Rampant Harriers reward Mr Burr

The Harriers strolled to a 4-1 victory over a under-performing Grays Athletic side who lacked fight and spirit when compared to a Harriers side under new boss Steve Burr.  The new man was quick to make vast changes to his team for his first home game bringing in Jasbir Singh and Nathan Hayward for their first full home debuts.  Aaron Farrell also started in the side as Robbie Matthews was stricken down with a flu virus.

Grays were the first to try and make an impression upon the game as the ex-Oxford striker Jamie Guy put himself about and nearly profited from a badly taken kick, after a pass back, with Jasbir Singh slicing the ball as far as Gavin Caines who managed to keep the side out of danger.

Harriers slowly but surely started to get a grip on the game and we were unlucky not to go a goal ahead after Farrell put a superb through ball to Brian Smikle who shot straight at the keeper Richard Martin.  Five minutes later Smikle got his first goal since scoring against Wrexham last November.  Caines played the ball in and Smikle cut inside and hit a well placed finish, off the post, into the back of the net to put the home side 1-0 up.

Less than five minutes later it was the turn of Damian Spencer to get his first goal for the Harriers, as despite his stocky frame, he turned with great agility to hit the ball into the bottom corner to make the score 2-0.

This gave the Harriers the upperhand as Grays lacked the fight to get the score back.  That was until the Referee and his assistant gave them hope when a penalty was awarded in the thirty fifth minute when Martin Riley was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the area even though he knew nothing about it.  He also made a two footed tackle on Guy so nobody was sure whether the penalty had been given for a handball or the tackle.

Despite many protests Jamie Guy slotted the ball away to bring the score undeservedly back to 2-1.  The goal gave the visitors a bit of impetus but it wasn't enough to worry the Harriers and we went into the break with a narrow, but comfortable, lead.