Halesowen Town 1, Grantham Town 1

AARON Forde struck in injury time as Halesowen ended their season with a draw against Grantham Town.

The result ensured that the Yeltz stayed above today's opposition to end a pleasing campaign in 11th place.

The teams are closely matched in their league position and there wasn't much to choose between them throughout the afternoon.

Both found it hard to play any free-flowing football as the Grove's dry, bobbly pitch took its toll.

Time and time again, both sides elected to hit their frontmen early without much success in what was a typically scrappy end-of-season affair.

It was the visitors that edged ahead after just nine minutes.

A long ball over the top was brilliantly collected by forward Liam Read, who had to battle hard to ensure his side retained possession.

He then squared the ball for left winger Liam Hurst to slot neatly past Matt Sargeant in the Halesowen goal.

Hales rarely got going in the first half, their best chances being snap-shots from distance that never troubled Grantham keeper Jake Turner.

Both Kristian Green and Iyseden Christie drove wide of the target with speculative efforts before the break.

Of the two sides, it was Grantham that posed the greater threat in the final third.

In the 32th minute, Read got in down the left flank but could only mis-cue an effort onto the roof of Sargeant's net as they had to be content with a one-goal advantage at the break.

The home side came out with more purpose at the start of the second period and worked an opening in the very first minute.

Aaron Griffiths got in down the left after linking well with Christie, but his low ball across the face of goal couldn't find a team-mate.

However, it didn't take long for the game to descend back to its scrappy nature as both sides battled for the ball only to give away possession soon after in an attempt to bring their frontmen into the contest with hopeful passes forward.

Grantham's best chance of the half fell to Read in the 75th minute.

Rhys Lewis fed Ben Saunders down the right side and he crossed low to Read who had darted to the near post. But, from close range, he somehow lifted the ball over the bar.

The home side maybe edged the second half as Grantham seemed happy to sit on their one goal advantage as time ran out. However, they never really forced Turner into a save as they looked for a way back into the game.

But, with the contest into a third minute of injury time, Forde managed to slot the ball home after it fell to him in the area after substitute Aaron Lloyd flicked on an Aaron Griffith throw in.

The man who has been so important in his role shielding Halesowen's back line for much of the campaign kept his head to beat Turner and hand his side a share of the spoils.

Though the game was instantly forgettable, Forde's finish ended a very good season for the Yeltz with one final cheer.

Halesowen: Sargeant, Green, Griffiths, Forde, Hull (c), Tilt, Chalton, Turner (Meese 82), Christie (Granville 78), Haseley (Lloyd 78), Bragoli.

Unused subs: Heard, Pearson.

Grantham: Turner, Purcicoe, Hurst, Miveld, Kay, Hollingsworth, Meadows, Lewis, Read (Bilyk 87), Saunders, Emmett.

Unused subs: Hellewell, Farmer, Rhule.

Att: 471.