CHAIRMAN Colin Brookes thinks it's only a matter of time before Halesowen Town are rewarded for their hard work.

The Yeltz were just two minutes from a much-needed away victory against Ilkeston on Monday night before a late penalty gave the home side a 2-2 draw.

The good performance followed last Saturday's exit from the FA Cup at the hands of Conference North heavyweights Guiseley.

Brookes said: "It won't be long until this team's hard work pays off and they get what the deserve.

"They are an honest bunch and the fans appreciate that. If they carry on giving that much effort then it won't be long until they start to gain more points."

Halesowen have only won two games this season, all of them away from The Grove.

"We need to get that first win at home as well," added Brookes. "Once we do that then we will hopefully progress even further. The longer it goes without a home win the more of an issue it becomes."

Against Ilkeston, manager John Hill made five changes to the side that suffered a 3-0 defeat to Guiseley, with Aaron Griffiths, Elliott Turner, Neil Mackenzie, Tom Tonks and Dan Bragoli all featuring.

The first chance Ilkeston had resulted with a goal. David Morgan's free-kick was nodded into his own net by Curtis Tilt as he attempted to clear the danger.

However, Neil Mackenzie showed his attacking presence was something that had been missing on Saturday, as his long rang effort fizzed just past the post.

Ilkeston nearly doubled their advantage on 38 minutes, as Tyrell Waite's shot smashed off the inside of the post and came back into play.

The Yeltz got the equaliser they were looking for a minute later when Neil Mackenzie chested the ball down and blasted it into the bottom right hand corner.

The second half was dominated by Halesowen and they were finally rewarded for their effort when Iyseden Christie was gifted too much space in the box to poke the ball home.

But, with two minutes of added time left, Halesowen conceded a soft penalty to throw Ilkeston a lifeline. Up stepped substitute Rob Duffy to convert.