Smith proud of his Yeltz heroes
Halesowen Town manager Paul Smith has hailed his side for putting the club ‘back on the map’ after they fell at the final hurdle in the FA Trophy.
The Yeltz slipped to a narrow 2-1 defeat away at Concord in the one-legged semi-final – dashing their hopes of a trip to Wembley.
Despite the defeat, Smith is proud of his squad and the journey they have been on.
“I’m full of pride for what they’ve done and what they’ve achieved to get this far,” he said.
“We’re a step four side and to get to the semi-final of the FA Trophy is what dreams are made of, it’s just a shame we couldn’t get over the final hurdle.
“We came here and gave it our best shot and I have a lot of dejected boys, but it’s important they hold their heads high.
“It was always going to be a big ask for us to come down here and try and get a result, but we’ve acquitted ourselves really well. This group never ceases to amaze me, they’re a fantastic group. They always want to learn and get better. They wear their heart on their sleeves.
“The big thing for me now is to get around these boys, get smiles back on their faces because they’ve put Halesowen Town back on the map again and that was a big thing for us.
“Credit to Concord, I’m glad it’s not only step one sides that have got there and I wish them all the very best and I hope they can go on and do a good job at Wembley.
“We must put a full stop to this incredible journey and we move on.”
Halesowen took the lead after seven minutes through new signing Richard Gregory.
The hosts then began to put the pressure on and before half-time they were level through a Rob Evans own goal.
A tight second half saw Concord grab the winning goal on 79 minutes when Alex Wall was sent through on goal and he lifted the ball over goalkeeper
Brendan Bunn. B Bunn; Evans; Manning (Molyneux 58); Carter; McCone (c); Forsyth; Ali; R Bunn; Cobourne (Hawker 75);Gregory;Hewitt.
Subs not used: Parsons;Ashmore;Bowen;Westwood .
