Halesowen Town 3 Matlock Town 2 - Report

The Yeltz made a perfect start when Spencer Weir-Daley was left free in the six yard box to head past Matlock's debut goalkeeper Jordan Pierrepont from Jack Kelly's 3rd minute corner.

But Halesowen failed to build on their early lead as Matlock captain Shaun Harrad met Jake Green's looping cross with a glancing header that nestled in the net off the inside of the post to equalise in the 9th minute.

The Gladiators dominated possession in the rest of the first period and had a great opportunity to take the lead after 26 minutes when Edward Cribley took advantage of a poor header from Asa Charlton and advanced past the home defence, only for Dan Platt to make a fine blocking save.

Harrad missed another chance in front of goal for Matlock in a 50th minute scramble and Curtis Morrison hit a 53rd minute wide effort straight at Platt.

Weir-Daley then almost regained the lead for Halesowen when he turned and rattled the crossbar with a 55th minute shot.

But Matlock continued to be profligate and missed yet another sitter in the 57th minute when Michael Williams latched onto Platt's sliced clearance and crossed for Harrad to balloon over the bar from just five yards out.

The visitors finally took a 2-1 lead in the 62nd minute when Cribley stepped inside his marker and his shot from the edge of the area deflected off a defender beyond Platt.

The Yeltz introduced Roland Agbor with eight minutes remaining and turned the tables with a dramatic turnaround.

Agbor brought the scores level at 2-2 after slotting home an 88th minute cross from Weir-Daley.

Lee Knight then headed home the crucial winner in the third minute of injury time following a fine cross from the right by Ivor Lawton.

At half-time, Keith McKenna was introduced as Halesowen's new investor.

McKenna is currently youth team manager at Halesowen and made five appearances for the Yeltz first-team in 1993, scoring on his debut in the 4-1 victory over Crawley Town.

Teams

Halesowen Town: Platt; Ekongo, Kelly (Agbor 82), Goddard, K. Morrison (c), Charlton, Arnold (Lewis 67), Lawton, Knight, Weir-Daley, Monteiro. Subs Not Used: Al-Massry, Parsons.

Matlock Town: Pierrepont; Green, Yeomans, Wallace, Gascoigne, Wiley, Cribley, Williams, Harrad (c), German, C. Morrison. Subs Not Used: Jackson, Limb, Ondong-Mba.