Harriers fail on the road again

On a pleasant bright summer afternoon in Yorkshire, Kidderminster Harriers took on Guiseley in this newly named 'National League' fixture.

Harriers were still without Kelvin Langmead who, although on the mend and likely to be fit for the following Tuesday's clash with Wrexham, was still not fit enough for this particular encounter.  Also missing was Aman Verma with an apparent ankle injury but Reece Styche had recovered and was fit enough to feature from the outset.

Guiseley started by far the stronger of the two teams.  They gained an early free kick following a high boot from Luke Maxwell and then Jake Lawlor hit a good shot which took a deflection off Joe Clarke for a corner.  On eighteen minutes Adam Boyes shot well on the turn only for his effort to be safely held by Dean Snedker.

As the half progressed, Harriers did get more into the game though with Tahvon Campbell levelling a particular threat.  After twenty six minutes Jake Green also produced a great cross but surprisingly Craig Reid and Styche who were both on the end of it were adjudged offside.

Then just on the thirty minute mark, Adam Dawson tried an audacious lob from the half way line in an attempt to outwit Steven Drench in the home sides goal.  Unfortunately for the visitors the ball however sneaked past the right hand upright.  Following it up, on thirty seven minutes, Styche had a close range shot blocked but Reid could only direct his left footed shot from the rebound way over the cross bar.

Captain Hodgkiss was carded for a professional foul in deliberately stifling a Guiseley break as the home side continued to also pose a threat at the other end of the park and then probably came Harriers' best chance of the game.

Great work from Campbell produced a perfect cross for Styche to nod home but, instead of directing his header downward, he proceeded to get underneath the ball and his attempt looped over the bar and harmlessly away for a goal kick.

For the first tweny minutes Harriers had been the poorer of the two teams but during this first half they had slowly gained their feet with both sides having chances leading up to the break.  Nonetheless the first half finished nil nil.

The second period was also largely evenly matched.  Harriers produced some good chances but in doing so threw a lot of men forward leaving the door open for the home side to break on a regular basis particularly down the left wing with Adam Dawson moving forward and leaving space behind.

There was also a reluctance to build play from the back and the carpetmen often engaged in too much hoofball.  Nonetheless Craig Reid showed good movement as he tried to meet a ball into the box on fifty two minutes.  Goalkeeper Drench was however alert to the danger and gathered easily.

At the other end a moment later, Boyes showed a sudden burst of energy to blast passed Lathaniel Rowe Turner resulting in Snedker producing a great save and palming over from Boyes' strong shot.  The game was becoming more end to end now.  On sixty minutes Luke Maxwell got in behind the home side's defence and drilled the ball dangerously across the face of the Guiseley goal but nobody could get on the end of his cross to meet it.

The sixty fourth minute brought the first change for the Harriers.  Not before time, Gurjit Singh came on for Craig Reid.  Then the home side had the ball in the Harriers' net but thankfully the goal was ruled out for a foul on goalkeeper Snedker.

At the other end Drench gathered well from a Tunnicliffe header and a great cross from Dawson was also met by Singh whose header this time landed just wide of the post.  On seventy nine minutes a Jake Green cross was headed towards his own goal by a Guiseley defender but Drench was again good to the task as he managed to tip the ball over the bar for a corner to the visitors.

In the eighty fifth minute came the cruel blow.  A pinpoint cross was met masterfully by Boyes who looped a header over the flailing Snedker.  One nil to the home side and despite Harriers creating numerous chances this was probably no more than Guiseley deserved.

Harriers' head dropped in despair and it was indeed too late as the home side easily and successfully nullified the final few minutes of the game.

Harriers have amassed a reasonable squad of players but there are three areas that need to be addressed if the boys are going to succeed in staying in this National league.  The team shape on the pitch needs to be improved, the team needs to learn how to play out of defence rather than hoofball and the strikers need to learn to take their chances.  If these issues cannot be addressed and rectified we may I'm afraid be doomed.

 Goal for Guiseley: Boyes 85

REFEREE:

Mr M Coy Co Durham