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Stourbridge FC 3gifHarriers 0 - FA Cup 4th qualifying rd

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Date: 24-10-15 gif Venue: The War Memorial Ground gif att: 2032 gif away fans: 444
Harriers glassed in the face

gif Report: Phil Lench
It took just six minutes for the Harriers to make their exit from this years FA Cup as they found themselves out-passioned, out-classed and out-played by the Glassboys of Stourbridge.  With hopes high that a good result here at the War Memorial Ground could trigger the long overdue winning streak the Harriers fans were in good voice - and some a bit worse for the wine - eager to cheer their team on.

What we had was an abject display that lacked all of the above and more.  The omens weren't there before the game started when the teamsheet showed us that we were going to start with a lone striker up front yet again and a keeper that had been dropped in recent games due to his inability to keep a clean sheet at set pieces.  Stourbridge, on the other hand, started with three strikers going for goal and made their objective known from the beginning.  Add in the continual pressing into mistakes on our midfield and it was obvious that Styche, alone up front, was never going to get a sight of the ball.

We started the game passing the ball around well and not letting the home side get a look in but that passing was creating very little and when it did there was no one to get on the end of the two early crosses we put in.  The opening Stourbridge goal could have been seen as a bit of a fluke when Chris Laits' corner was headed away but not far enough as it fell to Karl Hawley who tried to force the ball home.  Matt Dodd got the last touch but it could still have been kept out except Palmer fumbled the ball over his own line after initially stopping it.

Ten minutes later and Stourbridge were two goals to the good when the former Harrier Justin Richards got on the end of a lofted free kick without a single player in a yellow shirt getting near him.  He went up along with Palmer to fight for the possession of the ball and Palmer let him have it when he failed to get a hand anywhere near it.

With the Glassboys now two goals superior our heads dropped further and we lost all control of the game.  Midfield were bogged down with a lack of ideas, our defenders seemed content to pass it square all day long and Reece Styche may as well have not been there such was the dire service he was getting.

We did not have one meaningful attempt on goal in the first half apart from a ball rolled goalwards by Zaine Francis-Angol that Stuart Pierpoint cleared off the line.
  HT: 2 - 0
With such a shocking first half over with most fans would have expected the team to come out with curses ringing in their ears and clear instructions to get those two goals back asap.  Or maybe an early substitution because it was obvious that playing a lone striker was now a waste of time.  Instead we got more of the same dross and that was to get worse just seven minutes in.

Square passing in the centre of the park and hesitancy when the ball was lost let in Chris Lait to nip in and move forward a yard or two before letting go a strike that looked nothing special but deceived Palmer completely when he dived far too late to stop it going in.  Oh look, a subs coming on.  All a bit too late now.

On came Callum Hassan for Jordan Jones and the fans began to worry that it might be a straight replacement with Dave Hockaday playing Hassan meaninglessly out wide again but he actually put him alongside Styche.  Hassans first touch of the ball sent it over the stand we were in when it would have been easier to roll the ball out of reach of the Stourbridge keeper.

It should have been Stourbridge four goals to the good just after the hour mark when Karl Hawley robbed Kelvin Langmead but he sent his shot just wide of the upright then Justin Richards also went close with a shot just off target.

Another Harriers sub, they were coming thick and fast now as if the game depended on it.  On came Gurjit Singh for Styche and then a few minutes later Jake Green came on for the disappointing ZFA but it was all a waste of time.  We still didn't get a single shot on target and Solly hadn't been troubled once.

Once the game had dragged to its inevitable outcome the travelling fans made their feelings known with an outburst of vitriol towards the players that I have never seen the likes of before and don't really want to see again.  Literally booing at Jared Hodgkiss and telling him to not come near.  The same with Langmead too and the others just didn't dare to come near.  They looked aghast at what was going on.

Well, what can they expect? The least we were expecting was passion and some pride in the shirt but what kind of pride does a snotty nosed kid from West Brom want when it's not even his club.

Today was a low point of being a Harriers supporter.  We had been glassed in the face and not just by the Glassboys!
  FT: 3 - 0

 Goals for Stourbridge: Dodd 6, Richards 16, Lait 52


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gif Jared Hodgkiss



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Latest table and stats here  

Stourbridge FC  goals   subs   cards      Harriers  goals   subs   cards 
Solly     Palmer  
K Green     Hodgkiss  
Scarr     Young  
Tonks     Maxwell  
Smikle     Langmead  
Pierpoint     Howkins  
Dodd gif gif     Francis-Angol gif  
Broadhurst     Whitfield  
Hawley gif     Styche gif  
Richards gif     Dinsley  
Lait gif gif     Jones gif  
SUBS:         SUBS:      
Price     Snedker  
Harris     Rowe-Turner  
Knight gif - 86     J Green gif - 79  
Canavan gif - 63     Forsyth  
Penny     Hassan gif - 58  
Wright gif - 89     Tunnicliffe  
      Singh gif - 74  

REFEREE:
Mr R Jones
Cheshire





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