Match Preview | Royston Town (H)

4 days ago6 min read

Updated: 3 days ago

Halesowen host an in-form Royston Town with a chance to go top for the first time since mid-August

Written by Ben Ditchfield

The Yeltz welcome Royston Town to The Grove, a side who have won 17 points in their last 10 games, the 6th most in the league, Halesowen on the other hand, come into the game after recording two clean sheets in succession for the first time this season and could do it three times on Tuesday since September 2023.

The most recent meeting between the two was only last month, as the Yeltz travelled to The Garden Walk, while on a run of six games without defeat in the league. A dominant 60-minute period saw the side fail to test Tommy Dixon-Hodge, and in the three minutes that followed the hour mark, Russ Penn’s side went down to 10 men due to Ryan Wynter’s red card, before Royston claimed an 89th minute winner through Ben Weyman.

This is the sixth meeting between the sides dating back to 1980, the earliest recollection of known matchups between the two, Halesowen have won twice in the previous five, but have scored just twice in those five meetings, both goals coming in 1-0 victories. The most recent clash at The Grove, saw what was then Paul Smith’s Yeltz side, hammered in a 3-0 demolition job by the visitors, with a brace from Andronicos Georgiou and a goal from Kian Harness, a defeat that a few days later pushed Smith into the decision of resigning from the club.

Radio Halesowen Town’s Ben Ditchfield caught up with the current Yeltz boss Russ Penn during the week, ahead of the fixture. “You could say it was blessing that we get to turn our form around in two homes games in a week in front of a packed home crowd. The recent weather over the last few weeks has not affected us for this game and others, we train on astro turf so that was fine even though you still have to be careful, and also, I have been in the game long enough to know how to prepare for games in awkward conditions.”

Penn also commented ahead of the game about the situation on recent acquisition, Jamie Willets, around his future at the club. "Jamie helped us out in that period of our captain’s absence. Jamie is on dual registration right now, so we will see how it goes, he wants to compete with the Tamworth squad, we will assess the situation in future.

“It will be a huge and stern test this weekend as every game is, you look at their results and other sides results, none have taken the league by the scruff of the neck in the last month, but their form is remarkable especially considering where they were just two months ago. We did not deserve to lose to them last month, the red card completely changed the game, and we were also not helped by the fact we were missing Kieren (Donnelly), but they proved that day they are a rigid, strong and very well organised and fit team, so they will come to us full of confidence.

"For us, we are under a lot of pressure at the minute as we attempt to get back our form, I put pressure on the players to get us back to winning ways and then pressure on myself to do that. We have worked to prepare for Royston and turn this blip we have around as quickly as possible.”

The Yeltz come into the game, after their first goalless draw for 509 days against Sudbury at the weekend. The Yeltz have only won once in their last five games but in Suffolk on Saturday showed signs of a return to form but more signals of a lack of confidence in front of goal. The side attempted to unlock the stubborn defense and upon doing so ran into the calming figure of James Bradbrook, who thwarted the Yeltz attempts at goal to earn himself a man of the match display. The side created a few good chances, with McKauley Manning hitting the post, Ryan Wollacott having a shot cleared off the line and Kieren Donnelly forcing a high quality stop from the Sudbury number one, but for the third time in the space of three weeks, the side failed to find the back of the net.

Royston come into the game on just three defeats in their last 12 league games but fresh off a 2-0 home defeat to high flying Harborough Town at the weekend, in what was a dominant performance throughout from the in-form side in the league. The Leicestershire side hit the post early on before they finally punished The Crows through debutant Rob Morgan's strike. Royston showcased another poor defensive performance, which has seen them concede five goals in two games, having conceded just three in the six matches prior. Royston failed to create any chances of note in the second period, as Harborough confirmed victory through Jutorre Burgess to round out the below par showing from The Crows.

Despite their defeat on Saturday, the bigger picture shows the side impressive rise over the last two months, which has seen them go from 17th in the division to just seven points off the play-offs, with a game or two in hand on a few sides above them. They went through a spell of six defeats in 10 during the period from late August to the start of November but have since lost just three times in their most recent 12 matches, two of which were defeats on the road to Stamford and Bromsgrove. They have also kept five clean sheets since the start of November, more than any other side in that time.

Their boss Chris Watters was assistant manager at the club for almost nine years and then became manager on a joint basis with Steve Castle, before the latter ended up taking over as the manager of Bishop’s Stortford at the start of this campaign which meant Watters was the sole manager at the club. Watters at the start of his managerial career at The Crows, initially lost his first two games in charge, in August 2023, a 3-0 defeat to Telford and 4-0 loss to Bromsgrove, but then he and his side failed to lose again until his 11th league game in charge. The 43-year-old has overseen 78 matches in all competitions at the club, accumulating 32 wins, which during that time has seen his side score a healthy 114 goals and concede a respectable 107 goals, an average of just 1.3 a game.

Royston do not have an out and out goal scorer, but do have something that could be even more pivotal, a share of the goals, as they have had 17 different scorers this season. Crows captain, Adam Murray, has scored more goals than anyone else with seven, with Luke Johnson and Ben Weyman close behind on six a piece. Royston subsequently have not lost in the six games that Murray has found the back of the net in all competitions this season. The Crows have two ever presents this season, one of them Weyman and the other Josh Coldicott-Stevens, both of whom have featured in all 35 games this campaign, while the pair have also started 31 times, the joint most alongside James Brighton and Tommy Dixon-Hodge.

The side have only been behind at half time three times in their last 18 league games and 60% of the last 78 goals they have scored in the league, have come in the second half of matches. They have though only won once in the last 21 games when they have conceded the first goal, but have a good record when ahead at half-time and scoring first, of just one defeat in the last 19 when leading at the break and an incredible statistic of just one defeat in the last 45 league games when they have scored the first goal.

Key Seasonal Stats

Halesowen

League Position - 4th

Season Record - PL30 15W 4D 11L 51GS 39GC

Form (Last 5 Games) - LLLWD

Top Scorer - Kieren Donnelly (18 Goals)

Most Appearances - Ryan Wollacott, Conor Tee, Todd Parker & Jak Hickman (29)

Most Starts - Ryan Wollacott (29)

Biggest League Win - 5-0 vs Lowestoft Town & Barwell (Away - 5th November & 14th December)

Biggest League Defeat - 4-0 vs Hitchin Town (Home - 21st September)

Longest Unbeaten Run - 6 Games (5th October - 16th November)

Longest Winless Run - 3 Games (30th November - 14th December & 26th December - 14th January)