Still no light at the end of the tunnel

Without a game for almost a month the football starved Harriers fans were hoping for something better than what was served up today in this demoralising home defeat to also struggling Guiseley AFC.  During the period that we have been without a game due to the inclement weather we have seen more poor players come in to replace the poor players that have left the club.  Include in that a poor head coach replaced by a football agent.

Up against a side that we knew we would have to beat if we had any hopes of avoiding relegation we froze on the day and if it hadn't been for Elton N'Gwatala we wouldn't have even had a single shot on goal.  All season the fans had been crying out for more experienced heads in the side but frankly the experienced head of Matt Barnes-Homer didn't seem interested in playing the lone role foisted upon him by Colin Gordon.  Yes, this is a relegation threatened team playing one up front at home to part timers?.

The other experienced head was that of Keith Lowe but he struggled badly in the first half and made a mistake that lead to a dis-allowed goal for Guiseley that most Harriers fans thought should have stood but flagged offside by a man with a flag.  Another mistake from him later almost allowed Adam Boyes in to score but thankfully his second half showing improved and so we'll forgive him for that.

For long periods the game was poor fare and neither side looked good enough.  Guiseley probably edged the first half with some decent defending and the uncanny ability to pass to each other and then retain the ball.  We looked nervous and lost the ball too often.

The first real chance in the game came our way when N'Gwatala fired over from outside the box when really he should have passed the ball to a better placed team mate and then he picked up the ball in the centre of the park and took off for goal only to be denied by the Guiseley keeper blocking his shot by the upright.  In between that the visitors defender James Hurst crossed from out wide for Gavin Rothery to fire over the bar from the edge of the box.

Towards the end of the first half we settled down slightly and forced a handful of corners that came to nothing but overall it had been a disappointing experience.

The second half was better from us without completely wiping away the fears that something was going to go wrong.

Elton N'Gwatala was the first to show for us when he, again, broke through the visitors defence to unleash a shot that struck the inside of the post but failed to go in and instead rebounded away to comparative safety.  Guiseley should have had a goal too when the former Torquay man James Hurst connected with a poorly defended corner that amazingly went just wide when he should really have hit the target.

In the first of our substitutions Luke Maxwell, on loan from Birmingham City, came on for the out of sorts Ben Whitfield.  Maybe it was because he was up against the club he started his career with and his mind was elsewhere.  Later Gurjit Singh came on for the hopeless MBH but still nothing really materialised for us in the way of real scoring chances.  Then they scored.

Minutes earlier Guiseley had made their own change by bringing on Liam Dickinson for the former Harriers loan striker Adam Boyes.  Boyes had shown us how a centre forward should play without being able to score himself but his replacement did.  Another poorly defended corner left him unmarked near the far post and with only Ousemane Fané to beat he rifled in a shot to give his side all three points and leave the Harriers fans heading for the exits.

We huffed and puffed and sent on Omari Patrick in place of the invisible Arthur Gnahoua but with no hope of scoring just one goal to draw us level.  We're off to Aldershot next Saturday and by then Barnes-Homer will have returned to them but I can't see him scoring against us and I can't see us scoring either.

 Goal for Guiseley: Dickinson 79

REFEREE:

Mr M Salisbury Lancashire