Worcester City Under 15s pay the penalty after great start

If televised, this fixture would certainly have given the Match of the Day pundits much to talk about with three penalties and the FA's new handball rules to debate.

Three penalties were given in the first 40 minutes with the two awarded in Q2 against City taking the stuffing out of the hosts after a first period in which they played their best football of the season so far.

Their efforts in Q1 in which they were composed and performed strongly all over the pitch were rewarded when the ball hit a visiting defender on the upper arm after it bounced in the box from a corner by George Hymas, whose delivery throughout the game was excellent. For the second week running, Jesse Asomugha coolly stroked home the resulting penalty kick.

The final action of the first period saw a long range Halesowen free-kick skim the top of the bar although home keeper Josh Reed-Jones had it covered.

The visitors created a decent chance at the start of the decisive second quarter when a marauding run from midfield saw the ball passed to the left wing from where a great delivery was headed over from close quarters.

However it wasn't long until the scores were level after the ball was played in from the right and Halesowen's clever forward cut inside and shot - Reed-Jones got a decent right palm on the effort but the power saw the ball crash into the corner.

The game then swung the visitors' way as they were awarded two penalties - the first for handball as deemed by the new FA regs despite the defender showing no intent and looking away from the ball and the second for a trip as the Halesowen goalscorer showed clever movement inside to draw the foul.

Reed-Jones made a good save to tip onto the bar in the third quarter, whilst at the other end, another superb Hymas cross went begging as it flashed across the goal.

As their opponents pressed, Alex Fenn hooked one off the line for the home side and then a great cross from the right was headed into the grateful arms of Reed-Jones. It wasn't long though until Halesowen's pressure was rewarded when another delivery from the right was despatched into the net.

City's heads didn't drop as they battled strongly to get back into the game at the start of the final period. Asomugah ran onto a long Reed-Jones clearance but just failed to head over the advancing keeper, who was then forced into a smart save to push a Will Sankey free-kick around the post as it bounced up off the wet surface.

Down the other end, a last ditch Cian Sheehan tackle prevented what looked like a certain goal after a shot rebounded off the post - the woodwork coming to City's rescue once more when they failed to deal with a corner and a headed effort struck the bar.

Halesowen weren't to be held at bay for much longer though as a miscontrolled back-pass found its way to their player who had the open goal at his mercy.

Reed-Jones made an unbelievable reflex stop to prevent further scoring. City kept going and came close to ending the game with a couple of consolation goals but Asomugah just couldn't get enough on the ball to power it over the line after it came back off the post via a Halesowen defender's head before the final kick of the contest saw the visiting keeper push a Charlie Grubb free-kick wide.

A decent game by two committed teams on a damp morning with plenty of talking points for everyone involved.