Stourbridge 1 Halesowen Town 1

An impressive 1.642 crowd packed into the War Memorial Ground for the first fixture between the two sides in four years, braving the snow, sleet, rain and cold to witness what turned out to be a typical "blood and thunder" clash. The conditions made the pitch difficult, though not impossible, and credit should go to both teams for producing an entertaining game.

Gary Hackett made three changes to his starting line-up, with Keiran Morris and Exodus Geohaghon returning in central defence and Luke Benbow starting in attack.

It was Halesowen who had the early openings. On 3 minutes, Ben Haseley looked to have got in behind Brian Smikle down the left, but Morris recovered enough to delay his momentum, and Dean Coleman came out quickly to clear.

Four minutes later, the visitors were perhaps unlucky not to be awarded a penalty as Iyseden Christie went down under a challenge from Geohaghon. However, the referee may have felt Christie's fall a little exaggerated and waved away the appeals.

Taking advantage of those let-offs, the Glassboys were ahead with 10 minutes played. Benbow got the better of former Glassboy Aaron Griffiths on the by-line and cut into the penalty area before squaring the ball. Josh Morgan-Parker helped it on it's way and Danny Bragoli behind him was unable to avoid diverting it into his own past the despairing dive of Matt Sargeant.

However, Stourbridge were unable to build on the goal and Halesowen went on to have the better of the half without seriously testing Coleman. Aaron Forde shot wide of the left-hand post from just outside the box on 23 minutes and Griffiths dragged his shot wide of the other post ten minutes later.

Stourbridge suffered a blow 5 minutes before the break when Chris Knight had to be replaced after a heavy challenge. Leon Broadhurst slotted in at left back, with substitute Jordan Fitzpatrick coming on in midfield.

The half-time interval brought a burst of heavy snow to replace the rain, and a combination of snow, sleet and rain was was to persist throughout the second period without ever threatening to curtail proceedings.

Benbow spooned a cross from Morgan-Parker over the crossbar early in the second half, although the flag had already been raised for offside, before the potentially pivotal moment of the game on 50 minutes. Will Richards mis-controlled the ball on halfway and as Tonks came in strongly to challenge, the Stourbridge man appeared to jump to avoid contact and then land on his opponent. The referee had no hesitation in producing a red card and there appeared to be no great protest from the Stourbridge players, although Forde might consider himself fortunate not to have received any sanction for his initial challenge.

Stourbridge reshuffled with Kristian Ramsey-Dickson replacing Morgan-Parker and taking Richards' role anchoring midfield, as Hackett looked to protect the lead, but it was Stourbridge who were to go close next as a curling cross-shot from Benbow way out on the left almost found it's way under the crossbar at the far post.

A minute later Benbow did succeed in prodding the ball past Sargeant after being put through, but his celebrations were cut short when he realised the flag had long-since been raised for a close, but correct, offside call.

At the other end on 61 minutes, Haseley came close to the equaliser for Halesowen as his looping header came back off the top of Coleman's crossbar with the keeper beaten, and Smikle cleared to safety.

Coleman got down well after 71 minutes to save a low, driven shot from Bragoli, but the Yeltz were to be denied only four minutes longer. Central defender Curtis Tilt, who had originally been "credited" with Stourbridge's goal, strode forward and unleashed a thunderous shot from at least 45 yards. Coleman, unsurprisingly not expecting an effort on goal from that distance, was a little slow to react to and could not prevent the ball from arrowing into the very top corner.

With the man advantage, Halesowen might have been expected to dominate the remaining 15 minutes, but if anything the goal stirred the Glassboys into a more attacking mindset and both sides had chances to snatch victory.

There was a scare for the Glassboys on 78 minutes as Haseley got behind the defence down the left and his low cross evaded both Thompson-Brown and Aaron Daniels, although once more an offside flag rendered the miss irrelevant.

At the other end, a 20-yard free-kick from Drew Canavan on 81 minutes was pushed wide by Sargeant, whilst from the ensuing corner Fitzpatrick could not get his hasty shot on target. And in stoppage time Benbow could have had the last word, but his left foot shot from just inside the penalty area was blazed high and wide.

In the end a draw was probably a fair reflection of the match.

The point means Stourbridge remain 11th in the Evo-Stik League Premier Division table.

Stourbridge: Coleman, Morgan-Parker (Ramsey-Dickson 53), Brown (Tye 82), Morris, Richards, Geohaghon, Smikle, Broadhurst, Benbow, Canavan, Knight (Fitzpatrick 41).

Unused substitutes: Bowerman, Till.

Attendance: 1,642.