Bedford Updates

Scores, live updates, discussion etc. on Yeltz matches
Post Reply
User avatar
andy
Yeltz Forum Member
Posts: 6872
Joined: 29 Apr 2011, 18:43

Re: Bedford Updates

Post by andy » 04 Dec 2019, 11:25

AwayDayYeltz wrote:
03 Dec 2019, 23:03
Although, I respect the opinions of old folk.

;D ;D ::)
Proud owner of FOUR Georges O0 O0 O0 O0

AwayDayYeltz
Yeltz Forum Member
Posts: 2694
Joined: 14 Jul 2017, 13:58
Contact:

Re: Bedford Updates

Post by AwayDayYeltz » 04 Dec 2019, 19:55

andy wrote:
04 Dec 2019, 11:25
AwayDayYeltz wrote:
03 Dec 2019, 23:03
Although, I respect the opinions of old folk.

;D ;D ::)
Where does last night's performance rank for you then?

I feel like I'm gunna ask this a lot, between now and April.
Josh - Keyboard warrior! #UpTheYeltz

User avatar
andy
Yeltz Forum Member
Posts: 6872
Joined: 29 Apr 2011, 18:43

Re: Bedford Updates

Post by andy » 04 Dec 2019, 21:38

AwayDayYeltz wrote:
04 Dec 2019, 19:55
andy wrote:
04 Dec 2019, 11:25
AwayDayYeltz wrote:
03 Dec 2019, 23:03
Although, I respect the opinions of old folk.

;D ;D ::)
Where does last night's performance rank for you then?

I feel like I'm gunna ask this a lot, between now and April.
I would be keen to hear from other wrinkles with a better memory than me on this one.
For me I don't think we have played better since we went to Burton Albion and took apart a very good Albion side, scoring 4 times and playing sublime football. That I believe was 20 years ago. It does all have to be put in a little bit of perspective going back beyond that though as we were playing at a far higher level. That said, watching some of the football this season, and particularly last night has given me as much satisfaction as watching the very best Town teams there have been. This side WOULD look good at higher levels so have to be spoken about in the same terms IMO. Let's enjoy the ride!
Proud owner of FOUR Georges O0 O0 O0 O0

User avatar
andy
Yeltz Forum Member
Posts: 6872
Joined: 29 Apr 2011, 18:43

Re: Bedford Updates

Post by andy » 04 Dec 2019, 21:56

Stolen from the excellent Yeltz archives


Dr Martens Premier League - Monday, 24th. April, 2000

Burton Albion 2 Halesowen Town 4

Happy Halesowen bagged their eighth Easter goal to extend their remarkable end-of-season flourish with a comprehensive victory at second placed Burton.

The Yeltz signalled their intentions after 11 minutes when experienced play-maker Paul Birch netted from a tight angle after Nick Goodwin parried Ian Reed’s volley, but the goal was disallowed for offside. Burton gradually came into the game and the alert Danny McDonnell made two fine blocking saves from Christian Moore before Halesowen took charge to build a three goal lead.

In the 30th. minute, Birch played a lovely ball for Ian Aldridge to lob the Burton keeper, but the defensive clearance fell for Clinton Thomas to cleverly rifle home from 10 yards. Thomas and Reed then went close as the visitors turned up the pressure with Aldridge causing confusion for the Burton defence. Halesowen extended their lead three minutes before the break with a wicked 20 yard Birch volley following Reed’s corner.

The Yeltz should have gone further ahead in the 58th minute when Reed’s free kick struck the arm of Darren Stride and the referee awarded a penalty, but Reed’s tame spot-kick was easily saved by Goodwin. With Burton struggling to make any impression, it was no surprise when Thomas powered in his second goal in the 73rd minute from another precise midfield pass from Birch.

Halesowen almost unwound their good work when a hesitant defence watched a David Holmes left wing cross sail directly into the net in the 77th. minute and just two minutes later player manager Nigel Clough drilled home from the edge of the area, watched from the stands by famous father Brian.

Agile Aldridge made the points safe for Halesowen in the 88th minute when he nipped in between the defence and goalkeeper Goodwin to net with a neat chip.

Burton Albion: Goodwin, Davies (Starbuck 59), Henshaw, Lyons (Garner 72), Blount, Glasser, Stride, Anderson, Moore, Clough, Holmes. Subs: Garner, Starbuck (Forsyth 60), Forsyth.

Halesowen Town: McDonnell, Brown, Owen, Lloyd, Smith, Gardiner, Birch, Aldridge, Thomas, Cartwright, Reed. Subs: Cooper, Gennard, Collins.

Booked: Cartwright, Lloyd, Brown

Referee: S. Bratt (Walsall)

Attendance: 957
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Proud owner of FOUR Georges O0 O0 O0 O0

old git
Yeltz Forum Member
Posts: 962
Joined: 06 May 2011, 18:04

Re: Bedford Updates

Post by old git » 04 Dec 2019, 22:57

andy wrote:
04 Dec 2019, 21:38
AwayDayYeltz wrote:
04 Dec 2019, 19:55
andy wrote:
04 Dec 2019, 11:25



;D ;D ::)
Where does last night's performance rank for you then?

I feel like I'm gunna ask this a lot, between now and April.
I would be keen to hear from other wrinkles with a better memory than me on this one.
For me I don't think we have played better since we went to Burton Albion and took apart a very good Albion side, scoring 4 times and playing sublime football. That I believe was 20 years ago. It does all have to be put in a little bit of perspective going back beyond that though as we were playing at a far higher level. That said, watching some of the football this season, and particularly last night has given me as much satisfaction as watching the very best Town teams there have been. This side WOULD look good at higher levels so have to be spoken about in the same terms IMO. Let's enjoy the ride!
Can i throw in Rushden away in the year we missed promotion to the Conference ... this was the highest level the club has ever reached finishing second in the second tier of non league. If money means anything then that day when we turned them over at Nene Park we were up against the best funded non league team in history. Even though it was 20 odd years ago I'll bet there are still few sides who could match that spending power. I recall one of their players at the time turning down a move to a Championship club because they couldn't match his wages as he would have been their highest paid player ::)

User avatar
andy
Yeltz Forum Member
Posts: 6872
Joined: 29 Apr 2011, 18:43

Re: Bedford Updates

Post by andy » 05 Dec 2019, 10:56

old git wrote:
04 Dec 2019, 22:57
andy wrote:
04 Dec 2019, 21:38
AwayDayYeltz wrote:
04 Dec 2019, 19:55


Where does last night's performance rank for you then?

I feel like I'm gunna ask this a lot, between now and April.
I would be keen to hear from other wrinkles with a better memory than me on this one.
For me I don't think we have played better since we went to Burton Albion and took apart a very good Albion side, scoring 4 times and playing sublime football. That I believe was 20 years ago. It does all have to be put in a little bit of perspective going back beyond that though as we were playing at a far higher level. That said, watching some of the football this season, and particularly last night has given me as much satisfaction as watching the very best Town teams there have been. This side WOULD look good at higher levels so have to be spoken about in the same terms IMO. Let's enjoy the ride!
Can i throw in Rushden away in the year we missed promotion to the Conference ... this was the highest level the club has ever reached finishing second in the second tier of non league. If money means anything then that day when we turned them over at Nene Park we were up against the best funded non league team in history. Even though it was 20 odd years ago I'll bet there are still few sides who could match that spending power. I recall one of their players at the time turning down a move to a Championship club because they couldn't match his wages as he would have been their highest paid player ::)
Absolutely right John. That was a great performance. But as you say we have to remember we were one of the top couple of teams outside the Conference, so only 22 teams above us. Great days, but so are these!
Proud owner of FOUR Georges O0 O0 O0 O0

User avatar
andy
Yeltz Forum Member
Posts: 6872
Joined: 29 Apr 2011, 18:43

Re: Bedford Updates

Post by andy » 05 Dec 2019, 11:00

I think (unless others can add more) we've picked out the best 2 there. As a game itself rather than a performance I would go for the 5-4 win at home to Gloucester.
Proud owner of FOUR Georges O0 O0 O0 O0

User avatar
andy
Yeltz Forum Member
Posts: 6872
Joined: 29 Apr 2011, 18:43

Re: Bedford Updates

Post by andy » 05 Dec 2019, 11:06

More recently that many will remember in 2006 was the victory at Telford in the FA Cup. I haven't seen a better performance since then until this season, others that have seen all the away games since may have others.
Proud owner of FOUR Georges O0 O0 O0 O0

old git
Yeltz Forum Member
Posts: 962
Joined: 06 May 2011, 18:04

Re: Bedford Updates

Post by old git » 05 Dec 2019, 11:17

andy wrote:
05 Dec 2019, 11:00
I think (unless others can add more) we've picked out the best 2 there. As a game itself rather than a performance I would go for the 5-4 win at home to Gloucester.
i can still feel the frost in my toes from that night :D

DJ
Yeltz Forum Member
Posts: 405
Joined: 04 May 2011, 20:51

Re: Bedford Updates

Post by DJ » 05 Dec 2019, 21:11

As one of the most thrilling games of football I've ever witnessed, the 5-4 win over Gloucester was the subject of an article I wrote about 10 years ago. Forgive me if I reproduce it in full below:
Let us dreamily cast our minds back to Tuesday, October 15th 1996 and surely one of the finest games ever seen at the Grove.

To set the scene, 1996-97 was the season after Halesowen had been heartbreakingly pipped to promotion by money-bags Rushden. In those days, Gloucester and Cheltenham were both plying their trade at Southern League level, vying to be the top-dog in C&G land. Cheltenham was probably still better known for its Girls’ College than football, but nevertheless it led to some lively Bank Holiday encounters with their neighbours.

Gloucester City sat at the top of the table on 25 points with Halesowen just 2 points behind. An interesting game was expected. However, we ended up with a breathtaking, heart-stopping, spell-binding, enthralling, never-to-be-forgotten thriller (get the idea?) that Colin Brookes described at the time as ‘’the best game I’ve seen in 40 years of football’’. I even met a bloke from Bradford in a Spanish bar a few years ago who watched this game as a neutral and admitted it was the best game of footy he’d ever seen (without him even knowing I knew anything about Halesowen).

Halesowen’s manager was Stewart Hall, Ron Moseley was Chairman, Lawrence Wood the President and stalwart Dr. Jones was Club Doctor. Gloucester were managed by Leroy Rosenior and their Chairman was Keith Gardner, who was also busily engaging himself in acquiring further land adjoining their Meadow Park ground. Halesowen Town’s main sponsors were Hamer Ford and this particular game was sponsored by Banks’s Brewery. The Southern League was sponsored by Dr Martens and the average Grove attendance at that early stage of the season was 794 prior to this 20th meeting between the two teams.

Off the pitch, the Social Club had burnt down and supporters were reluctantly forced to sup after-match pints in the back-room at the local Conservative Club. Dot and June were actively raising money for the Social Club Fire Fund and the ‘Boardroom Café’ in the Harry Rudge Stand was still open for business.

Man-of-the-match was undoubtedly hat-trick hero Richard Crisp. Crispy was a locally-based decent midfielder, penalty-taker, solid club-man (he never seemed to make it elsewhere) and a generally all-round good bloke. But even better, he was a headline writer’s dream. How about “Crisp Bags Hat-trick” in this particular game or “Crisp and Even” after equalising on a bitter Winter’s day? Almost as satisfying as a blinding performance by journeyman Adrian Cooper on a very foggy November afternoon giving us the headline “Pea-souper Cooper”. I digress…

The Tigers had gone top on the previous Saturday with a 1-0 win over Nuneaton and the Yeltz had won 5-0 away at Atherstone United with the help of a Julian (‘Gulliver’) Alsop hat-trick.

Captain John Snape had just completed his 200th appearance for the Yeltz and prior to the game Alsop had already netted 6 goals, Crisp 5 and Kevin Harrison 3. Lucky Mark Hart kept goal, still on a high from his amazing heroics at Rushden in the previous season. Here’s the match report that was never written at the time but has been reconstructed from memory and several other journalistic sources…….

Halesowen Town 5 Gloucester City 4

Halesowen Town: Mark Hart; Matt Clarke, Andy Bradley, Phil Wood, John Snape (Capt.), Stuart Evans, Kevin Harrison, Julian Alsop, Richard Crisp, Keith Knight (Mick Shearer), Gary Hackett (Danny Coates). Unused Sub: Nick Colley

Gloucester City: David Coles; Luke Yates (Adie Mings), Jon Holloway, Gary Thorne, Gary Kemp, Chris Burns, Andy Kirkup, Dave Webb, Paul Milsom, Dale Watkins, Dave Holmes. Unused Subs: Ian Howell, Andy Tucker.

Referee: W.G. Gowers (Shipston-on-Stour) Attendance: 903

Halesowen Town ousted Gloucester and stormed to the top of the table in dramatic style after staging a superb second-half recovery with ice-cool Richard Crisp slamming the winning goal from the penalty spot four minutes from time.

The Yeltz opened with all guns blazing and took the lead when Julian Alsop turned a cross towards goal and strike partner Kevin Harrison helped the ball on for Crisp to fire home.

City responded and went 2-1 up with Dale Watkins delivering a defence-splitting cross for Dave Holmes to net in the 13th minute and then Watkins ran through unmarked to fire home from an acute angle. He made it 3-1 in the 35th minute after cashing in on some slack defensive play between Halesowen central defenders Phil Wood and Stuart Evans.

Halesowen pulled one back with an Alsop back-header which looped over keeper David Coles. They then looked sunk in the 61st minute when Watkins headed home a Holmes cross to put City 4-2 in front.

Then came a stunning fightback with Crisp netting a penalty after Harrison was tripped and they drew level when Alsop caused havoc and Harrison netted.

Four minutes from time Gary Kemp brought down Alsop and Crisp kept his nerve to complete his hat-trick from the penalty spot.

‘It’s the most remarkable game I’ve witnessed in 40 years in football” said general manager Colin Brookes. “The two managers – Stewart Hall and Leroy Rosenior – must have been pulling their hair out.”

The result meant Halesowen had secured ten goals in two games without the services of top marksman Evran Wright, sidelined with Achilles tendon trouble.

At the end of the game of so much adrenaline-pumping drama, there was an almost inevitable kerfuffle in the players’ tunnel but chief steward Rob Moseley and his team dealt competently with a potentially ugly situation. City players had lost their cool and a general brawl ensued with City fans going for both the referee and Halesowen players.

Gloucester City’s troubled reputation with “crowd incidents” in the 1996-7 campaign was featured in TeamTalk and was the subject of Radio 5’s ‘On the Line’ programme broadcast on Thursday 18th February 1999. The Grove incident was considered to be one of only two games where City fans were guilty of wrong-doing during that season and began with a second-half altercation and jostling of a Yeltz steward where ‘’his hat was thrown onto the joist of the stand to the merriment of the away fans’’.

Not many of the lucky 903 spectators slept that night and it took days for the players to come back down to earth. Sadly, the incredible action was never captured on video, but I hope I’ve jogged some superb memories.

Post Reply