After a fairly even first twenty minutes when neither goalkeeper were seriously threatened, the game came to life when Chris Slater was adjudged to have tripped Chris Lait with Referee Mr Fox having no hesitation pointing to the penalty spot. Neil Mackenzie stepped up and put an inch perfect spot kick inside Ryan Price’s left hand post with the Chase keeper going the right way.

Within a minute, Halesowen doubled their lead with last season’s hotshot Ben Haseley netting from close range.

The game was over as a contest eight minutes before the interval. Price did well to keep out a header, low to his right, but Elliot Turner was in acres of space at the far post to steer home the rebound.

Jean Gueyes almost made it four when he outstripped Richard Teesdale for pace and fired over the crossbar in a one-sided fixture.

To their credit, the Scholars did begin to get the ball down and play a bit better in the second period, but how much of that was down to their own improvement or Halesowen taking their foot off the gas will only tell in time as the season progresses.

It took until after the hour mark for visiting number one Paul Evans to make a save, and that was routine for him, getting down to hold onto a Paul Sullivan shot at his near post.

That effort had followed on from a neat passage of play involving substitute Leigh Downing and it was Downing himself who was a whisker wide with a shot that beat Evans but also skimmed past the post – a goal that perhaps Downing deserved.

Nigel Penney flashed a header wide from a Mackenzie free kick and then Price prevented Haseley from adding his second with a decent save to his right.

Chasetown did manage to score for the fourth game in a row though, netting a stoppage time consolation goal from Paul Sullivan but three defeats in seven days is worrying form for The Scholars.

Halesowen Town manager John Hill was quick to praise his team after a disappointing start to the season, results-wise: “Today was a good turn around after a couple of losses. We’ve picked up injuries and made individual mistakes so far this season. We’ve had square pegs in round holes with players playing out of position today, so to come here against one of the favourites for the league and get a result is testimony to the players we have here. We had to work hard, but we’ve come up with the goods today.”

Scholars’ boss Craig Harris was in solemn mood at the final whistle: “We were second best in the first half and Halesowen were out of sight by the time we improved. Halesowen have fully deserved the three points today as they were the better side.”

Chasetown: Ryan Price, Jack Farmer, Tesfa Robinson, Chris Slater, Grant Beckett, Richard Teesdale, Lee Butler, Danny Bragoli (Andy Westwood, 83 mins), Nick Wellecomme (Gary Hay, 66 mins), Paul Sullivan, Ramone Stephens (Leigh Downing, 22 mins)

Other Subs: Louis Keenan, Danny Watson (not used)

Halesowen Town: Evans, Green, Meacham, Mackenzie (Fulloway, 86 mins), Martin, Kelly, Turner (Penney, 76 mins), Tonks, Lait (Griffiths, 66 mins), Haseley, Gueyes

Other Subs: Brady, Pearson (not used)