HALESOWEN TOWN 0-1 MARINE: MATCH REPORT...

Marine Grab Points As Late Rain Puts the Dampers On A Poor Encounter At The Grove…

Halesowen Town 0-1 Marine 

It always rains when I go to watch a match at The Grove… However I thought I had escaped that unpleasantness at the very least during this often very poor match but with maybe a quarter-hour remaining I was forced to scuttle beneath the shelter of a grandstand when the Halesowen rain lashed down. Unlucky? Me? Surely not… Yet during the second period, Alfons Fosu-Mensah’s winning goal arrived so suddenly that the lens in my hand-held camera decided that it wouldn’t focus at that precise moment and thus the clip of the striker’s magnificent goal looks like it was scored in a dim mist, for which I apologise to Marine… And Mensah.

MENSAH: TOUGH FIRST PERIOD, THEN GREAT GOAL...

Halesowen were apparently without one influential player due to an accident at work and another due to a mix-up in venues (if I am incorrect, I apologise to Halesowen also) and thus with both teams languishing in lowly positions in the NPL Premier League, the entertainment at The Grove was hardly expected to be as lively as in ‘La La Land’. It wasn’t either. The opening half was like being forced to watch a brick wall and the second period improved if only for the fact that Mensah’s goal was splendid, that both goal-minders were called into action a couple of times and that because of the dire situations both teams currently find themselves in, the tension increased to desperation levels in the latter stages. However, the hosts had replaced both strikers soon after they went a goal down but their substitutes failed to make impressions and Marine simply defended and broke, defended and broke and finally saw out both the rainstorm and the mild threat offered by a very disappointing Yeltz outfit, before celebrating their victory in raucous fashion with their noisy fans. 

MEETING IN THE MIDDLE...

TOSSING...

I saw Marine at Ilkeston on December 17th and of the sixteen named players on that day, only four were on the team sheet at The Grove: Hughes, Foley, Mitchley and Short… Remarkable then, that not only was the team able to compete at Halesowen but also put up a formidable fight.

A minute of silence for ex-Yeltz club doctor ‘Doc’ Jones was spookily accompanied by the pealing of the local church’s bells, the spire of which was lit beyond The Grove and which of course also appears on the Halesowen club badge…

AP-PEALING CHURCH...

SILENT MARINERS...

QUIET YELTZ...

RESPECTFUL SCENE...

There was so little to report of note during the first-half however that even the warnings given by the referee to the Yeltz’s Mo Diop and Mariner Tony Davies when they tangled just before the break, caused me to speak into my dictaphone… Anyway, an early corner won by Marine’s Luke Wall led to strong home defender Jon Moran clearing the ball to visiting defender Adam Hughes on the offensive left, whereby the ensuing left-booted centre dropped beyond the far angle of bar and upright. On a couple of home breaks, Andre Johnson’s pace was evident but his low miscue across the 6 yard box was followed by a speedy advance by Marine’s experienced goalie Paul Phillips onto Asa Charlton’s header forward, who snaffled the loose ball. Does Paul remember my ‘relative’ Steve Burr? 

KICKING PLATT...

A MARINE FAN WAITS FOR A GOAL DURING THE DIRE FIRST-HALF.
IN VAIN...

WIDTH? WHAT WIDTH?

 The only other attack worth mentioning during the opening 45 minutes was when a left-foot, right-flank centre by Wall was headed away by Moran and that really was all the spectators were treated to. There was barely any applause heard but to be fair, as the match wore on and when Marine were protecting a lead, their fans really became a factor and of course there was something to cheer about at last. Moran had been very effective in the Town defence and in truth, Mensah had been dominated aerially and had managed only a couple of turns and moves whereas strike partner and skipper Danny Mitchley worked tirelessly but despite the wide play of Wall on the right and the equally adept Jamie Menagh on the left, few goal chances were ever created. Both wingers favoured moving inside which can always cause disarray for opponents but the regular long and booted Marine clearances were thus doing no favours for their forwards. 

DAVIES (5) GAVE DIOP (9) LITTLE CHANGE...

For the hosts, Diop and Johnson really hadn’t threatened at all, so credit must go to Mariners Hughes and Davies, for their protection of Phillips was exemplary (are those three surnames kinda Welsh, or what?) Midfielders Jay Denny, the Yeltz skipper, his sidekick Ben Clarke and also Marine’s Michael Brewster and Kenny Strickland were like World War One barbed-wire repairers, constantly being shoved into retaliatory action and being expected to bite into tackles. Half-time was a relief to some spectators but there was little improvement to the excitement after the interval…

OMG! A GOAL!

A Mitchley lob from inside-left drifted too high, a Denny cross for the hosts was cleared to wide-man Nathan Walker but his low 23 yard shot was gathered by the relieved Phillips but then, around the hour mark, the sullen fayre was interrupted by Mensah’s fine finish. He latched onto the ball inside the penalty-box, left-side but from an angle he lashed it first-time into the far top corner of the net for a spectacular goal, totally out of character with the proceedings thus far.

0-1 TO THE MARINERS...

Right, cue a sudden counter-attacking spree by Town, surely? Well, Hughes blocked Diop at inside-left following a pass by Denny. And then, er, well, nothing, really. Mitchley fell inside the home penalty-area (he would do the same later too), before Diop and Johnson surprisingly departed, precipitating the introduction of Ethan Delaney and Adam Skeldon, who were unable to change the pattern in any effective manner. A Rob Taylor outside of left boot shot from the left corner of the 18 yard box, curled past the far angle of the Marine goal, home goalie Dan Platt spilled the ball a couple of times, once from the guests’ left-back James Short’s long effort, before Skeldon fastened onto a long free-kick but his slight miscue from beyond the right post bounced off Phillips’ legs at the upright for an unproductive corner. More substitutions took place and Mensah, looking more dangerous on breaks by this time, forced a low save from Platt but with the rain falling heavily, Platt’s kicks were sometimes going astray and so many of the replacements were not really settling down quickly enough and the game was endured and engineered by Marine to a victory.

PHILLIPS: A QUIET EVENING...

James Foley had replaced Menagh for the visitors and Matt Hamilton had replaced Mensah, after he had been clattered by Platt in spectacular style and for the hosts, Cam Steele had substituted for Kartel O’Neill-Martin, an underused winger on the day. A late Mitchley run on the right led to a low delivery straight to Platt but at the other end, Phillips simply wasn’t tested as Davies and Hughes nodded and kicked clearances away and Brewster, Strickland and full-backs Pete Wylie and Short closed the ranks.

WHERE PLATT LEFT MENSAH...

THE CROWD SQUEEZES BENEATH THE FILM PLATFORM...

WET YELTZ FANS HAVE DESERTED THE AREA BEHIND THE GOAL...

AWAITING ANOTHER RIGHT-TO-LEFT PLATT KICK...

The image of Short smiling on the ground near the end summed up the game from Marine’s point of view: they came, they scrapped, they scored spectacularly and subsequently protected their three points in stubborn fashion, weathering both the rain and Halesowen’s admittedly meagre response… 

SHORT KNOWS HIS TEAM IS ALMOST THERE & THE BLOKES WITH UMBRELLAS ON THE TERRACE HAVE NO MORE TO SAY...

Town were short on confidence and ideas. Marine toughed the game out and enjoyed that sweet-sounding final-whistle…

Me? Wet at Halesowen yet again… I blame the church. And was disappointed that Marine didn’t bring Kisimba Kisimba on for a cameo appearance, for his name alone would have lit up my report…

TEAMS:

HALESOWEN TOWN:

DANIEL PLATT, JAMES BENNETT-TINDALL, ROB TAYLOR, JAY DENNY (CAPT), JON MORAN, ASA CHARLTON, KARTEL O’NEILL-MARTIN, BEN CLARKE, MO DIOP, ANDRE JOHNSON, NATHAN WALKER.

SUBS:

ETHAN DELANEY, BRAD LEWIS, ADAM SKELDON, CAM STEELE, JACK O’DAY.

MARINE:

PAUL PHILLIPS, PETER WYLIE, JAMES SHORT, ADAM HUGHES, TONY DAVIES, MICHAEL BREWSTER, JAMIE MENAGH, KENNY STRICKLAND, DANNY MITCHLEY (CAPT), ALFONS FOSU-MENSAH, LUKE WALL.

SUBS:

JAMES FOLEY, MATT HAMILTON, KISIMBA KISIMBA, PAUL FOY, FLORIAN DA SILVA.