And the wait goes on, and on, and on

The Harriers slumped to a disappointing draw to a Southport side who were on the back foot for most of the match.  The Sandgrounders will still be very happy with a point though, even after another late equaliser for the Reds.

It was Steve Burr's men who started the brighter and with not even a minute on the clock they could've taken the lead.  Good work from Marvin Johnson meant he could whip a ball into the centre, but a mixture of Richard Peniket and Danny Pilkington couldn't force the ball over the line.

Soon after the Reds came close again, a great shot from Johnson coming in from the left flank was spoiled by the Port 'keeper Tony McMillan and Pilkington went for the rebound but Southport's captain Simon Grand cleared it from beneath him.

Seven minutes later the Carpet Men got their goal.  Peniket worked well to beat a couple of Port defenders and put a great cross in.  The ball came back out to captain Kyle Storer who fired home from outside the box.  Unfortunately for Storer though five minutes later his game was ended after a bright start when, after a fair fight to win the ball, he went down awkwardly on his knee with the Harriers assistant manager Gary Whild admitting afterwards that he could face a long spell out.

The half mellowed out from here on in though, with Southport only threatening briefly with a shot from range from Michael Bakare, after Manny Panther, on for Storer, was caught on the ball.

Four minutes into the second half and the Harriers could've doubled their lead.  Panther played a diagonal ball to Pilkington, who left the honours to Lee Vaughan to cross to the six foot three tall Peniket who controlled before trying to loft one over McMillan.  It was Peniket again though moments later when he teed up Pilkington but his curling effort was comfortably grabbed by the Southport keeper.

Five minutes later it was the turn of Marvin Johnson who had two efforts to double the Carpet Men's advantage.  The first through a great run with pace past the Southport defenders but he just couldn't find the finish, and his effort went straight at McMillan.  A minute later he had a chance to make amends with a great touch and turn to power past Chris Lynch, but he shot earlier this time and it wasn't a difficult save for McMillan.

Despite all of the Harriers continuous pressure Southport managed to equalise thanks to an assist from the new Harriers defender Josh Gowling.

He and Nathan Vaughan got involved in a terrible mix up when both went for the ball and then decided that neither of them should have it.  The result was a panic clearance from Gowling to the feet of Karl Ledsham, who swooped home, with a lofted effort that the onrushing Cheyenne Dunkley couldn't do anything about.

James Vincent had a great chance to restore the lead two minutes later but his well worked one-two with Nathan Blissett led to him taking a shot from an angle which went into the side netting.

Once again the Reds were made to pay for not taking their chance as the Sandgrounders took the lead.  Shaun Whalley received the ball after a hoof from a defender and entered into a one on one with Nathan Vaughan who brought him down.  The keeper received a yellow card and not the red, thanks to quick thinking from Mickey Demetriou who ran back towards goal to become the last man.  Tony Gray stepped up for Port and finished coolly to the left.

Just over ten minutes later Steven Tames, on for Bakare, should've added to his sides lead.  Good work from Whalley allowed him to cross along the ground to Tames a matter of yards out but his shot was straight at Vaughan.

The Harriers pushed for an equaliser but couldn't find it from either a long range effort from Pilkington or a smart volley from Marvin Johnson.  Substitute Malbon too had a chance, but he couldn't convert a powerful cross from another substitute, Guinan.

Yet, with eighty nine minutes gone that man Malbon finally found the net from within the six-yard box for his first legal goal of the season after having three in previous games dis-allowed.

A corner, whipped in by Johnson, came to Dunkley whose effort at goal was diverted away from the goalkeepers reach straight to Malbons head and home to get the Harriers a share of the points.

This more or less marked the end of the game and the players should feel disheartened that it wasn't the three points we so desperately needed but we are getting nearer.  The defence looked better today, even after gifting Southport their goals.  The midfield missed Storer when he left the pitch injured, with Panther not doing much to earn a place in the starting XI next Saturday, and the attack looked bright through Peniket.

With Malbon scoring from the bench he should be back in Burr's mind come Grimsby next weekend, where surely we will get that first win.

Surely!

 Goals for Harriers: Storer 17, Malbon 88
 Goals for Southport: Ledsham 59, Gray 65 (pen)

REFEREE:

Mr R Martin Somerset