Harriers outplayed by Oldham

Kidderminster Harriers put in a spirited attempt but lost out against a skillful Oldham Athletic side, in this FA Cup 1st round game, as they continued to struggle with set piece defending and finishing.

To say that the Harriers came out the slower would have been a huge understatement as the Carpetmen found themselves pinned into their own penalty box for almost all of the first twenty minutes of the game with both Josh Gowling and Cheyenne Dunkley forced into a string of last ditch blocks and desperate clearances.

On sixteen minutes Oldham almost got the lead their early pressure had deserved.  The former Everton prodigy Jose Baxter opened up space but saw his shot rising over the bar.  Harriers continued to survive on the back of Oldhams inability to shoot straight.

With twenty minutes gone Harriers started to look to come forward but still in a very wary manner as Oldham showed their potential to break at great speed and after twenty six minutes the visitors had the ball in the back of Nathan Vaughan's net - fortunately flagged offside.  Harriers were forced into scrappy defending once again when the ball was only cleared as far as Lee Croft whose cross beat everyone and looked to be about to trickle in when Matt Derbyshire pounced to prod it home from a wildly offside position.  Maybe if he had left it the goal would have stood.

This seemed to spark some response from the Harriers as they started to come back into the game and on thirty minutes they almost found themselves in the lead but had to watch despairingly as a Keith Briggs strike roared agonisingly past Dean Bouzanis's post.

Kidderminster continued to get forward and they tried to get some control on the tie but didn't get any closer than a couple of hopeful penalty appeals that got turned down by the poor League standard referee.

The second half continued as the first ended with the home side, backed by their vocal support, getting into strong positions.

Two very strong chances came in quick suggestion.  First Bouzanis had to produce a terrific diving save as he tipped over Anthony Malbons looping header then Josh Gowling rose highest to meet the follow-up corner but his header flew wide of the post.

Just as Kidderminster seemed to be getting on top they fell behind.  With all our defenders backing off Jose Baxter targeted Mike Williams lack of pace with a perfectly weighted pass for Cristian Montaño to charge through and smash past Nathan Vaughan.

After a long stoppage in the play to treat, and eventually stretcher off, the injured Cliff Byrne Oldham then doubled their lead.  Awarded a free kick on the edge of the area and, despite the dangerous position, the Harriers only chose to use a two man wall in front of Baxter's free kick.  Cue the inevitable floated ball past the whole team and into Vaughan's bottom left corner.

Harriers, now finally strengthened by the additions of Mickey Demetriou and Marvin Johnson, didn't give up though and kept storming forward to exploit the extra space Oldham were allowing them.  Corner after corner rained down on the Oldham box with Johnson twice finding space in the chaos but failing to hit the target.

As stoppage time descended Harriers fans were left in complete bemusement as Anthony Malbon tried to control a deflected shot only to see the hand of a defender punch it from beneath his feet right in front of the ref's nose for him to only give yet another corner.

Overall a spirited performance with the Harriers just lacking that slice of luck needed to pull off the giant killing act.  At least now we can concentrate on steering clear of the relegation zone and Worcestershire Senior cup glory eh?

 Goals for Oldham: Montano 52, Baxter 65

REFEREE:

Mr D Webb County Durham