Today's result was a bit of a knock back for the Harriers fans that turned up at Aggborough looking to put the opening day defeat against St Albans behind them. Apart from a very dubious penalty awarded to visitors Weymouth it was a game in which the home team were superior in all departments except for sticking the ball into the net.
With Jeff Kenna surprisingly back in the starting line-up following his injury, displacing Gavin Hurren, Mark Yates went with the lone striker up front formation again - mistakenly so in my opinion. I can see the benefits it can bring away from home but in front of a partisan home support the need for a more positive approach is needed.
At times throughout the game Reynolds found himself all alone and having to wait for support from his colleagues. In that time it was easy for the Weymouth defenders to re-marshall themselves and snuff out any threat that did arise.
The shockingly poor referee wasn't helping us either with some curious decisions that including a knee jerk reaction for the penalty, a booking for Russ Penn when their keeper dived at his feet to grab the ball then feigned injury to get him booked and a tendency to ignore some blatant strong arm tactics from the visitors.
The penalty came after ten minutes of end to end entertainment from both sides with the Harriers just shading the opening period. Weymouth broke free and Lee Elam raced with the ball to the edge of the box where an alert Stuart Whitehead saw the danger and also came racing across. Whitehead opted for a sliding tackle to stop Elam but as the Weymouth striker fired the ball over it glanced off the hand of the falling Harriers Captain and the ref un-believably awarded them a penalty.
Chucki Eribenne stepped up to take the penalty and rolled it to Bevan's left in a way that was reminiscent of Sturridge's effort against St Albans.
The rest of the half was mainly the Harriers trying hard to battle past a resolute Weymouth defence but not quite making it due to a lack of real fire power in our ranks. Michael Blackwood and Brian Smikle were both having excellent games for us out wide with Blackwood catching the eye throughout with some tenacious play. His best effort came mid way through the game when he lashed a shot over the visitors goal with their keeper rooted to the spot.
Luke Reynolds and Russ Penn came close for us before the end of the half and it was an impressive Harriers side that trooped off for the break.