Match Report  |  Halesowen Town vs Gresley FC

The difference between the two sides was the lethal finishing of Halesowen's prolific goal scorer Ben Haseley who scored three of his six chances with Gresley keeper Gary Hateley making two superb saves to deny the goal machine even more goals.

Gresley were forced into making a change up front with Phil Massingham taking the place of Richard Hanslow who was still suffering from a back injury picked up against Leek in midweek.

The homeside soon showed their intent on a very soft surface with a header from Haseley that brought out a top draw save from Hateley after just four minutes.

Gresley's Danny Holmes then looped a ball into the area where it appeared to be handled by a defender and missed by the referee Bruce Rogers. However, the ball came out to Dean Rathbone who fired in a shot which was blocked on the line.

Hateley had to be alert at the other end as he denied Haseley again pushing the header away as the striker looked certain to score. Holmes then had a low shot from distance which narrowly flew wide but it was the homeside who took the lead and it was that man Haseley who this time beat Hateley with a low cross into the far bottom corner of the net.

Five minutes later it was two. A corner from Mitchell Botfield eventually came out to Arron Griffiths who hit a sublime unstoppable volley that flew over Hateley's head and into the net off the underside of the bar.

Halesowen were well on top now and Gresley were struggling to contain the wave after wave of attacking football. Another corner was taken short and Botfield crossed into the box where Joe Hill powered a header from close in that Hateley acrobatically tipped over the bar.

Hateley again made a good block on the line as the homeside threatened to add to their score. Moments later Luke Corbett caught the Gresley back line napping and seeing Hateley off his line tried an audacious lob which landed wide of the far post.

The visitors began to get more into the game and just after the half hour mark they reduced the arrears. Massingham did well on the left of the area and managed to get his low cross into the box despite a defender having a handful of his shirt. There waiting to pounce was Royce Turville who pushed the ball past Town keeper Paul Evans.

Gresley went close to levelling things almost on the halftime whistle when Jordi Gough, after collecting the ball in his own half, made a driving run through the middle before unleashing a thunderbolt of a shot that left Evans motionless but unfortunately just the wrong side of the upright.

The normally sharpshooting Haseley had a very rare miss early in the second half. A long up-and-under ball caught the Gresley backline flatfooted and Haseley raced forward but with only Hateley to beat steered his shot wide of the far post.

Gresley had a half chance when Rathbone picked out Marc Goodfellow on his left. Goodfellow then sent a low cross into the area but it was a fraction too far in front of Massingham who had made a run into the box.

Another chance arrived for the visitors when James Jepson played a short corner from the left to Goodfellow who then looped over a cross to Marc Strzyzewski but his header was held by Evanas at his near post. Gough was then the supplier of the next chance but Massingham's header flew past the post.

Gresley were caught out by a long over-the-top ball once more and it was Haseley who was on hand to race through, control the ball before coolly slotting it past the exposed Hateley. The long ball tactic paid off yet again and Haseley completed his hat-trick by running onto the ball and lobbing the ball over Hateley and into the net.

To their credit Gresley didn't give up and they got another deserved goal. Turville, who had worked hard up front, fired a shot which was blacked but substitute Louis Hamilton who had replaced Holmes smashed the rebound home from close in for his first goal for Gresley.