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Vs cambridge utd 
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Reds climb to 3rd


The Harriers soared up to 3rd place in the league with this hard won victory against a good looking Cambridge side that had been free scoring in previous games.  It's just tough that they came up against a team that were more than a match for for anyone today.

'JJ' Right from the sound of the starting gun the Reds were out of the blocks and attacking their Oxford Blue clad opponents.  Why they wear that colour defeats me!.

It took just four minutes for the real action when a perfectly flighted ball from Sam Shilton found Bo Henriksen.  He bought the ball down with ease and laid it into the path of the waiting Melligan who made no mistake with a shot that thundered past the U's keeper, Marshall.

'JJ' did some kind of celebratory dance but Christ knows what it was supposed to be.

It was a short lived lead though.  Some slick passing from defence found the Harriers defence back tracking as a killer pass found Shane Tudor unmarked on the edge of the area.  His shot was saved by Brockie but not cleanly and it fell to the U's leading scorer, Dave Kitson, who made no mistake in smashing the ball into the back of the net.

This looked like being the fast scoring game that we all were expecting.  Cambridge started to take control of the game and were forcing us into sloppy mistakes in defence and midfield with the worst being a mistake from Craig Hinton.  He slipped on the edge of the area and the ball rolled free to Omer Riza but luckily Brockie was alert to the danger and sprinted across to put him off and the ball ran out of play.  Stuart Brock came to our rescue again minutes later when he saved well from Youngs.

It wasn't all one sided.  We were continuing to put pressure on the Cambridge goal when Dean Bennett forced Marshall into a good save after a neat one-two with Melligan.  Bo Henriksen also tried his luck with a shot that was cleared off the line by U's defender.

It was on 27 minutes that we took the lead that we were eventually to keep.

Sam Shilton’s cross from the left was headed on to Melligan who hit a scorcher of a volley into the top corner of the net.  This was his fifth goal for the Harriers during this loan spell and can only hasten his departure back to obscurity at Molineux.  Dave Jones could do with someone like him to save his skin.

The rest of the half saw both sides coming close to adding to their scores but valiant defending from both sides kept the score down to 2-1.


HT. 2 - 1

Cambridge started the second half with a substitution.  Nacca came on for Youngs in a straight swap.

The first action for us came with yet another penalty appeal waved away.  A long clearance from Brockie found Bo Henriksen all alone.  He took the ball past the U's defenders but was bundled over in the area by Adam Tann.  Referee Alan Butler, one of the better ones so far, waved away the Harriers appeals much to the disgust of the North Bank.

Danny Williams Just after that incident Ian Britton took Danny Williams off to replace him with Sean Parrish.  We seemed to lose a bit of influence in midfield and, although it was still an exciting game, it started to get a little scrappy.

We were still pressuring the visitors defence with both Sam Shilton and Bennett putting in crosses from both wings but for all their efforts Drewe and Bo couldn't get a clear shot on goal.  In an effort to get things going again Britt replaced Bo with Ian Foster.

He's more direct than Bo and straight away started to run at the defence and put pressure on the Cambridge keeper.  His best chance though came from the edge of the area when, instead of crossing the ball for a better placed team mate he decided to go it alone.  His shot skimmed the top of the bar and was unlucky not to go in.

We were praying for a third goal for us just to make the game safe but it was Cambridge who nearly added to their score ten minutes from the end when Shane Tudor struck a 20yd free kick that beat the wall.  Brock dealt with it easily enough though.

The real miss of the game came from the referee.  For reasons only known to himself and his inner daemons Drewe Broughton clearly head butted Adam Tann.  Both players went down clutching their heads but after checking they were both Ok the ref gave a drop ball kick.

This man, Broughton, has a serious mental problem which isn't helped by having his skull cracked open every other week.  He could end up like a boxer.  Punch drunk!

In the closing minutes Cambridge piled on the pressure with headers from Tann and Goodhind that Brockie did well to save but the whistle finally blew on another great victory and another three points.

We've had some good wins in recent weeks but none more satisfying than this one.  Cambridge are the best side we've played this season by a long chalk and I can't see how they can't fail to go back up again at the end of the season.

We'll be going with them.


FT. 2 - 1

The Harriers-Online
Man of the Match is : 
'JJ' Melligan

What can you say.  I can't see his loan being extended for another month.  Dave Jones is going to want him back.

Best for them:  Omer Riza.

vote for your
man of the match now

Harriers  subs   cards      Cambridge  subs   cards 
Brock     Marshall  
Ayres     Goodhind  
Coleman     Tann  
Williams     Angus  
Hinton     Fleming
Melligan     Youngs  
Bennett     Tudor  
Flynn     Jordan  
Broughton     Kitson
Henriksen     Guttridge  
Shilton     Riza  
SUBS:       SUBS:    
Danby     Brennan  
Joy     Wanless  
Sall     Chillingworth  
Foster     Duncan  
Parrish     Nacca  

REFEREE:
Mr A Butler
Nottingham


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