Harriers give Wrexham a footballing lesson

Report by Morgan Nock

A decent following of over 200 from North Wales witnessed a drab performance from their Wrexham side, against whom Kidderminster Harriers cruised to an easy victory.  Second half goals came from Brian Smikle and a first goal for Robbie Matthews in Harriers halves.

A dull first half was contested by two very average looking sides but there were glimpses of both brilliance and utter horror on show.  First Harriers really pushed for an early goal but Wrexham forward Mark Jones had something to say about that when he curled a shot towards the top corner of the net which was only saved by a fantastically acrobatic save from Dean Coleman.

Jones was at it again moments later but Coleman again managed to make a slightly more comfortable save.

Wrexham were reduced to ten men after just sixteen minutes when Silvio Spann lunged into a late, two footed tackle on David McDermott that could quite easily have ended up breaking the Harriers youngsters leg.  Harriers fans called for a red card and Spann was quickly given his marching orders.

This though wasn't a turning point in the match because we seemed to struggle for a while and Wrexham somehow managed to look the stronger side.  Darryl Knights went close for us with a low shot which Chris Maxwell saved with ease and Robbie Matthews had a header disallowed late in the half after the referee ruled that he had climbed on Frank Sinclair's back.

HT: 0 - 0

The second half was a much different affair.  The Harriers were straight out of the blocks kicking towards the home end and Robbie Matthews almost opened his Harriers scoring account just three minutes in.  His header beating the keeper only to trickle past the post.  The intent shown here though was a sign of things to come.

With fifty minutes on the clock the deadlock was broken.  Matt Barnes-Homer linked up with Robbie Matthews, who crossed the ball perfectly for Brian Smikle to volley home past a flabbergasted Maxwell.

Matthews was also involved in Harriers second goal - controlling the ball well - before shrugging off the challenge of Neil Taylor and squeezing the ball into the corner of the net.  Again the Wrexham keeper, Maxwell, was powerless to prevent the goal and Wrexham found themselves 2-0 down in the space of four second half minutes.

Unfortunately for the visitors instead of resting on the two goal cushion the home side pushed for the inevitable third goal which somehow didn't come!  Matthews, Barnes-Homer and Knights all hit the target but lacked that real bit of quality to increase the lead.

Lee Baker, who had another solid game at left back, had a scorching goal-bound shot blocked by Curtis Obeng on the edge of the box.

Wrexham made one last push towards the end of the game and into the FIVE minutes of second half injury time.  Anyone would think it was Old Trafford!   Ultimately Harriers held out for a valuable clean sheet with Chris McPhee playing more than capably at centre back.

FT: 2 - 0

 Goals for Harriers: Smikle 50, Matthews 55