St Ives Town V Halesowen Town
PitchingIn Southern League Premier Division Central-24/01/2026
Following back to back postponements in the league and a midweek defeat to Eaton Socon in the FA Hunts Senior Cup Semi-Final, the challenge of turning over an inform Halesowen Town side was always going to be a steep one. Ives have produced some good results against sides at the top of the table previously this campaign, with impressive wins on the road against league leaders Spalding United and a red-hot Real Bedford side. However, manager Ricky Marheineke’s men were not able to repeat the dose against Saturday’s opponents as a devastating second half display saw the visitors run out deserved winners.
In the week, Ives announced the return of former frontman Jonny Edwards, who was included from the start. Ives made two further changes from the strong starting line-up that fell to Eaton Socon in the cup, with Aaron Smith and Jahrel McKoy replacing Jiah Medrano and Kellan Hickinson.
Halesowen Town manager Russ Penn made two changes from their win last weekend against Royston Town, with Jak Hickman and Reece Mitchell replacing McKauley Manning and Jim Kellerman.
Before kick-off, there was a minute’s applause in remembrance of Ives fan Iain Morrison, which was well observed by all inside the Quattro-Tech Westwood Road.
Penn’s men started with all the confidence you would expect from a side that had won three on the bounce heading into this fixture. Yeltz would have been in front on eight minutes had it not been for Ollie Taylor, who produced a smart stop low to his left to deny Fin Holmes.
Liam Cross had Ives’ first real chance of the game as he was found on the right-hand side of the Halesowen penalty area but couldn’t find the bottom corner with his left-footed strike in the 9th minute.
Ives were struggling to find any sort of rhythm in midfield as the Yeltz press was proving too much to handle for Marheineke’s side. As a result, clear cut openings for the home side were few and far between. They did manage to produce a good move in the 16th minute as McKoy found Alexandrou in behind, before the number 17 played the ball out to Smith, who swung a cross towards the aforementioned Alexandrou, but his header was caught comfortably by Daniel Platt.
In the 32nd minute, the visitors missed a golden opportunity to break the deadlock as Holmes played a superb ball through to Kyle Finn, with the Yeltz number 10 clean through on goal. Finn managed to send Taylor the wrong way, but the Ives keeper must’ve got a touch as his effort trickled behind, with the linesman signalling for a corner kick.
Despite missing a guilt-edge opportunity, the visitors weren’t down for long as from the resulting corner, the ball found its way out to Fin Holmes, who riffled his shot into the roof of the net from close range to open the scoring.
Ives had a great opportunity to level the scores before the break as a free kick found the head of Jordan Williams, who nodded it on for Michael Richens at the back post. The Ives captain lashed the ball towards goal but a fine stop from Platt denied Richens from getting his side on the scoresheet.
Unfortunately for Ives any confidence that was rebuilt from words said during the half-time team talk were all but extinguished by a sucker punch of a second Yeltz goal, scored a minute into the second half. Ben Cassidy’s ball across found the head of Milan Butterfield, who was left free at the back post to score past Taylor and double the visitor’s advantage.
Ives simply had to get the next goal in this game if they were to have a chance of coming away with anything and they almost responded in perfect fashion when Edwards produced some good work down the right-hand side before floating an inviting ball across the box. The ball found the head of Alexandrou, but his header was cleared off the line by Cassidy.
Five minutes later, Williams got himself on the end of Smith’s long throw from the right side, but the central defender couldn’t keep his header down as the ball flew high over Platt’s crossbar.
Despite Ives attempting to force a way back into the contest, it was the visitors who always looked the more likely to get the third goal in the game and they did just that with 69 minutes on the clock. A devastating counter attack from Penn’s men saw Cassidy pick up the loose ball from a Kellan Hickinson free-kick and drive forward as one of four blue shirts bearing down on goal. Cassidy found Finn on the left-hand side, who then played the ball across to Jason Cowley, who slotted home in clinical fashion.
With the result all but confirmed, and the away support in fine voice, as they were all afternoon, Marheineke’s men started to find themselves on the ball more often in dangerous positions. Edwards had the best of the late Ives opportunities, with the returning number nine crashing a header off the crossbar from close-range in the 71st minute.
However, the home side couldn’t even muster what would’ve been just a consolation as time ticked towards 90. The visitors went close to making it four in the 84th minute of the game as another sweeping move from Yeltz saw the ball find Mitchell in a wide position. The number 24 swung a dangerous ball into the area, but neither the onrushing substitute McKauley Manning or Finn could get on the end of it.
In the 93rd minute of the game, a wonderful long range effort from Manning put some extra gloss on what was a superb performance from the visitors. Yeltz’ number 11 picked up the ball 30 yards from goal and produced a stunning effort that flew over the head of Taylor and into the back of the net. The acrobatic celebration that followed summed up the mood amongst the travelling fans, who had just seen their side secure a fourth successive win and three points that moves them up to third in the Southern League Premier Division Central.
As for Ives, a tough day at the office and one that hasn’t been the norm at home this season, with Redditch United and Leiston the only other teams to taste victory at the Quattro-Tech Westwood Road this campaign. Marheineke’s men will have to dust themselves down and get ready for a rescheduled midweek clash away at Banbury United.
You can watch manager Ricky Marheineke’s comments following Saturday’s game below.
Goals:
ST IVES:
HALESOWEN: Holmes 32, Butterfield 47, Cowley 69, Manning 93,
Team Line Ups:
ST IVES: Taylor, Creary, Smith, Richens (Shepherd 87), Williams, Idehen, McKoy (Hickinson 63), Edwards (Miles 87), Cross (Baker 63), Njie (Tormey 76), Alexandrou Unused Subs: None
HALESOWEN: Platt, Hickman, Cassidy, Smile, Wollacott, Cowley (Parker 91), Finn (Kellermann 85), Butterfield, Evans, Holmes (Manning 78), Mitchell Unused Subs: Gudger, Barnett
Referee: Jamie Stevenson
Cards: Yellow: ST IVES Creary (54) HALESOWEN: Evans (40), Hickman (75)
IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Jordan Williams
Attendance: 325
