Halesowen determined to finish job and secure promotion

The Yeltz welcome the Tulips to The Grove in the Northern One Midlands play-off final after beating Coleshill Town 3-1 on Tuesday.

And Smith is delighted with progressing to the final, but urged his side to keep their composure and concentration to get the job done.

He said: “I’m very happy – it’s a case of just keeping people’s feet on the floor at the moment.

“There was a lot of jubilation and excitement, but at the end of the day the job’s only half done.

“We won a semi-final against difficult opposition and we did that very well.

“What I’ve stressed to the boys, my staff and everyone around the club is that there’s still plenty of work to do.

“It’s crucial for me that they remember what we’re here to do, and the job that we’ve got to do.

“They’ve got to make sure they apply themselves correctly.

“We came runners-up in a very difficult league and got to the play-off final. None of us want to finish it there, we want to get the job done now.”

Richard Gregory, McKauley Manning and Simeon Cobourne scored the goals to secure their play-off final place, as Smith’s side went one better than last season with the semi-final win.

With the home advantage and backing of the fans the Yeltz boss is hopeful this can see his side over the line, and is confident that a repeat of Tuesday’s performance will see them to this with some pressure on his side.

“I firmly believe that if we put in a performance similar to Tuesday then we’re good enough to win the tie,” he said. “We have a brilliant fan-base. We started like a train on Tuesday and we got the fans right behind us.

“I’m hopeful that we can start the game well and give the crowd something to sing about.

“There’s going to be some pressure because we want to get promoted. If they were feeling pressure in the semi-final, they definitely didn’t show it. It’s crucial as staff that we try to harness that pressure and try to take it off their shoulders and put it on ours.

“It’s just about the boys being able to execute the perfect performance and they’ve definitely got that in their locker. Let’s hope that they bring that to the table on Saturday.”

Rushall Olympic secured their Southern Central Premier play-off final place midweek with a 4-3 win on penalties over Coalville Town after a 1-1 draw.

“Second half especially and during extra-time, the lads put a real shift in and deserved the opportunity to play in the final and try to get into step two,” said boss Liam McDonald yesterday, whose side now travel to Nuneaton Borough on Monday. “I am still buzzing today. I have had to go to work, as have the players, but we got up this morning with a smile on our faces and I was singing songs all the way into work at 7am this morning.

“Football is based on moments and memories and as you get older, that’s what it’s all about.

“There are some big clubs and big budgets in this division, and we did what a lot of people thought we couldn’t. For the heart, it’s not good doing it on penalties because there were a few times I think it stopped.

“We just had a feeling at half-time that today might be our day.”