Harriers-Online/reports2 00-01

MATCH REPORTS FOR SEASON 00/01...6/10/00 to 2/12/00.

6/10/00
HARRIERS..Vs..ROCHDALE.

OH, FOR SOMEONE TO BANG ONE IN !

Harriers bounced back from that disappointing defeat against Blackpool last Friday with a much improved performance this Friday.
With all the pressure that Harriers applied in the second half it seemed a shame that they had to settle for only one point in this lively encounter with a Rochdale side, who were hoping to improve on their defeat at home against Southend last week.

Jan Molby will be also be pleased with this point and a much improved defensive display, especially after last weeks nightmare performance.

Both sides had chances to have taken all three points but a draw was a fair result on the night.
Rochdale began the brightest and produced some confident football in the opening half hour with Tony Ellis and Clive Platt proved troublesome and it was surprising that their free flowing football did not bring a goal.

Harriers seemed hesitant, obviously expecting a repeat of last week.

Gary Jones had a chance for Rochdale after nine minutes but dragged his shot just wide of the left-hand post.
Ellis was looking dangerous and seemed happy to shoot from any angle and any distance, but a rarely had a shot on target.
He was high and wide with one effort on the run.
Then he scooped an overhead kick straight into the goalkeeper's arms and then drove just wide.

It wasn't until the final twenty minutes of the half that the Reds started to get their game together.
Andrew Ducros had an attempt that brought a fine stop from keeper Neil Edwards, and then Edwards used his fingertips to turn a dangerous cross off the head of Tony Bird.

HT. 0-0

After the break Harriers came out more determined and had the better chances but rarely had a clear sight of goal.
Edwards saved under the bar from Scott Stamps and Ducros saw a 20yard shot flash just wide.

Rochdales Clive Platt was lucky to stay on the pitch when he scythed through Craig Hinton. The ref didn't see it happen and he didn't consult the linesman so he only received a yellow card.

Harriers best chance came in the 73rd minute when Ducros played in Bird who somehow put his header wide of the right-hand post.

Then came the save of the match and Rochdales best chance of breaking the deadlock when Jones played Ellis in behind the Harriers defence.
Ellis's powerful drive was parried by keeper Stuart Brock, but the ball ran loose and Brock leapt backwards to save it on the line before Jones could follow up and force it home.

After that it seemed to be all Harriers, with chance after chance going begging.
The crosses were coming in from both sides from Ducros, Bennett, Adie Smith and Webby but there was never anyone to get on the end of them in the box.

Harriers are still crying out for a big man in front of goal to put these chances away.
They could still be playing as I come to the end of this report and still not have scored.

FT. 0-0

Harriers-Online Man of the Match is Adie Smith

Superb defending and good running down the wings proved that Adie should keep his first team place.

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Brock, Stamps, Smith, Hinton, Shail, Horne, Bogie, Webb, Bennett, Ducros, Bird.
Subs; Corbett, Davies, Murphy, Pope, Hadley.

Rochdale.
Edwards, Evans, Monington, Flitcroft, Ware, Ford, Bayliss, Jones, Ellis, Todd, Platt.
Subs; McAuley, Hill, Oliver, Priestley, Hadland.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 0.
Yellow. Rochdale 2. Platt, Bayliss.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Rochdale 0.

Referee; M North (Poole).

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14/10/00
LINCOLN CITY..Vs..HARRIERS.

ANOTHER POINT IN THREE GOAL THRILLER.

Harriers managed to claim a hard won point at Lincolns' Sincil Bank stadium here today.
Three times they went behind and three times they came back.

The first half was a drab affair, neither side could make any impression in front of goal, reflecting the lack of goals that had been scored by both teams in recent weeks.
Harriers new loan signing, Durnin, had the first attempt on goal in the second minute when his shot was blocked by Lincoln defender Holmes.
From the clearance City got the ball away and won their first corner, winger Kingsley Black floated the kick into the middle but Tim Clarke, returning from a knee operation, saved under pressure.
Black had a chance a few minutes later when the Harriers gave away a free kick 10 yards outside the box, he chose to shoot direct only for his effort to be easily held by Clarke.

Lincoln were starting to control the game and Clarke was under pressure again when Mayo fired in a long dipping cross from the left.
The Harriers keeper pushed the ball out from under the bar but was then awarded a free kick after a late Gordon challenge.
Lincoln had claims for a penalty turned down when Gordon appeared to be brought down by Hinton as he headed for goal but the referee ignored his claims for a penalty.
Stewart Hadley missed a chance for the Harriers when he completely missed his kick and although Bennett came in at the far post he was unable to get a shot in.

Lincoln's Smith was the first player in the refs book for a foul on Ducros and Gordon became the second four minutes later when he was penalised for a late challenge on Hinton.

In the 26th minute Lincoln took a surprise lead when a corner from Black found Gordon unmarked at the far post and the striker sent a downward header into the net with Clarke beaten.

Kidderminster tried to hit back straight from the restart with Ducros cutting in fromt the right before sending in a low shot which was deflected wide by Holmes. The resulting corner from Stamps was punched clear by Lincoln keeper Marriott to ease the pressure on the home team. Harriers tried to come back straight away when they won another corner, Ducros sent the ball over but Shail fired a left foot shot over the bar.
Eight minutes before the break Ducros again created an opening from the left when he whipped in a cross which Brown was forced to head away for a corner as Hadley moved in.
Another chance came when Holmes gifted the ball to Durnin but the new striker placed his shot just over the bar.
Harriers had a real let off in the last minute of the first half when Black's cross from the left found Gordon 10 yards out but the striker was unable to get a shot in despite two attempts and in the end Bogie got the ball away.

HT. 1-0

In the second half the fireworks started with 5 goals going in, in quick succession.

First Finnigan was unlucky when he burst into the box only for his shot to be blocked by Shail.
Then Gordon went around two defenders only for his effort to be blocked by Clarke.

Harriers appeared to be struggling so in the 55th minute Jan sent Webb and Bird on for Bogie and Hadley.
It started to pay dividends.

Kidderminster drew level in the 64th minute when Durnin broke into the Lincoln 6 yard box and tapped home the first goal for the Reds.
But within 60 seconds Lincoln were back in front.
A free kick from Peacock found Gordon who flicked the ball into the top corner over the advancing Clarke.
Then in the 67th minute Harriers got their second equaliser.
Ducros collected a pass 25 yards out and blasted a superb left foot effort which beat the keeper and went in off the inside of the post.

2-2 and there was more to come.

In the 71st minute Clarke made a superb diving save to keep out a shot from Lincoln substitute Stergiopoulos.
But from the resulting corner Brown collected the ball at the near post and fired in a low shot to put Lincoln back in front.

In the 75th minute Bennett bought it back level again for the last time with Harriers third goal.
Scott Stamps blasted the ball in from the left but the shot was blocked by Marriott, it trickled out to Dean Bennett who fired it into the empty net.

Ducros came close again a few minutes later when his left foot shot flew inches past Marriott's right hand post.
Then Lincoln came close when Clarkson intercepted Gordons goalbound shot.
In the final few minutes Ducros's free kick flew over the Lincoln wall and also the bar.

Harriers can be pleased with todays showing. They seem to have remembered where the goal is.

FT. 3-3

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Clarke, Clarkson, Stamps, Hinton, Bennett, Horne, Ducros, Shail, Bogie, Durnin, Hadley.
Subs; Webb, Bird, Davies, Corbett, Murphy.

Lincoln.
Marriott, Smith, Brown, Holmes, Mayo, Peacock, Walker, Finnigan, Black, Gordon, Miller.
Subs; Stergiopoulos, Schofield, Barnett, Thorpe, Mawson.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 0.
Yellow. Lincoln 2. Smith, Gordon.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Lincoln 0.

Referee; M Clattenburg (Durham).

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17/10/00
DARLINGTON..Vs..HARRIERS.

HARRIERS WIN THE BLOODY BATTLE OF FEETHAMS.

The Harriers first away win since the victory at Brighton on August Bank Holiday Monday ended in bloodshed and incriminations.
The scorer of both Harriers goals, John Durnin, found himself the proud possessor of a split lip courtesy of Darlingtons Martin Gray after a set to in the tunnel after the game had finished.

The actual game itself started with Andy Ducros testing the Darlington keeper with a shot on 4 minutes.
In the 18th minute Darlington had the ball in the net but Nogan's strike was ruled out for offside.
Durnins first goal came in the 35th minute when he received the ball in the area and shot, left footed, past the Darlo keeper.

HT. 0-1

Within a minute of the start of the second half Durnin put the Reds into a two goal lead.
Durnin caught the Darlington defence asleep, saw his chance, and lobbed Collett from the edge of the area.

It was after this that the game started to get bad tempered when Darlington realised that they were staring their first home defeat of the season in the face.

First, Dean Bennett was floored and taken off with concussion when he was elbowed in the face.
Then, in an off the ball incident, both Gray and Durnin were booked. Stamps and Webb then went into the referees book after 63 minutes, both fouls.

Two minutes later Darlington pulled a goal back when Naylor headed in from a corner.
After that it became a non stop barrage on Tim Clarkes goal as the home team tried to get an equalizer with six corners in a short space of time.
From one of these they had the ball in the net again, but again it was ruled out for offside.

The Harriers were hanging on to the lead as the seconds ticked by when the match erupted again.
Stuart Elliot, the ex Newcastle midfielder, elbowed Barry Horne in the face.
The ref had no choice but to dismiss him.

After that the Harriers hung on to celebrate a hard won victory and another three points.

FT. 1-2

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Clarke; Clarkson, Hinton, Shail, Stamps, Webb, Smith, Bennett, Ducros, Bird, Durnin.
Subs;Murphy, Hadley, Horne, Bogie, Corbett.

Darlington.
Collett; Elliot, Liddle, Aspin, Himsworth, Hjorth, Gray, Hodgson, Butler, Naylor, Nogan.
Subs;Reed, Van Der Geest, Angel, Atkinson, Beavers.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 4. Durnin, Stamps, Webb, Clarkson.
Yellow. Darlington 1. Gray.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Darlington 1. Elliot

Referee; T Jones (Cumbria).

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21/10/00
HARRIERS..Vs..EXETER CITY.

DURNIN DEBUT'S, BUT NO GOALS.

Harriers again found it hard to get goals at home.
With the first appearance of John Durnin at Aggborough the hopes of the home fans were high, but as usual when teams visit Aggie they came with a nine man defence.

Exeter were no different than Carlisle and Rochdale in manning the barricades and they wont be the last.
In fact at times you had the feeling that we would be seeing another Carlisle type win.
Shut up shop, score, shut up shop again.

Apart from a shot in the opening minute by Inglethorpe that hit the bar it was Harriers who were making all the right moves.
Durnin came close in the 6th minute then Mark Shail headed wide and Adie Smith headed just over from Stampers cross as they kept up the pressure.
At times some of the Reds approach work was stunning until they got in front of goal and the ideas seemed to desert them.
Don't get me wrong , it was better than in previous weeks but Exeter were wise to the threat of Durnin and stopped any runs he tried to make.
Ducros tried to help with pinpoint crosses but he couldn't shake off his markers.

In the 26th minute City's Holligan turned Shail inside out to leave himself with just Clarke to beat, but the Harriers keeper brilliantly saved his fierce shot and Mark Shail cleared for a corner.

HT. 0-0

At the start of the half Barry Horne came on for Scott Stamps who had received a knock in the first half.
Adie Smith took his place at left back and Horne came on in his usual midfield position.

A few minutes later Exeter replaced Burrows with Buckle and then brought top scorer Christian Roberts on to try and improve their play up front.

Exeter had now got wise to the treat of Andy Ducros and his influence was not as it was in the first half.
Harriers had few chances early in the half, Bird had a header narrowly wide, and Mark Shail came close to breaking the deadlock for Kidderminster in the 67th minute.
He climbed the highest to meet Ducros' corner and his header was superbly tipped over by van Heusden in goal as it arrowed towards the top corner.

Harriers kept trying to break the deadlock by replacing the ineffective Bird with Hadley up front on 66 minutes.
There was a long delay after Holligan appeared to catch Tim Clarke on the forehead as he came out to save his shot.

The game suddenly burst into life again when Smith, in acres of space, saw his volley pushed away by van Heusden after Horne spotted him unmarked on the left.
Harriers were starting to play attractive football again and the crowd roared for a goal when Bennett's far post header appeared to end up in the back of the net after a cross by Ducros. But the ball had gone fractionally wide.

Dean Bennett was starting to come into the game more even though he was visibly in pain after every run.
Three or four times he took the City defence on and each time he left them for dead.
Harriers were still not finished though and Smith should have done better than to blaze wide after Durnin had done all the hard work to keep Horne's cross in play.
Then Webby had a shot charged down.

A Paul Webb header from a corner in the 81st minute was the next chance for the Harriers but the angle of bar and post came to Exeters rescue.

And that was it, another 0-0 draw.

FT. 0-0

Harriers-Online Man of the Match is Dean Bennett

His attitude throughout the match was excellent even when he was obviously in pain.
The problem is can he last until Ian Foster comes back so he can get his groin injury sorted out.

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Clarke, Clarkson, Stamps, Webb, Hinton, Smith, Bennett, Bird, Ducros, Shail, Durnin.
Subs;Horne, Murphy, Bogie, Hadley, Corbett.

Exeter.
van Heusden, Whitworth, Power, Curran, Burrows, Inglethorpe, Ampadu, Tomlinson, Rawlinson, Campbell, Holligan.
Subs;Buckle, D Roberts, Roscoe, Naisbett, C Roberts.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 0.
Yellow. Exeter 1. Holligan.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Exeter 0.

Referee; M Warren (Walsall).

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24/10/00
HARRIERS..Vs..CHESTERFIELD.

FOSTER BACK, HARRIERS GO DOWN LEADERS.

Ian Foster surprisingly made his comeback tonight after being out since the end of August with a hamstring injury.
At last the home fans would see the long awaited pairing of Foster and Durnin and hopefully a glut of goals.
But leaders Chesterfield had other ideas. Although Foster ran his heart out, Durnin was marked out.

After a scrappy first 5 minutes the game developed into a game that was more headball than football. The ball was continually going backwards and forwards from head to head.
When it was played on the ground Chesterfield were always the first to the ball, Harriers needing too long to do anything with it.

This is an aspect of our game that needs to be looked at.

The deadlock was broken with a goal from Chesterfields' Ian Breckin on 38 minutes, heading home through a packed goalmouth from a Ryan Williams cross.
Williams was a constant menace all through the first half, everything Chesterfield did went through him.

HT. 0-1

Within minutes of the restart Jan took Barry Horne and Ian Foster off to bring on Dean Bennett and Stewart Hadley.
The difference was immediate.
Bennett ran at the Chesterfield defence with an enthusiasm that was missing in the first half and Hadley looked sharper than he had for weeks.

Harriers had their best spell of the match for the next 15 minutes and an equalizer looked to be on it's way.
John Durnin had a shot saved by Pollitt and then Stewart Hadley's header was cleared off the line by David Reeves.
The Harriers also had a blatant penalty appeal turned down when Hadley was brought down in the box by the Chesterfield keeper.
The very poor referee turning it down because the ball was already going out of play.

Just when an equaliser looked to be a possibility Chesterfield scored a killer second goal.
Jon Howard forced his way past Mark Shail to poke a shot home under Tim Clarke.
Minutes later they had the ball in the net again but it was ruled out for offside.

Harriers tried to get back into the game, but it was too late.
Chesterfield had got the points and they weren't going to give them back.

FT. 0-2

Harriers-Online Man of the Match is Dean Bennett

Until Dean came on we looked a team without ideas.
He ran at them and gave them something to worry about.

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Clarke, Hinton, Clarkson, Smith, Shail, Stamps, Horne, Webb, Ducros, Durnin, Foster.
Subs;Murphy, Bennett, Bird, Hadley, Bogie.

Chesterfield.
Pollitt, Blatherwick, Breckin, Simpkins, Ebdon, Tutill, Richardson, Parrish, Howard, Williams, Reeves.
Subs;Armstrong, Payne, Willis, Ingeldow, Beaumont.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 0.
Yellow. Chesterfield 0.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Chesterfield 0.

Referee;A R Leake (Darwen).

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4/11/00
HARRIERS..Vs..CHELTENHAM.

HARRIERS FAIL TO WIN AGAIN.

The fireworks that we expected to see today never came in this disappointing draw with neighbours Cheltenham.
The biggest damp squib was John Durnin who missed three chances in the first half and didn't turn up for the second.

The guy turned up though. And the way the Harriers fans felt about him he should be on someone's bonfire this weekend.
Yes, the ref was totally abysmal and a disgrace.

His shocking decisions including not seeing the continuous elbows from Cheltenham's Alsop and Devaney, the disgraceful late shoulder high kick on Stuart Brock, and the lack of treatment for Paul Webb who was elbowed in the back and then refused treatment because that jackass said he had dived.

And people wonder why Jan Molby complains.

Anyway, to the game.
Cheltenham started the strongest when Brock was forced to race from his line as Alsop sped clear.
He cleared the ball but it fell straight to Jackson some 45 yds out who spotted Brocky hopelessly out of position. He floated a chip towards goal but Clarkson was there to head the ball off the line.

Cheltenham were far quicker than the Harriers in the early minutes and Brock was again in action fisting away a cross from the left.
Harriers were taking time to settle.

But they eventually pulled themselves together and pushed the visitors back with some fine attacking play.
The breakthrough came in the 14th minute when Smith saw his header blocked after Scott Stamps crossed for him but he smashed it back in from the rebound.

After the goal they could have been four up by half time if they had taken their chances.
John Durnin, who was bought in to score goals, was guilty of a succession of misses.
He had three glorious chances but each time shot straight at keeper Steve Book.

Cheltenham's Alsop was booked for catching Brock late in the 23rd minute.

Cheltenham had their chances too when a lob from McAuley clipped the top of Brock's bar from 15 yds.
McCann came even closer for Cheltenham two minutes later when he forced Brock to dive smartly to his right, Alsop again catching the keeper late.

Harriers were playing some beautiful football when Hinton found himself clean through with Hadley and Durning unmarked in the centre.
But as he rounded the Cheltenham keeper the ball carried too much pace and rolled out of play despite his attempts to retrieve possession.

Yates, who was unfairly booed by the home fans, sliced well wide under pressure from Stamps.
Then came more controversy from the poor referee when Hinton went down after a challenge from Alsop on the edge of the penalty box.
He seemed to be walking off the field as if expecting the deserved red card when actually the rest of the ground had not heard the half time whistle.

HT. 1-0

Just like the first half, Cheltenhan started again with their strongarm tactics.
Devaney joined Alsop in the referee's notebook for an identical challenge as his team mate.
His dangerous tackle on Brock would have been an instant dismissal any where else, but not with this ref.
At least Cheltenhams manager, Cotterill, saw sense and took them both off immediately when he replaced them with Grayson and White.

The Harriers were having difficulty getting the ball upfield because of the constant pressure from Cheltenham who were sending crosses straight into the Harriers penalty area.
In the 57th minute Dean Bennett replaced Bogie in an effort to inject more pace.

Twice Paul Webb was caught by heavy challenges on either touch line.
First he was kicked on the shoulder, then he lay grounded for several seconds after a challenge by Grayson.
The incompetent referee at first ignored him and then refused to allow him to be treated.
Molby and physio Jim Conway could be seen complaining to the fourth official.

Cheltenham equalised in the 68th minute when Banks met Grant McCann's inswinging back post corner to head firmly past Harriers keeper Stuart Brock.
After that the Harriers seemed to give up until Andy Ducros could have sealed it for Harriers. But his unstoppable volley crashed off the angle of post and bar.

FT. 1-1

Harriers-Online Man of the Match is Paul Webb

Ran his heart out but received no protection from the so called referee.

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Brock, Clarkson, Hinton, Shail, Stamps, Webb, Smith, Ducros, Bogie, Durnin, Hadley.
Subs;Clarke, Bennett, Horne, Bird, Foster.

Cheltenham.
Book, Duff, Banks, Freeman, McCann, Jackson, Howells, Yates, McAuley, Alsop, Devaney.
Subs;Bloomer, Grayson, White, Higgs, Hopkins.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 2. Stamps, Bennett.
Yellow. Cheltenham 3. Alsop, Devaney, Yates.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Cheltenham 0.

Referee; S Mathieson (Stockport).

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7/11/00
HARRIERS..Vs..KINGSTONIAN.
JC THOMPSON SHIELD

BIRDY SAVES HARRIERS RED FACES.

Tony Bird swooped in with two late goals to save the Harriers blushes in this terribly uninspiring game that managed to drag 609 poor souls from their nice warm fires.

The ones that did turn up had to wait until 8.00 for the kick off owing to a motorway hold-up that delayed the arrival of the Kingstonian team coach.

We came expecting to see the exhibition football that would show up the difference in stature between the two sides. Harriers going for a play off place in Div 3 and Kingstonian fighting to avoid relegation back into the Ismithian Premier.

Instead what we got was a friendly. Nice passing that didn't achieve anything and a lack of passion that was sending us to sleep.

The addition of Ian Foster and Barry Horne were two of the changes to the side that drew with Cheltenham on Saturday, but there was a debut for goalkeeper Matthew Boswell who was at Aggborough on a short trial.

Shots on goal in the first half were few and far between, Stamps free kick bought a save from Farelly and Dean Bennetts' shot narrowly missed the target.
On 13 minutes Stewart Hadley had a goal ruled out for offside.

A number of times Kingstonian exploited the Harriers defence with ease and it was no surprise when they took the lead on 38 minutes.
Wingfield ran onto another ball that had split the defence apart before firing into the net.

HT. 0-1

The second half continued with more of the same, Kingstonian made an early substitution to replace a hobbling Phil Wingfield but it didn't interrupt the 'flow' of the game.
Tony Bird came on to replace the in-effective Stewart Hadley and until the 88th minute he didn't seem to make much difference either.

He climbed at the far post to head home his first goal since the pre-season friendlies in the summer.
And with the game heading towards an unwanted extra time, it was Birdy who got the injury time winner.
Dean Bennett beat the offside trap, went past the keeper and crossed to the unmarked Bird who headed the ball into an empty net.

Then we all went home.

FT. 2-1

Harriers-Online Man of the Match is Er. no there aint one!

Not one of them showed any of the spark that Jan said he wanted.

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Boswell, Clarkson, Stamps, Bogie, Hinton, Smith, Bennett, Horne, Hadley, Foster, Ducros.
Subs;Bird, Barnett, Murphy, Davies, Corbett.

Kingstonian.
Farrelly, Beard, Luckett, Saunders, Allen, Harris, Patterson, Pitcher, Winstone, Wingfield, Akuamoah.
Subs;Green, Bass, Kadi, Boyce, Blake.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 0.
Yellow. Kingstonian 0.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Kingstonian 0.

Referee; M Cooper (Walsall).

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11/11/00
HARTLEPOOL UTD..Vs..HARRIERS.

HARRIERS COLLAPSE IN 2nd HALF.

After going into half time with a 1-0 lead, and on top, Harriers did their usual trick of late and came out for the 2nd half and promptly threw it all away.

A strong first half from the lads saw them take a disputed lead with a cross shot from John Durnin. The Hartlepool players claiming that Dean Bennett was in an offside position, but the referee said that he was not interfering with play.

Dean Bennett later had the ball in the net but that was disallowed for offside.

HT. 0-1

The second half went pear shaped after Hartlepool changed their tactics and reverted to a 4-4-2 line-up from their usual 5-3-2 and scored 3 times in a thirteen minute period.

The first two came as a result of the Harriers total inability to defend at corners.

The first on 49 minutes when Sam Shilton, son of Peter, played the ball to the far post and there was defender Chris Westwood all on his own to head his first goal for the club at the far post.
Then, on 57 minutes, another Shilton corner was missed in the middle and this time Craig Midgley dived in to head his first league goal since January last year.

5 minutes later Mark Shail dragged back Adam Boyd in the area.
Miller took the penalty.
Brock guessed right and saved well but Miller was following up to tap the rebound into the net.

For the Harriers it was all over as a contest as Hartlepool peppered the goal with shots but luckily for them none went in to increase the goal difference.

FT. 3-1

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Brock, Clarkson, Hinton, Shail, Stamps, Webb, Smith, Bennett, Ducros, Foster, Durnin.
Subs;Clarke, Horne, Bird, Bogie, Hadley.

Hartlepool.
Williams, Strodder, Westwood, Baker, Arnison, Miller, Tinkler, Stephenson, Shilton, Midgley, Boyd.
Subs;Hollund, Fitzpatrick, Clark, McAvoy, Barron.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 4. Smith, Clarkson, Durnin, Bird.
Yellow. Hartlepool 0.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Hartlepool 0.

Referee; Uriah Rennie (Sheffield).

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18/11/00
FA CUP 1st Rd
HARRIERS..Vs..BURTON ALBION.

HARRIERS HEADING FOR BURTON.

The Harriers are to face a tough task at Burton, in the replay of this 1st Rd FA Cup game on November 28th, if they want to progress to Rd 2 in a few weeks time against Carlisle Utd.

Burton, backed by a good following of their fans, started the game strongly and didn't give the Harriers a chance to take control of the game.

Harriers should have gone in front after the Burton keeper kicked the ball upfield, but the ball struck Ian Foster and it broke to Tony Bird whose header bobbled back over the line with half the Burton defence chasing it. The linesman ruled it out for offside.

A few minutes later Burton had a penalty appeal turned down when Clarkson appeared to bring down Webster but the ref rightly gave a free kick on the edge of the area.
The same player fired in the free kick but it was turned behind for a corner.
Burtons player-manager, Nigel Clough, had his side's best chance of the first half but fired over the bar when in a good position just inside the box.

Dean Bennett came off worse after a crunching clash of heads with Wassall near the touchline, and both players disappeared down the tunnel for treatment but only Wassell returned to the action.
Stewart Hadley replaced Dean Bennett.

Burton continued to pressurise the Harriers defence and it took an inch perfect tackle by Shail to deny Anderson a clear shot on goal.

Both sides went in at half time with Burton pleased that they had pressurised the Harriers, and the Reds happy that they had managed to contain them easily.

HT. 0-0

The second half was totally different to the first.
After a spell of Burton pressure in the first few minutes it was then all Harriers for the remainder of the game.

On the hour Ian Bogie came on as a substitute for Bird, who was not having much luck, freeing Hadley to take up his usual attacking role and Adie Smith to move up just behind the front two.
This change of tactics seemed to work with the Reds bombarding the Burton goalmouth up until the final whistle.

Ian Foster came close minutes from the end when his drive was turned away off the feet of the goalkeeper.
And a minute from time substitute Stewart Hadley bundled the ball goalwards following a corner and saw his effort cleared off the line

FT. 0-0

Harriers-Online Man of the Match is MARK SHAIL A cool head and a solid performance.

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Brock, Clarkson, Hinton, Shail, Stamps, Horne, Bennett, Smith, Ducros, Bird, Foster.
Subs;Clarke, Davies, Bogie, Hadley, Corbett.

Burton.
Duke, Kavanagh, Blount, Wassall, Henshaw, Stride, Clough, Glasser, Starbuck, Webster, Anderson.
Subs;Lyons, Moore, Davies, Garner, Goodwin.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 0.
Yellow. Burton 2. Clough, Starbuck.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Burton 0.

Referee; L Cable (Woking)

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25/11/00
HARRIERS..Vs..YORK CITY.

HARRIERS GO STEAMING INTO YORK.

In front of the Harriers lowest gate (2602) of the season the team finally found out what those white posts at each end of the pitch were for.

A patchy game bought another two goals for Adie and the first goal for Ian Foster after his return from injury.
But again a terrible defensive error gave away another soft goal.

It all started scrappily with neither side looking confident on the ball, passes going astray and every one running round like headless chickens.
Then it all clicked.

From a Scott Stamps cross into the box a York player tried to clear it but it fell at Adies feet and he just hit it.
He didn't hesitate, he didn't try to pass it sideways he just hit it and it went into the roof of the net.

At last!

A few minutes later it was 2-0.
Stamper put Ian Foster in behind a square City defence with a fine through ball and Fozzie curled his shot past the ex Blackburn keeper Alan Fettis into the bottom right hand corner.

On the half hour Ian Foster sent in a cross to the far post where Smith was perfectly placed to head his second goal and set up the Harriers nicely at 3-0.

Then for some unknown reason the old lack of confidence returned.
With the ball in the Harriers box, and York players closing in, Mark Shail rolled the ball back to Stuart Brock, who fumbled it and it rolled out slowly to Yorks' Lee Bullock who rolled it over the line and into an empty net.

After that the Harriers went to pieces and you just knew that York were going to score again.

Thank god they didn't.

HT. 3-1

The second half started much as the first had finished with both sides fighting to take some control in midfield.

York had already used up their substitute allowance by the start of the half and looked a much better team for it, and Harriers made a double substitution ten minutes later when they bought on Paul Webb and new signing Neil Mackenzie.

At least we had got a chance of getting some control in midfield and a bit of fire with Webby.
But it wasn't until Stewart Hadley came on for Andy Ducros that we looked like scoring again.

John Durnin picked up an unnecessary booking when he carried on playing and blasted the ball into the back of the net after the referee had already blown for off side.

Mackenzie nearly scored his first goal for the Harriers when he let fly from 30 yds out but his fierce drive flew inches over.
And then John Durnin's superb diving header was kept out by a stunning one handed save by keeper Fettis.
After that it was one way traffic on the York goal but amazingly there were no more goals to come.

At least we could now go with confidence to Burton on Tuesday and know that we had re-found that scoring touch.

FT. 3-1

Harriers-Online Man of the Match has got to be IAN FOSTER back to his old form after his injury. No one could catch him.

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Brock, Clarkson, Stamps, Hinton, Shail, Smsith, Horne, Bogie, Ducros, Foster, Durnin.
Subs;Clarke, Webb, Bird, Hadley, MacKenzie.

York City.
Fettis, Edmondson, Hall, Hocking, Jones, Bullock, Jordan, Potter, McNiven, Iwelumo, Tarrant.
Subs;Howarth, Reed, Agnew, Hulme, Mathie.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 2. Shail, Durnin.
Yellow. York City 1. Edmondson

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. York City 0.

Referee; P Joslin (Newark).

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28/11/00
FA CUP 1st Rd (Replay)
BURTON ALBION..Vs..HARRIERS.

HARRIERS KNOCK THE FROTH OFF BURTON.

The Harriers stormed into the next round of the FA Cup with a 4-2 win at Burton Albion.

After a close call in the first minute, when a Dale Anderson header crashed against the crossbar from a corner, it was all Harriers.
They started to play like a team that were two divisions above and sprayed passes around from one side of the pitch to the other.

The first goal came from Ian Bogie, his first for Kidderminster, when his 20yd chip went over the head of the Burton keeper.
The second and third both came from Stewart Hadley, his first goals since August.

For the first Andy Ducros played the ball perfectly in for Hadley who fired into the far corner from 15yds.

In between the Reds had two chances from Hadley and Barry Horne, both saved well by keeper Duke, but there was nothing he could do about Harriers' third goal in the 34th minute.

Ian Clarkson crossed to the near post where Hadley converted a superb diving header from eight yards to make it 3-0 and the Harriers in complete control.

I know it's a cliche, but the Harriers were so superior to Burton in every department that at times it WAS like watching Brazil play.

The second half was like watching Bromsgrove play!

HT. 0-3

For some inexplicable reason Jan Molby decided to make a series of substitutions that tore the creative heart from the team.

First Paul Webb replaced Adie Smith at the start of the second half (maybe Adie was injured, I don't know) but when he replaced Ian Foster and Andy Ducros with Tony Bird and Dean Bennett he had taken off the three most creative players on the pitch.

We never looked the same. Passes went astray, runs didn't came off, players started getting booked.
We looked like the team from two divisions below.

You could sense that if Burton got a goal then it could all too soon turn into a fight to keep the lead.

Anderson was the first to show their intentions with a great run finishing up with an angled shot across the face of the goal in the 50th minute.
Harriers started to panic when Craig Hinton went close to heading into his own net, and then a Darren Wassall header was cleared off the line in the 65th minute.

Burton's reward came when Nigel Clough's cross was flicked on by Anderson. Blount picked it up and his shot just squeezed inside the far post.
Six minutes later Burton got their second comeback goal when Moore's cross from the left was headed home by Darren Wassall.

It's strange but I think we expected this.
As against York the previous weekend we had had a three goal lead and now we were in danger of losing it.

Why do we always think that when we have the game won we should then take it easy and let the opposition come back at us.

Without these mysterious substitutions we could have easily rattled up a cricket score.
We should stop being so laidback about it and apply the killer touch

Luckily, now that Burton were going all out for the equaliser it left them exposed at the back.
It was left to the totally ineffective Tony Bird to seal it for the Reds when he slammed home a 15yd shot in stoppage time and send the Harriers fans home relieved.

FT. 2-4

Harriers-Online Men of the First Half are ADIE SMITH, ANDY DUCROS AND IAN FOSTER

There wasn't one in the second half!

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Brock, Hinton, Clarkson, Stamps, Smith, Shail, Bogie, Horne, Ducros, Foster, Hadley.
Subs;Clarke, Webb, Bennett, Corbett, Bird.

Burton.
Duke, Anderson, Blount, Clough, Glasser, Henshaw, Kavanagh, Starbuck, Stride, Wassall, Webster.
Subs;Moore, Lyons, Davies, Garner, Goodwin.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 4. Shail, Horne, Bennett, Bogie.
Yellow. Burton 0.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Burton 0.

Referee; L Cable (Woking).

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2/12/00
HARRIERS..Vs..MACCLESFIELD.

ADIE'S BRACE LEAVES MACC IN THE DARK.

The lights went out at Aggborough today but it didn't stop the spotlight falling on Adie Smith again after he grabbed his second brace in a week.

After scoring twice against York City last week he did it again this when he added to his tally against Macclesfield.

Macclesfield started the stronger and it was no surprise when they went ahead with a goal from ex Forest striker Lee Glover.
Harriers were struggling to find their form after winning both the previous games with stunning first half passing displays.
The midfield were being bypassed continually by Macclesfields Barker, Glover and Whitehead.

It was against the run of play that Harriers got back in equal terms in the 30th minute.
Scott Stamps and Andy Ducros combined well to feed the ball to Adie Smith whose first shot was saved by keeper Lee Martin.
But he collected the rebound and chipped the keeper for his first goal.

Then a minute before the break Adie was on target again.

Ducros' fierce low drive was kept out by Martin but the ball ran through for Smith to fire his shot into the roof of the net.

HT. 2-1

After the restart Macclesfield had the ball in the net when Collins stabbed home after Brock had saved Whitehead's header, but the flag had been raised for offide.

Harriers made a double substitution in the 61st minute when Bogie and Foster came off to be replaced by Hadley and MacKenzie.
A superb point blank save by Brock preserved Harriers lead in the 69th minute when he pushed away Keen's diving header from Whitehead's cross.

Then the lights went out.

The match was plunged into darkness and after consulting with both managers the officials decided to take both teams off for five minutes.
After the lights came back on the Harriers had a free kick on the edge of the area but after an encroachment by a Macclesfield player the Ref ordered the kick to be moved forward.
The ball was passed to Neil Mackenzie who floated it into the net only for the Ref to order it to be retaken again because of another Macclesfield player moving too soon.
This time there was no positive outcome.

Another Harriers win, but not convincing.

FT. 2-1

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Brock, Clarkson, Hinton, Shail, Stamps, Smith, Horne, Bogie, Ducros, Foster, Durnin.
Subs;Clarke, Bennett, Medou-Otye, Hadley, MacKenzie.

Macclesfield.
Martin, Hitchen, Collins, Tinson, Priest, Barker, Glover, Whitehead, Keen, Sedgemore, Adams.
Subs;Hulse, Askey, Wood, O'Neil, Munroe.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 1. Mackenzie
Yellow. Macclesfield 1 Munroe.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Macclesfield 0.

Referee;A Butler (Sutton-in-Ashfield).

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