Players and supporters alike could have been forgiven if they thought they had turned up on the wrong day, so eerily quiet was the Old Hawne Lane ground on arrival.

Turnstiles were closed, floodlights off and home supporters noticeable by their absence. The reason for this quite surreal situation was that the Trust is currently in deep dispute with the Board and have chosen to withdraw their help and support from the club in an effort to put pressure on the owner Morell Maison.

Referee Neil Radford ruled the pitch unsuitable due to it being poorly marked out. Enter footballer-groundsman Robbie Nightingale who made his first contribution of the evening in the unconventional fashion of organising the white lines to be painted, an usual way of warming up. However, Radford ruled that all was well and the game went ahead.

Facing a team in such turmoil off the pitch, the Lilywhites and their faithful followers might have imagined that the Yeltz were there for the taking. Even with absence of Scott Neilson, City put out a strong starting eleven with Stephen Smith at 7 and Laurie Stewart retaining his place in the back four.

However, Halesowen were more than prepared for a hard fight and were determined not to give City an easy passage. The opening exchanges were fairly even, Stephan Morley ballooning over on 13 minutes for the home team. City threatened on 17 when Stephen Smith produced a fine effort when his shot from outside the box tested keeper Nick Bussey.

Shortly after, Stefan Moore, who was inexplicably wearing the 19 shirt for the home team, showed what a handful he was to prove all evening when he narrowly failed to latch on to a testing through ball.

City were keen to get forward, occasionally relying too much on the long ball. But dividends were paid on 22 minutes when City took the lead after Ashley Fuller picked up a loose ball and ran at the defence. Lining up the ball on his favoured left foot he smashed a thundering drive past Bussey who was left flapping at fresh air.

Halesowen were soon back in the game when Scott Rickards’ through-ball released Moore who ran diagonally across the City defence. The striker needed little invitation to go to ground when he tussled for the ball, referee Radford having no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Moore managed to drag himself to his feet, spot up the ball and drive it down the centre of the goal, Zac Barrett opting to dive to his right.

With the scores level at half time, it was anticipated that City would up the tempo in the second half and take the match. However, Halesowen were more than up for the fight and despite fielding an experienced pair of centre backs who used nous rather than speed for their success, City were unable to break down their defence. Chances came and went for both sides. Neil Midgley netted on 52 only to have it chalked off thanks to a previous foul by Steve Gentle. Eight minutes later, Fuller’s wicked cross just evaded Smith’s lunge and the ball ran to safety.  City’s best coming on 66 minutes when Adrian Cambridge’s well-struck free kick was glanced over by Lee Chaffey.

The Yeltz were more than in the match, however. A double substitution on 55 minutes gave them renewed vigour, forcing two corners in succession and asking some questions of the City defence, which was well-ordered all evening. Thankfully for City, Barrett was also in good form, which he showed when he pushed aside Moore’s strike for a corner on 67 minutes.

In the last ten minutes, City had Matty Haniver to thank when he made an excellent recovering tackled to thwart Moore, who against a less resolute defence could have had at least a brace. And it was Moore who headed Rickards’ corner wide with five minutes to go, much to the relief of the traveling faithful.

It certainly wasn’t one way traffic but in truth, despite much endeavour by the Lilywhites, Bussey wasn’t called upon to make a goal-preventing save throughout the second half. City fired in their shots and occasionally worked the ball well around the box but failed to pull the trigger.

However, with ten points from 12 and a four game unbeaten run City have made an excellent start to the season and should be an excellent heart for Saturday’s home tie with Nuneaton.

Well done too to the City fans who made the journey and who contributed a sizable portion of the crowd. The official attendance given was an optimistic 140, but with the turnstiles being shut for part of the build up to the game and some fans walking in through the officials’ car park, there was no way of accounting for the gate. A half time head count by the local press suggested two figures rather than three.