Harriers so much better than Wrexham but couldn't get that winner

After taking another early lead in a game, this time Aman Verma in the second minute, the Harriers couldn't kick on and get another to bag us all what would have been three well deserved points.  Instead, against the run of play and without playing particularly well, Wrexham equalised midway through the second half to share the points.  It was a draw that made it feel like a defeat to many Harriers fans.

We started with the same team and bench that defeated Grimsby so easily on Saturday and for a time it looked like that game was going to be repeated.  Wrexham had lost at home to Altrincham on Saturday after having had two players sent off but one of those played against us tonight when the Welsh FA rescinded the red card because they have their own set of rules for their own Welsh teams that play in England.  This is the second time that games between the two sides have been affected this way with the previous one a few seasons back when Dave Artells card was struck off at the last minute and then he went and scored against us.

As mentioned we took the lead early on through a superb strike from Aman Verma when he collected the ball out wide, took a few steps, then unleashed a rocket of a strike that flew beyond the keeper, Jon Flatt, on loan from Wolves.  The goal must surely be a goal of the season contender.

We should have doubled the lead fifteen minutes later when Verma again had a chance to score but this time Flatt got down well to keep him from scoring.  Reece Hales, making his home debut, had a glancing header go just wide and then Craig Reid had a shot pushed around the post.

Wrexham had hardly had a look in throughout the half and looked a very poor side.  We should really have capitalised on their mistakes and extended our lead further but it wasn't to be.

Wrexham were a better side at the start of the second half but it didn't take long for the Harriers to get back on top without really threatening the keeper too much.  All night long Marvin Johnson had been terrorising the Wrexham defence but, without a target man now that Nathan Blissett has gone, we had no one up front capable or quick enough to get on the end of his crosses.

It was in the sixty fifth minute that Wrexham drew level with an opportunists goal that saw Connor Jennings race between the static Harriers defence and shoot from range, as had Verma earlier.  His shot caught Danny Lewis wrong footed as it sped into the goal beyond his grasp.

A few minutes later and Jennings should have been sent off for a malicious assault on Johnson but, with the crowd calling for a red card, the referee opted to only speak to him about it.  It would have been overturned anyway!

The Harriers continued looking for a way through to score the winning goal but luck was deserting them.  Matt Robinson came the closest with another strike from outside the box but this one struck the foot of the post this time and rebounded out to be cleared upfield by a panicking Wrexham defence.

With five minutes of injury time added on the game could have gone either way with firstly Wrexhams Nick Rushton only just missing out on connecting with a ball across the box from Wes York while a minute later Marvin Johnson came close to getting the goal he deserved when he let fly with a goal bound shot that was pushed away by the keeper to a Wrexham defender once more.

It felt that we had been robbed of all three points as the crowd drifted away but it also felt that this team were finally going somewhere.  We just need a decent striker please and hopefully in time for Saturdays trip up to Altrincham.

 Goal for Harriers: Verma 2
 Goal for Wrexham: Jennings 65

REFEREE:

Mr R Wigglesworth South Yorkshire