in the 27th minute.

It soon became 3-0 after 32 minutes when the Ravens strolled through the home defence and the ball was pushed through for Kairo Mitchell to poke home in front of goal.

Coalville continued to carve out plenty of further chances as Tom McGlinchey went close with a 36th minute far post header and Wright fired across the face of goal three minutes later.

Billy Murphy headed on top of the Coalville net in the 45th minute and Tim Berridge brought another great save from Platt in the final action of the opening period.

Halesowen made a much livelier start to the second half and Hughes turned home a low cross from Dan Sweeney to pull a goal back from close range in the 53rd minute.

But Platt continued to keep Coalville at bay with a brilliant one-handed save to keep out a Curtis Burrows header from a 54th minute corner.

As the Yeltz tried to repair the damage, Taylor fired into the side-netting in the 56th minute and Taylor's 60th minute shot was pushed away by visiting goalkeeper Richard Walton for a corner. Hughes then set up Sweeney in the 70th minute, but his low shot fell just wide to earn a corner.

The Ravens almost added a fourth goal in the 83rd minute when McManus struck the bar from a free-kick and his team-mates were unable to convert the rebound.

Teams

Halesowen Town: Dan Platt; Matt Curley (Jack Kelly 46), Sam Griffiths, Joe Fitzpatrick (Jack Rea 46), Kieran Morris, Callam Mendez-Jones, Danny Bragoli (c), Billy Murphy, Lee Hughes, Dan Sweeney, Joel Taylor.

Subs Not Used: Mathias Bakare, Ivor Lawton, Harry Higginson.

Coalville Town: Richard Walton; Alex Dean, Scott McManus, Steve Towers (c), Dean Freeman, Curtis Burrows, Luke Shaw, Andrew Wright, Tim Berridge (Kyle Perry 72), Kairo Mitchell (Dan Creaney 90), Tom McGlinchey.

Subs Not Used: Matthew Coton, Leandro Browne.

Referee: Robert Hathaway Attendance: 358