GOAL difference is all that’s keeping Yeltz out of the Northern Premier League dropzone after two defeats in four days.

A disappointing 2-1 loss to Spennymoor at the Grove on Saturday was followed up with a long trip to Whitby Town on Tuesday night, but once again Halesowen came away empty handed.

Yeltz put in a good first half showing and they took the lead after only three minutes thanks to a Liam Slade finish.

But as the game progressed, Town struggled to cope with the quality of Whitby's finishing and found themselves on the wrong side of a 4-1 score line, leaving the club perilously close to the relegation places.

Assistant manager Matt Clarke is now urging his players to take positives from their first half performance and build up a good run of form to keep the side out of danger.

Clarke said: “We started the game really well, scored early on, and even had a number of chances to make it 2-0 which we should've taken.

“But despite a good first half performance we conceded just before the break to go in at 1-1.

“We came out well in the second half, but after Lee Chilton missed a great chance to make it 2-1 we just fell apart.

“Defensively we were disappointing, but we must take positives from the fact that we went to one of the teams at the top of the table and put in a really good first half performance.

“We always knew travelling to Whitby on a Tuesday night would be tough, but the lads have got to stick together and look ahead to the next game.”

Yeltz will travel to relegation-rivals Frickley Athletic on Saturday, before heading back out on the road on Monday night to Hendesford Town.

Frickley are currently level on points with Halesowen having played three games more, but Clarke is under no illusions to how important three points will be to his side’s battle against the drop.

He added: “I know it’s a cliché but we’ve got to take it one game at a time and try to pick up points where we can.

“We still need to put in performances when we play away teams like Spennymoor, Blyth and Workington, but being realistic they’re free games. Those aren’t the games that are going to keep us up.

“There are still 10 games left and plenty of points up for grabs. If you take away the games against the top teams, we’ve got five or six games coming up against teams around us at the bottom who are struggling as well.

“We still have Frickley, Hednesford, Marine, Skelmersdale, Ilkeston and Sutton Coldfield to play. These are the games which picking up points in is crucial to our survival.”