Harriers will be going to Halifax tomorrow without two important members of the team. Kyle Storer will be missing due to a one game ban for yellow cards while, crucially, Josh Gowling will be out with a shoulder injury that he picked up in last Saturdays 3-3 draw at Barnet. He only lasted until halftime after falling heavily during the first half but elected to play on until replaced by Jamie Grimes at the break.It's Grimes who will almost certainly stand in for him at the Shay but who replaces Storer will be of interest. The obvious choice would be Callum Gittings to drop into the slot vacated but there is also the possibility of either Josh O'Keefe of Jake Green taking up that position. We saw Green make his debut for us in the 4-0 win at home to Altrincham some time ago when he looked very impressive and adventurous but he has not been seen since somewhat surprisingly.
We also saw a match winning performance from Ahmed Obeng (left) at Barnet in a turnaround second half that saw the Harriers recovering from being 3-0 down at the break to amazingly pull level in the second half and go within a whisker of snatching a winning goal late on. This was probably his best game in some time after he faded from the scene slightly following the opening game of the season at Lincoln when he looked a little overawed by the occasion but reports from Barnet said that he looked to be a dangerous asset for us with his pace and ability to get a decent cross in.
Our hosts, Halifax, have been on a poor run in recent weeks and, amidst rumours of manager Neil Aspin about to leave for the vacant York City post, have dropped down the table from second to fifth without a win in four games. They suffered their worst defeat of the season at Eastleigh last Saturday, our opponents in the FA Cup next weekend, going down 4-1 although they had the lions share of the game. Previous to that game they drew at home 2-2 against Wrexham and saw defender Marc Roberts sent off but he has now served his one game ban and will be back in the squad to play us.
Former Harriers loanee Richard Peniket now plays for them but after making a good start to the season for them has now dropped out of favour and onto the bench. That's mainly due to the scoring abilities of Scott Boden and Danny Hattersley with seven and four goals respectively.
Hattersleys loan spell from Southport ends following our game and Halifax are hoping to keep him longer but are waiting to hear back from the new Southport manager Gary Brabin. They have no injuries to any other players.
In the corresponding game last season we came back from a first minute goal down to equalise through Nathan Blissett thirty minutes later. That was our season closing game and one that saw us say farewell to Lee Vaughan and Mickey Demetriou after they joined new clubs during the close season. We now have to hope that this seasons ensemble can go one better and come back from Halifax with all three points in the bag.
Just don't give away three goals again please lads. The heart can't take it!
Photo © KHFC
Teams:
Harriers from:
Lewis, Singh, Hodgkiss, Green, Dunkley, Nicholson, Grimes, O'Keefe, Byrne, Obeng, Johnson, Verma, Blissett, Gittings, Gash, Reid, Styche.
FC Halifax from:
Senior, Glennon, Bolton, McManus, M Roberts, Pearson, Ainge, Smith, Marshall, Jackson, Dyer, Wilson, Peniket, S Williams, K Roberts, Worthington, Boden, Maynard, Schofield, Marie, Hibbs
Talk about the game here
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