Our fifth draw in a row came in the second half at Alfreton. Not in the first because we were quite frankly the pits for the first forty five minutes and Alfreton should have buried us before the break. The second period was more like what we have come to expect from the Harriers but, even though we improved that half, if Anthony Malbon hadn't been on the pitch then we'd still be running round like headless chickens in front of the goal two days later.
We still need to look at our midfield because once again it was being bypassed as we looked for the easy route to goal. That meant that all the high, long balls we played were just being returned willy nilly by the Town defence. We needed a big tall frontman up there to win the headers but Richard Peniket does not fit that particular bill and, if my memory serves, failed to win a single header all game.
Cambridge had a bad day at Hereford and lost 4-2 with their two goals coming from Michael Gash. He was on loan at Braintree when Mickey Demetriou saved our skins with a late goal but Gash was fairly anonymous during that game, as he always seems to be when we come up against him.
Hopefully that will remain the case tomorrow and our defenders can take him out of the equation.
Cambridge are another side that have yet to get their season properly underway and, apart from two home wins in August against Lincoln City and Southport, they have failed to gain maximum points in the seven games since then. Their last home game was at home to Telford in a televised Saturday evening game and that finished all square at one each.
They have a few injuries to contend with but also a few now coming back from injury. Definitely missing will be Blaine Hudson who underwent a hernia operation today and and will be out for up to six weeks. Kevin Roberts missed the Hereford game following an operation on a hip injury while winger Harrison Dunk is also recovering from an operation undertaken a few weeks back.
Coming back from either injury or illness will be Scott Garner, Billy Gibson, Rossi Jarvis, Tom Elliot and Sam Smith.
The Harriers have no known injuries, apart from Jack Byrne, Kyle Storer and Tom Sharpe all out long term, but there was no explanation for the non appearances of Manny Panther, Ryan Austin and Dan Pilkington on Saturday. Steve Guinan was doing the coaching in the absence of Jerry Gill who was away on other matters.
As for tomorrow evenings game it's going to be tough and Utd will be looking to bounce back from the Hereford defeat while we'll be hoping for an improvement on our five draws in a row. What do I reckon then?
Another blinking draw, that's what.
Teams:
Harriers from:
Lewis, N Vaughan, L Vaughan, Williams, Dunkley, Austin, Demetriou, Gowling, Shakes, Panther, Vincent, Briggs, Pilkington, Guinan, Johnson, Malbon, Peniket, Gittings, Rowe, Blissett.
Cambridge Utd from:
Ross, Hedge, Jennings, Coulson, Wylde, Shaw, Gibson, Wellard, Gash, Elliott, McAuley, Garner, Pugh, Jarvis, Hughes, Berry, Marriott, Thorpe, Moké, Willmott, Eades, Smith.
Talk about the game here
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