Stourbridge 2, Halesowen Town 2

by David Lawrence

A LUKE Benbow brace capped a stunning Stourbridge fightback to ensure this Black Country derby finished all square.

And it would have been all three points for the Glassboys had it not been for the excellence of Dan Platt in the Halesowen goal.

The Yeltz could not have wished for a better start, taking the lead after just 62 seconds. A poor clearing header fell at the feet of Lee Chilton who drilled past keeper Matt Gould.

Five minutes later it was 2-0 with Chilton again involved, this time with a sweetly-struck corner to the far post where Kyle Morrison rose to head home.

The visitors were in total control at this point and they should have added a third in the eighth minute when Chilton’s cross picked out Kaiman Anderson who looped a header just over the crossbar.

Midway through the half Glassboys boss Gary Hackett changed his formation to cope with their rampant neighbours and from then on it was the home side who dominated, clawing a goal back on the half-hour through a Benbow penalty after Darryl Westlake had been fouled by Aaron Griffiths.

The Stourbridge onslaught continued after the break with Benbow duly levelling the scores 11 minutes into the second half with a blistering shot into the bottom right-hand corner.

Stour continued to threaten for the remainder of the game but failed to find a way past keeper Platt who keep the visitors on level terms with two excellent saves, blocking a Chris Lait effort and then brilliantly tipping a Green header over the bar.

And when a rare mistake looked to have let Drew Canavan in late on, Kyle Haynes was on hand to deny him to ensure the points were shared.

Stourbridge: Gould, Green, Smikle, Tonks, Westlake, Scarr, Hull (Brown 24) Broadhurst, Benbow, Lait (Hague 84), Canavan. Subs (not used): Birch, Pierpoint, Heath

Halesowen: Platt, Haynes, Griffiths, Denny (Hancocks 87), Morrison, Charlton, Goddard (Delaney 74), Melvin, Anderson, Digie (Bragoli 65), Chilton. Subs (not used): Cleet, King

Att: 1,575