Match Preview

Match Preview – Halesowen Town (H)

The Blues welcome Halesowen Town to Grange Park this Saturday for their final league fixture before Christmas.

In United’s midweek match, they overcame Vanarama National League leaders Chesterfield FC by two-goals-to-nil in the Cawarden Derbyshire Senior Challenge Cup at Grange Park.

A young Spireites side fell short at the home of the Blues, due to a second half own goal off the head of centre half Ryley D’Sena, and a Jack Rogers strike late on to solidify the Blues’ win.

That victory secured United a spot in the Quarterfinals of the Derbyshire Senior Cup, in which they will face Gresley Rovers during the week commencing 8th January 2024.

The Opposition –

Halesowen currently sit in tenth place after 21 matches played – with eight wins, seven draws and six defeats in the league so far this season.

The Yeltz’ Miracle Okafor has netted the second highest number of goals in the league this season, with twelve league goals to his name.

However, Halesowen have fallen to defeat in their last two league fixtures - a 3-0 away defeat to Stamford AFC on 9th December, and a 2-1 home defeat to Kettering Town last weekend.

With 1051 fans in attendance, Tyrone Lewthwaite gave Kettering a one goal lead early in the second half, but Richard Gregory snatched a goal back in the 76th minute to draw the two sides level.

However, in heartbreaking fashion, Sam Bennett netted in the 97th minute to give Kettering the advantage and ultimately the win at The Grove.

Thus, Halesowen will be looking to bounce back from their recent defeats and get some more points on the board this season, whereas the Blues still aim to climb from the bottom of the table.

Previous Meeting’s –

The last time that the Blues and the Yeltz met was in the reverse league fixture at the home of Halesowen back in August, where the Yeltz were 5-0 victors.

Okafor netted an early brace for the Yeltz on that day, before Kieren Donnelly secure two of his own and substitute Jack Holmes made it five late on.

The two sides hadn’t met since the 1981-82 season prior to that fixture, when United travelled up to The Grove for an FA Cup Preliminary Round match and fell to a 3-0 defeat.

Manager’s Quotes –

Looking ahead to the Blues’ match against Halesowen at Grange Park, Blues boss Brad Munn said: “We have got a wrong to right on Saturday, because we went to their place and silly mistakes cost us – we looked okay going forward, but as soon as you make those silly mistakes, you are never going to score after that point because the sucker punch has already hit.

“From that point on we just capitulated, so now we are going to have a side that really are going to have a go against us – they are going to try and take it to us, they have quality in abundance, and they are intense.

“I love playing against teams that play with intensity, because what we need to do is match that energy and that enthusiasm to play the game of football. We have quality in areas of the pitch, of course we know that we still fall short in some areas, but we need to and are trying to improve.”

Focussing on the ‘must-sees’ on Saturday, he added: “Let’s go and give a proper account of ourselves, we need to start being hard to beat at home – if we can start getting results off the teams like Halesowen, then it starts to become ‘how close can we get to those top half teams’ which may sound silly with us sat at the foot of the table, but as soon as you get those wins, the more your confidence builds as a player and as a team.

“I want us to go and really have a go at them on Saturday, but at the same time I want us to be difficult to beat and to start getting the results at home that the fans deserve. We will be positive; we will train well on Thursday and hopefully we will get what we need from the game.”

Match Details –

Long Eaton United vs Halesowen Town
Pitching In Southern Football League Premier Central
Saturday 23rd December 2023 – Kick-Off 3:00pm

Grange Park (Long Eaton United)
Station Road
Long Eaton
Derbyshire
NG10 2EF

Ticket Information –

£11 Adults
£9 Concessions
£4 U16s
U16 members go FREE with membership card (limited to one member per paying adult)

*SPECIAL OFFER* Junior Members and one adult gain FREE entry into the ground for this fixture!

£2.50 Matchday Programme

The match kicks off at 3:00pm and we advise all supporters to arrive early to avoid any queues of delays.

Card payments are preferred and accepted at Grange Park, although cash payments are still accepted.

Car Parking is available at the ground and is free, although it is subject to availability – ample parking is available in the surrounding area.

Finally, the team lineups will be announced via the tannoy prior to kick-off, and you can also find them on our official Twitter/X page, where there will also be live updates from the match.