Match Report | Harborough Town (A)

Halesowen earn a vital point but concede late on against an energetic Harborough Town

Written by Ben Ditchfield

The Yeltz lost their top spot but earnt a huge point at the 2025 table toppers Harborough Town as Penn's side go eight unbeaten in the league and record just their third point away from home against the current top 12.

A difficult first period was swiftly forgotten when Conor Tee opened the scoring just 40 seconds into the second period. Jamie Willets swept the ball up at the back, and sent a ball through the middle to Reece Flanagan. The midfielder who returned to the starting XI, found Donnelly, whose shot was spilled out to Tee who made no mistake to tap into an open net. After the opener the Yeltz managed to hold firm for a large proportion of the second period.

But Jutorre Burgess snatched an 86th minute equaliser. The Bees worked it from back to front when Ben Starkie's run saw him play a pass to Riley O'Sullivan. The latter gave it to Dempsey Arlott-John, whose ball through to Burgess on the left saw the Harborough number 11 slide it into the bottom right corner. The goal was the hosts 23rd goal of the season after the 75th minute, and earnt a deserved share of the points late on.

"Neither team deserved the win, It was a poor game in extremely tough conditions," claimed the Yeltz boss. "Of course it is frustrating when you concede in the final 10 minutes, but they were the ones that needed the win. As a result of that they got the equaliser because they virtually went six up front at the end. We defended well as a team today, and overall i am delighted. The return of Kieren today massively helped us. Even though he missed that 1v1 at the end, he was a nuisance for them throughout the game and if he was 100% today who knows. We just have to go into next week and continue this form".

The Yeltz started slow, and the bulk of the early flurries forward came for the hosts. Milan Butterfield was judged to have fouled Burgess on the centre circle. Starkie received the ball and found the former on the left of the area, but the linesman's flag was raised. Ben Cassidy made a vital interception when Harborough got in behind the Yeltz defense. A total of five corner bombarded the Halesowen back line, and from two of them Josh Walsh and Luis Rose swung the ball straight on top of Dan Platt, who managed to palm it over.

The lively Burgess was involved again, when he was played in down the right on this occasion. He worked his way towards the penalty area, and delivered a cross to Connor Kennedy in the centre. The midfielder could not find a gap to shoot against the flurry of Yeltz bodies, which eventually saw a Wynter tackle. A smart run from Stephens was spotted by Walsh. Stephens found Burgess, whose cross searched to find a player in yellow on the right. Tee got in front of his man, and managed to scoop the ball away with his head.

Penn's side had some efforts of their own in the first 45. A Tee ball over the top to Donnelly, saw the top scorer race past Liam Dolman but shoot over. McKauley Manning went for an audacious lob over the backpeddling Elliott Taylor in the Harborough goal. Manning's shot did not quite have enough height or pace on it from the half way line, which allowed Taylor to gather the ball in his area. Tee managed to spot an overlap from Cassidy on the left, who beat Walsh for pace. Dan Cooper was in the middle to head away the cross, and the awarded corner was headed away by the first man. Late into the half, Josh Smile won the ball off Walsh to find the Hickman maraude down the right. His cross found Donnelly, but Dolman dealt with the Yeltz frontman well to halt the attack and let his side off the hook.

The early Yeltz goal in the second period came to some surprise, especially so quickly from the restart. The reaction to the goal was poor, and Harborough had a few guilt edge chances which put the Yeltz on the back foot. Burgess found himself in on goal down the left hand side of the Yeltz half. The Bees winger 1v1 with Platt, tripped over his own feet in the box which allowed Hickman to catch up and clear. Starkie picked a lovely ball out wide to Stephens in space down the right. The Yeltz captain Wynter came across but the Harborough top scorer still managed to dig out a cross. His ball found Burgess, who had the goal at his mercy in the centre but somehow scooped the ball over the bar.

The Yeltz searched for a second goal which never came. Willets got the ball rolling when he made a crucial interception in the Yeltz penalty box. The counter which followed saw Donnelly pinned at the top of the pitch, but he showed amazing ball control to shimmy away. The Yeltz number nine got past one defender in the area, but failed to beat the Harborough keeper Taylor. Later in the second 45, Tee brought the ball down and played it to substitute Alex Cameron. The latters shot was hit sweet, and forced Taylor into a comfortable but necessary stop. Just like in the first half, Donnelly went 1v1 with Taylor, and yet again the Harborough man came out on top to smother.

The Bees had a variety of efforts for an equaliser, before their eventual goal. Starkie wriggled away from Tee and forced Willets to clear. The hosts won a corner, where Luis Rose found substitute O'Sullivan. The latter received the ball on the right at the back post, but Platt read the danger to gather. A superb phase of defensive interventions just before the 80th minute delayed the arrival of the eventual equaliser. Smile, Butterfield and others made huge blocks from multiple Harborough shots.

At one a piece and into the six minutes of added time, Donnelly had a guilt edged chance to steal the three points. From a corner, a scramble forced the ball over to Donnelly, who found space in behind but missed from five yards out with both sides of the net gaping. The match ended with the points being shared, but the broader picture means the Yeltz continue their crucial unbeaten run, and head into an away match against St Ives Town with strong momentum.

Harborough: Elliott Taylor (GK), Dan Cooper (Riley O'Sullivan 59'), Josh Walsh, Liam Dolman, Connor Kennedy (C), Alex Morris, Ben Starkie, Rob Morgan, Luis Rose (Dempsey Arlott-John 71'), Ben Stephens, Jutorre Burgess

Unused subs: Paul Malone, Freddie Robinson, Ben Williams

Yeltz: Dan Platt (GK), Jak Hickman (Ryan Wollacott 88'), Ben Cassidy, Josh Smile, Ryan Wynter (C), Jamie Willets, Reece Flanagan (Todd Parker 74'), Conor Tee (Reece Mitchell 87'), Kieren Donnelly, Milan Butterfield, McKauley Manning (Alex Cameron 65')

Unused subs: Charlie Wragg

Attendance - 1,002