Harriers-Online/reports3 00-01

MATCH REPORTS FOR SEASON 00/01...9/12/00 to 3/2/01.

9/12/00
FA CUP 2nd Rd
HARRIERS..Vs..CARLISLE.

WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?.

We build our hopes up, we dream of the BIG ONE when we battle through the early rounds to reach the 3rd rd of the cup and the chance of meeting the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester Utd at Old Trafford (think about that for a pay day, Ł500,000 maybe?).

So what do we go and do?

We dish up crap like that.

We knew what to expect from Carlisle, decent defending and very few attacking options, so we pass it around and then we pass it round some more knowing that they can cope with that all day.

Apart from an attempt in the first few seconds from Stewart Hadley that, with all the time in the world, he sent ballooning over the North Stand in the direction of Wolverhampton that was it in the direct attacking department.

In the 15th minute Scott Stamps was bought down by two Carlisle defenders when clean through on goal but the Referee waved play on when it was obvious to every one else that it was a penalty.

And that was it in the first half. All very nice but not achieving anything.

Oh, I almost forgot, Carlisle scored.

In the 43rd minute Stevens headed on Dobies cross and Connelly got their first when he volleyed on the turn from 10yds out.

HT. 0-1

The second half started with a substitution when Mackenzie came on and Adie Smith dropped back into the position vacated by Clarkson.

It would have been nice to see Parfait take Clarksons place instead and leave Adie to continue his attacking midfield role, but Jans the Gaffer.

As it was the midfield lost all cohesion and Carlisle started to take the upper hand. Although Andy Ducros is my man of the match he didn't make as much impression in the second half as he did in the first.

Carlisles second goal came early in the half when appalling marking allowed Dobie to leap unchallenged at their fourth corner in a row and head home from eight yards.

After that the Reds fell apart and seemed to lose interest.

And so did some of the fans, some of whom were to be seen walking out 5 minutes later. That was at 4.15pm !

Who needs these fair weather fans anyway.

Harriers first on target attempt arrived in the 66th minute when Ian Bogie's weak shot was saved at the second attempt by the keeper.

Just after he was replaced by Dean Bennett.

Nine minutes from time Carlisle were denied a third goal when Galloways in-swinging corner bounced off the top of the crossbar and away to safety.

And that was it. The very poor crowd of 2533 drifted away into the cold, wet night to the sound of the 300 or so Carlisle fans celebrating their second victory over the Harriers and maybe hoping for a third this coming Tuesday.

On the subject of the poor crowd this should bring it into perspective.
FA Cup Southport 1 Kingstonian 2 att: 3659 ??

FT. 0-2

Harriers-Online Man of the Match is ANDY DUCROS

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

Carlisle.
Glennon, Winstanley, Birch, Maddison, Whitehead, Prokas, Galloway, Thurston, Connelly, Dobie, Stevens.
Subs;Heggs, Hemmings, Halliday, Darby, McAughtrie.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 0.
Yellow. Carlisle 2. Thurston, Stevens, Maddison.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Carlisle 0.

Referee;D Pugh (The Wirral).

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12/12/00
LDV VANS TROPHY 1st rd
HARRIERS..Vs..CARLISLE UTD.

WE'RE RED, WE'RE WET...WE STUCK TWO IN THE NET.

At last the Harriers beat Carlisle at Aggborough in this rain sodden match that should never have been allowed to go ahead in the first place.
The only reason I can think of that the ref played on was because he didn't want to come back and do it all over again.

During the kick about before the start there was a storm of such ferocity that both teams ran for the cover of the dressing rooms.
When they returned for the start of the game the pitch was so wet it resembled a paddy field.

For all of the first half neither team could pass the ball... They could only float it.
Players went in for the ball and couldn't be seen through the spray around them.

The only Harriers player who seemed to be enjoying the occasion was the nimble Neil Mackenzie who showed some nice touches and evaded the tackles by stepping quickly out of the way.
Two others were making their debut in this match, Ben Davies, who looks like Andy Ducros and plays in a similar way and Parfait Medou-Otye who, although a big lad, looked very promising with a cool head and good distribution.
Given better conditions he will give us a strong presence in midfield.

It was MacKenzie who, just before half time, set up Adie Smith for the first goal of the game and his sixth of the season when he jinked past the Carlisle defence and put the ball at Adies feet who then slid it into the back of the net.

HT. 1-0

By the start of the second half the pitch looked slightly drier? but for all the pressure from the Reds they could not get a second goal.

Both teams started to play something approaching normal football but the Harriers looked so much better than Carlisle.
Harriers were up for it a bit more I think.

With the minutes ticking away towards the end of ninety minutes it all seemed safe but then came the shock Carlisle equalizer.
Steve Soley, who had only come on as a sub minutes earlier, struck a brilliant goal with an expertly struck first time shot from 20 yards.

With the score standing at 1-1 after ninety minutes came Harriers first ever taste of Golden Goal time.

Sadly I couldn't stay and see it but thankfully Tony Bird came to the Harriers rescue to bury the Carlisle jinx and slid the ball into the net in the 100th minute to put the Reds into Saturdays draw for the second round.

FT. 2-1

Harriers-Online Man of the Match is In those condition both teams were man of the match.

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Clarke, Smith, Stamps, Hinton, Shail, Horne, Mackenzie, Medou-Otye, Davies, Hadley, Foster.
Subs;Bogie, Bird, Ducros, Murphy, Durnin.

Carlisle.
Gannon, Birch, Darby, Heggs, Halliday, Hore, Prokas, McAughtrie, Thurston, Thwaites, Anthony.
Subs;Soley, Connelly, Hemmings, Allan, Dawson.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 0.
Yellow. Carlisle 0.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Carlisle 0.

Referee;R.D. Furnandiz (Doncaster).

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23/12/00
HULL CITY..Vs..HARRIERS.

BROCK TO THE RESCUE IN THE TIGERS DEN.

Stuart Brock saved the Harriers from defeat today at Hull's Boothferry Park with a series of saves that made him Man of the Match.

Parfait Medou-Otye and Neil Mackenzie both made their first starts with P M-O slipping in at right back replacing the injured Ian Clarkson and Mac taking up the space in midfield vacated by Ian Bogie who was on the bench.

It was a quiet first half with the Harriers being continually being caught offside.
Scott Stamps was caught in possession early on and Swales robbed him of the ball but his curling centre was headed over the bar by Mark Shail for a corner that came to nothing.

The highlight of the first half was the 'handbags at dawn' from Hull team mates Goodison and Brabin in the centre circle.
Fellow team mates came in to separate the pair.
Goodison refused to accept Brabin's offer of a handshake before they went their separate ways.

Minutes after Hulls' Marcelle forced Brock to race from his line to make a save at his feet.
And then Brabin was allowed to run unchallenged from the half way line.
But his 25yd effort was wide and well over Brock.

He repeated the same move again minutes later and forced Brock to dive to his left to make an easy save.
It was the first on target effort of the day.

Harriers should have taken the lead in the next move.
Durnin seized possession after Goodison and Harper both left the ball to each in the area, but instead of taking a shot on goal he decided to pass it to a heavily marked Ian Foster and the ball was cleared away by a Hull defender.

Harriers came close to scoring again in first half injury time when Mark Shail rose above the Hull defence to bullet a header against the cross bar from Ducros' corner but it cannoned back into play.

HT. 0-0

In the 54th minute Scott Stamps blasted a low shot from 20 yards but Goodison cleared it off the line.
Then at the other end David Brown's shot bought the first of a string of saves from Stuart Brock when he blocked his close range effort.
Brock was there again to save brilliantly from Philpotts header on the line and then react quickly to save Brown's follow-up from five yards.

Then it was the City keeper Paul Musselwhite's turn to show off when he saved John Durnin's first time drive before stopping substitute Stewart Hadley's low drive.
Mackenzie came close to snatching the winner when his 20yd shot went inches wide of the target.

FT. 0-0

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

Hull City.
Musselwhite; Whittle, Goodison, Brightwell, Swales, Greaves, Brabin, Philpott, Harper, Brown, Marcelle.
Subs;Bracey, Edwards, Whitney, Bradshaw, Wood.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 1 Medou-Otye.
Yellow. Hull City 0.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Hull City 0.

Referee;Mr. Laws (Whitley Bay).

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26/12/00
HARRIERS..Vs..MANSFIELD TOWN.

STAGS AT BAY AS DURNIN FIRES THE ARROW.

John Durnin grabbed his first goal at Aggborough today in the 1-0 Boxing Day win against a very poor Mansfield Town side.

It took 4 minutes to open the scoring and the fans expected more but they never came.

The goal came from a superb cross from Andy Ducros when Durnin rose high above the static Mansfield defence to loop the ball past the Mansfield keeper.
He could have got another three goals, one a glaring miss from a few yards out that hit the foot of the post.

Stewart Hadley was doing good work by pulling players out of position and Ian Bogie was controlling everything in midfield.
But it was the old, old story of all the possession and not being able to do anything with it.
We still seem to be afraid of shooting on sight and would rather pass it from side to side and back again.

At the other end Stuart Brock had very little to do apart from one marvelous save from a Boulding volley from 25yds out.
That was Mansfields only attempt at scoring.

HT. 1-0

The second half was much the same as the first with Harriers doing all the approach work without achieving any reward.

The only surprise of the half was the injury to John Durnin.
After lengthy treatment he came back on the pitch only to hobble around and when Dean Bennett got up to prepare to come on the crowd thought it would be to replace Durnin.
But amazingly it was Ian Bogie who was taken off.

After that we seemed to lose the edge in midfield and the game just drifted towards the final whistle.

Still, we went home happy.
Four points from six out of a possible twelve over Christmas was OK.

But we would love to see a few more goals please.

FT. 1-0

Harriers-Online Man of the Match is CRAIG HINTON nothing got past him.

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Brock; Medou-Otye, Stamps, Shail, Hinton, Bogie, Horne, Ducros, Mackenzie, Hadley, Durnin.
Subs;Clarke, Bennett, Barnett, Davies, Bird.

Mansfield.
Mimms; Robinson, Hicks, Hassell, Barratt, Blake, Clarke, Williams, Pemberton, Boulding, Greenacre.
Subs;Corden, Disley, Bacon, Lindley, Asher.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 0.
Yellow. Mansfield 3. Hicks, Barrett, Blake.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Mansfield 0.

Referee;B. Curson (Leics).

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1/1/01
TORQUAY UTD..Vs..HARRIERS.

HARRIERS ROBBED OF THREE POINTS IN LAST MINUTE.

Harriers were stopped from claiming their first double in the football league after lowly Torquay grabbed an equalizer in the last few minutes of this New Years Day clash down in windy Devon.

Harriers started the game with the unusual pairing of Dean Bennett and John Durnin.
Bennett was soon in action forcing Torquay's Hill to clear the ball off the line.

But apart from Andy Ducros' inswinging corner that almost crept in, and Scott Stamps free kick that was just about tipped over by the Torquay keeper, that was all the Reds had to show for all their pressure.

On the stroke of halftime Torquay had a goal by Tony Bedeau dis-allowed for offside.

HT. 0-0

During halftime an announcement came over the tannoy for a class 1 referee to run the line after the referee Steve Hinton was found to be suffering a hamstring injury.

Harriers started the second half with much more purpose, within seconds of the restart John Durnin went close when his header went narrowly wide.

But he made no mistake ten minutes later when, after a cross from Andy Ducros that was nodded back down by Adie Smith, he side footed the ball home from 8yds out.
Harriers almost grabbed a second minutes later when a shot from Ducros went wide.

That forced the Torquay boss, Wes Saunders, to send on 17yr old Simon Lyons in effort to salvage something.
Within seconds he had forced two corners and then in the final minutes he drove a low shot from 15yds out past Stuart Brock to deny the Harriers all three points.

FT. 1-1

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Brock; Medou-Otye, Shail, Hinton, Stamps, Smith, Horne, Mackenzie, Bennett, Durnin.
Subs;Clarke, Clarkson, Bird, Webb, Corbett.

Torquay.
Jones; Tully, Watson, Aggrey, Herrera, Chalqi, Ford, Rees, Hill, Williams, Bedeau.
Subs;Northmore, Lyons, O'Brien, Rowbotham, Law.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 3. Medou-Otye, Hinton, Bennett.
Yellow. Torquay 2. Ford, Chalqi.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Torquay 0.

Referee;G.A. Beale (Taunton).

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6/1/01
HALIFAX TOWN..Vs..HARRIERS.

FREE KICK NIGHTMARE.

Harriers again paid the price for bad defending at set pieces as they went down to lowly Halifax, every one of their goals coming from a free kick.

The first came after 9 minutes when Steve Thompson rolled the ball into the back of the net as the Harriers were lining themselves up with their backs to the ball and Stuart Brock standing unsighted to one side.

The second arrived in similar circumstances but even though Brockie was ready Murphy curved the ball around the wall and into the net.

In between the two goals Harriers had chances from Ducros, Mackenzie and Stamps (twice) to claw a goal back but the half ended with almost another goal for Halifax.

Steve Thompson picked up the ball in his own half, saw Brock off his line, and tried to lob it over him but luckily for the Reds it landed on the bar.

HT. 2-0

After what must have been a stern talking to from Jan during half time they emerged with a bit more purpose.

First Mackenzies drive went inches wide then Durnin sent a header a yard over after a cross by MacKenzie.
Then came the first goal for the Harriers.

After a fine pass from P M-O Durnin turned his man before firing home from the centre of the goal mouth.

Durnin almost grabbed another soon after when his full blooded drive narrowly missed the target with the keeper at full stretch.

A foul from behind on Durnin gave the Harriers a free kick in an ideal position 20yds out.
It ended with Neil Mackenzie getting his first goal for the Reds when his kick went straight through the wall for the equaliser.

After having all the possession and inflicting all the pressure in the second half the Harriers then sat back to settle for the draw.

What better invitation is there for the opposing team to go and grab another.

Ex Shrews striker Kerrigan accepted the invite and promptly headed the ball into the net with five minutes left on the clock.

Cue another after match rollicking from Jan Molby.

FT. 3-2

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Brock, Stamps, Hinton, Smith, Shail, Medou-Otye, Horne, Mackenzie, Durnin, Ducros, Corbett.
Subs;Clarke, Clarkson, Webb, Bird, Bogie.

Halifax.
Butler, C.Clarke, Mitchell, Stoneman, Murphy, Middleton, Thompson, Hawe, Wainwright, Kerrigan, Jones.
Subs;Shannon, M.Clarke, Reilly, Bradshaw, Painter.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 1. Shail.
Yellow. Halifax 3. Kerrigan, Stoneman, Wainwright.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Halifax 0.

Referee;M Ryan (Preston).

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10/1/01
LDV VANS TROPHY 2nd rd
BURY FC..Vs..HARRIERS.

HARRIERS BURIED.

Harriers arrived late for this game after being held up on the motorway and ended up wishing they hadn't arrived at all.

Bury went straight for the jugular from the kick off and within twenty minutes had got their first goal, from a left wing cross, when Daws saw his header flash past Tim Clarke.

A few minutes later the same player missed an open goal and then grabbed Bury's second when he curled in a twenty yard shot from a poorly cleared corner.

Harriers only chance of any note was a header that went outside the post.

HT. 2-0

In the second half Bury easily outplayed the Harriers.

Tim Clark kept the scoreline down with a succession of excellent saves.
He stopped a good shot by Lee Unsworth and then shortly afterwards a volley from Bhutia.

Bury's player/manager Andy Preece also had two efforts saved.

Harriers only efforts of the second half came from Neil Mackenzie, but his shot was easily saved by the Bury keeper, and Paul Webb who's attempt to get something from the game sailed over the bar.

All in all another disappointing performance from the Reds.

Still there's always the Worcester Senior Cup for a bit of silverware.

FT. 2-0

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Clarke, Medou-Otye, Clarkson, Hinton, Shail, Bogie, Horne, Mackenzie, Webb, Bird, Bennett.
Subs;Brock, Davies, Ducros, Corbett, Durnin.

Bury.
Kenny, Daws, Redmond, Hill, Swailes, Armstrong, Unsworth, Preece, Reid, Bhutia, James.
Subs;Peyton, Buggie, Littlejohn, Barrick, Swailes.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 2. Mackenzie, Shail.
Yellow. Bury 0.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Bury 0.

Referee;M Pike (Barrow)

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13/1/01
HARRIERS..Vs..BRIGHTON.

HARRIERS FAIL AGAIN.

Ian Foster was the surprise inclusion in the Harriers line up today in this encounter with second placed Brighton.
He was supposed to be facing surgery for his hamstring problem!!

New signing from Coventry City, Daire Doyle, was on the bench.

In beautiful sunny weather, reminiscent of the day in August when we beat Brighton 2-0 at the Withdean Stadium, the crowd had turned out hoping to see an improvement on recent results.
After the news in the week that Jan had placed seven players on the transfer list we thought that there would be some inspired and passionate performances.

NO!

For the first twenty minutes neither team managed a real effort on goal, the game getting bogged down in midfield and the passing going astray.

Harriers had a penalty appeal turned down when Ian Foster was pulled down by Danny Cullip after going past him and about to pull the trigger.
But the abysmal referee, David Pugh, rejected Fosters penalty appeal.

Although Brighton were looking the more likely to score it still came as a surprise when they took the lead after a freak own goal.

Watson's free kick from the centre of the pitch should not have been much of a problem for the Harriers defenders.
Adie Smith backheaded it and left Stuart Brock in no-man's land as the ball looped under the crossbar with Brockie watching in disbelief.

The goal sparked the Harriers into life and Durnin collected the ball just inside the box but his attempt sailed over the bar.

It had been a poor first half from both teams as they left the field for half time.

HT. 0-1

Harriers started the second half by winning two corners but they came to nothing and it wasn't long before Jan made the first change by taking off Ian Foster to replace him with Tony Bird.

With Bird on the Reds started to look more menacing and had numerous chances to score but every time they tried there was a Brighton defender in the way.

Brighton had a goal disallowed in the 62nd minute when Watson curled a free kick into the top corner from a fine angle but his effort was disallowed for a push by Cullip on Brock.

Harriers had another blatant penalty appeal turned down when Durnin was bought down by Crosby, but again the ref didn't want to spoil Brightons day.

He made sure it was their day in the 80th minute when Craig Hinton was harshly adjudged to have pulled Bobby Zamora down on the edge of the area.
Zamora took the kick and scored.

It was a game that we knew would be tough but we didn't expect such a poor display from the Harriers, with hardly a shot on goal worth remembering and a referee who seemed to be against us from the start.

FT. 0-2

Harriers-Online Man of the Match is PARFAIT MEDOU-OTYE Solid as a rock

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

Brighton.
Kuipers, Watson, Cullip, Crosby, Mayo, Hart, Oatway, Rogers, Carpenter, Brooker, Zamora.
Subs;Freeman, Jones, Virgo, Ramsay, Johnson.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 2. Foster, Durnin.
Yellow. Brighton 1. Mayo.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Brighton 0.

Referee;D Pugh (Wirral).

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23/1/01
MANSFIELD TOWN..Vs..HARRIERS.

DREWE SCORES ON HIS DEBUT.

Harriers new loan signing, Drewe Broughton, grabbed his first goal in a Harriers shirt in this quickly re-arranged game at Mansfield.

After Saturdays game was postponed because of a frozen pitch this one was played in a bog after the days continuous rain.

There was also a debut for Dairie Doyle and it was he who provide the cross for Broughton to nod the ball past the Mansfield goalie and give Harriers the lead early on in the first half.

Harriers were peppering the Mansfield goal with shots from Durnin and Mackenzie but none of them seemed to be on target, both players guilty of glaring misses.

Mansfield pulled a goal back just before halftime when Greenacre headed the ball past Brock for his 15th goal of the season.

HT. 1-1

Craig Hinton went close for the Reds in the opening minutes of the second half, but again it was a continuation of the first with chances going begging from Durnin and Mackenzie.

Although Mackenzie hadn't got his shooting boots on he had bought his passing boots with him.
His crosses were a revelation on such a bad pitch and his movement off the ball was equally inspiring.

It was a shame that he couldn't get the winning goal.

That honour was taken by the wrong side when Michael Boulding came off the bench to grab the winner for Mansfield and leaving the Harriers to rue the chances that they had missed.

FT. 2-1

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Brock; Clarkson, Shail, Hinton, Medou-Otye, Doyle, Smith, Mackenzie, Ducros, Broughton, Durnin.
Subs;Clarke, Webb, Bird, Corbett, Horne.

Mansfield.
Mimms; Robinson, Hicks, Hassell, Barrett, Williams, Clark, Corden, Blake, Greenacre, Bradley.
Subs;Asher, Disley, Boulding, Pilkington, Pemberton.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 0.
Yellow. Mansfield 1. Blake.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Mansfield 0.

Referee; M Jones.

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27/1/01
HARRIERS..Vs..HULL CITY.

REDS CLAW THEIR WAY BACK AGAINST TIGERS.

Harriers gave away two stupid goals against Hull today but then came back with probably their best display of the season to grab a share of the points.

From the first whistle Harriers meant business and launched a non stop assault on the Tigers goal when Doyle saw his shot blocked and then the other new face, Broughton, saw his fierce shot sail over the bar.
A few minutes later Broughton just failed to connect with a cross from Scott Stamps.

For all Harriers pressure it looked like a feast of goals was about to be served up until in their first attack Hull scored.

Rowe crossed the ball to Harper, it took a deflection, and as Brock suddenly had to change direction it left Brown with a simple header from only six yards out.

A few minutes later an appalling cock up between Clarkson and Brock, Clarkson hesitating and Brockie not taking command of his area, let in the Harriers fans favourite? Kevin Francis in to smash the ball into the empty net.

The Harriers fans could not believe it, Hull were being played off the park and yet it was the Harriers who were two nil down in the space of a few minutes.

But they didn't give up and continued to play neat one touch football that looked to come from two divisions above their opponents.
It looked only a matter of time before the Reds would get their first goal.

That came from John Durnin.

Neil Mackenzie crossed from the right and this time the ball was deflected in our favour to the feet of Durnin who tapped the ball home.

A minute later a much improved Dean Bennett blasted his shot just wide and then Broughton saw an effort kicked off the line with the keeper well beaten.

Drewe got his reward minutes later when he took the ball on his chest before slotting the ball past Musselwhite.

HT. 2-2

After the break City tightened their defence up and chances were at a premium.

We had a chance to take the lead in the first minute when Broughton saw his goal bound header dramatically kept out by Musselwhite.

Hull had a chance to increase their lead when Francis who could only head straight at Brock.

The game was starting to get bogged down in midfield and when we did try to head towards goal we kept falling for Hull's slick offside trap.
You would have thought that after the 50th time we would have got wise to it.

Hulls manager, the charismatic Brian Little, replaced Rowe and Brown with Marcelle and Harris and Jan bought on Tony Bird and Paul Webb for Durnin and Stamps a few minutes later but without any noticeable improvement.

Dean Bennett then had another chance to impress Jan when he fired a powerful shot just over the bar when under pressure from a Hull defender.

After that the game meandered it's way to a draw.
It may have been a fair result but it was not what the Harriers crowd wanted and after our first half display of passing and running off the ball it was hard to see why we didn't go home with all three points and a bag full of goals.

FT. 2-2

Harriers-Online Man of the Match is...Can I have three? well it's my bloody website so I can.
NEIL MACKENZIE, DAIRIE DOYLE AND DREWE BROUGHTON
Jan, these are three wonderful signings. This is what we have been waiting for.

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Brock, Clarkson, Stamps, Hinton, Smith, Bennett, Ducros, MacKenzie, Doyle, Broughton, Durnin.
Subs;Clarke, Webb, Bird, Horne, Corbett.

Hull.
Musslewhite, Edwards, Harper, Whittle, Whitney, Brightwell, Brown, Greaves, Philpott, Francis, Rowe.
Subs;Bracey, Brabin, Harris, Morley, Marcelle.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 1. Clarkson.
Yellow. Hull 2. Musselwhite, Whitney.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Hull 0.

Referee;B.Knight (Orpington).

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30/1/01
PLYMOUTH ARGYLE..Vs..HARRIERS.

HARRIERS GO DOWN IN DEVON.

Harriers eventually managed to play their game against Plymouth at Home Park after the match had been postponed on two previous occasions.
After this result they will wish it had been called off again.

For the first half hour both sides were equal in terms of play and goalscoring chances until Harriers conceded a free kick 40 yards out and Dean Bennett was booked for kicking the ball away.
The referee interpreted that as dissent and moved the kick 10 yards further forward and into shooting range, and Craig Taylor's low drive was just out of Stuart Brock's grasp.

Just before half time Neil Mackenzie had a chance to equalise when his fierce shot struck the underside of the bar and bounced down, appearing to cross the line, but despite the Harriers appeals the ref waved play on.

HT. 1-0

At the start of the second half Barry Horne came on for the injured Scott Stamps.

Both Mackenzie and Daire Doyle went close to getting a second for the Reds but then Plymouth asserted their authority.

Ian Stonebridge got their second with a right footed shot from 15 yards out after leaving Mark Shail for dead.

He struck again ten minutes from time when he picked up a cross from the right and stabbed the ball past Stuart Brock for their third goal.

Harriers had started to fall apart and it was no surprise when Plymouth got their fourth goal although it came from a disputed penalty.

Shail was harshly adjudged to have bought down Guinan in the area.
Paul Wotton stepped up to strike the ball to the right of Stuart Brock and make it a bad night all round for the Harriers, with their worst defeat of the season.

Two thoughts come to mind.

Why did Jan play Stamps again when he so obviously has not recovered from injury, and why weren't any more substitutions made to try and salvage something from this.

With Bird, Corbett and Ducros all sat on the bench surely one of them could have made an appearance, or has Jan not got any faith in them?

FT. 4-0

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Brock, Hinton, Clarkson, Stamps, Smith, Shail, Bennett, Mackenzie, Broughton, Durnin, Doyle.
Subs;Clarke, Horne, Bird, Corbett, Ducros.

Plymouth.
Sheffield, Beswetherick, McGlinchey, Taylor, Worrell, Friio, Wotton, Phillips M, O'Sullivan, McGregor, Stonebridge.
Subs;Larrieu, Adams, Barlow, McCarthy, Guinan.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 2. Bennett, Broughton.
Yellow. Plymouth 0.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Plymouth 0.

Referee;R Beeby (Northampton).

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3/2/01
CARLISLE UTD..Vs..HARRIERS.

BOGIE TEAM BLUES CONTINUE.

Harriers abysmal form against their bogie team Carlisle continued today at Brunton Park as they went down 2-0 to two early goals again.
Unlike against Hull last Saturday they could not force their way back with two goals of their own.

The Reds started the game positively when Adie Smith crossed for Drewe Broughton to loop an header that hit the right hand post and was then cleared to safety.
But it only took a few minutes more for Carlisle to open the scoring when Ian Stevens, who scored the goal in the first meeting between the two teams, got on the end of a ball from Scott Dobie that skimmed across the face of the goal and turned it past Stuart Brock from 5yds out.

There was worse to come for the Harriers in the 16th minute.
Dobie chested a long ball down from Mark Birch and drilled a powerful shot past Brock to put Carlisle 2-0 up.

The Harriers were struggling against the Carlisle onslaught with the highly rated Dobie causing all sorts of problems.

Apart from chances from Broughton and Dean Bennett they did not trouble Glennon much.

Broughton himself was given a stiff talking by the ref after what looked like use of the elbow against Whitehead, he was lucky to escape without a yellow card.

HT. 2-0

Carlisle took their foot off the gas for the second half but the Harriers couldn't turn all their possession into goals.

Glennon was playing an inspirational game and denied both Broughton and Neil Mackenzie good chances to pull a goal back.
First he turned a 20yd shot from Broughton round the post after he had beaten a Carlisle defender on the edge of the penalty area.

Half way through the half a foul on Adie Smith seemed to inspire the Harriers into action and they produced some of their best football of the game.

But still they could not score and at the end of the day it was another three points lost and the slide towards the bottom of the league was now visible.

It will need all three points at Shrewsbury on Tuesday night to arrest this alarming loss of form.

FT. 2-0

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Brock, Clarkson, Smith, Hinton, Shail, Doyle, Mackenzie, Bennett, Ducros, Durnin, Broughton.
Subs;Clarke, Webb, Horne, Davies, Corbett.

Carlisle.
Glennon, Birch, Maddison, Whitehead, Morley, Winstanley, Prokas, Galloway, Soley, Dobie, Stevens.
Subs;Darby, Heggs, Halliday, Connelly, Hemmings.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 0.
Yellow. Carlisle 2. Birch, Soley.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Carlisle 0.

Referee;P Danson (Leics).

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10/2/01
HARRIERS..Vs..BARNET.

IT'S A CRACKA FROM MACCA.

Harriers picked up maximum points today for the first time this year against a very good Barnet side who had obviously come for all three points themselves.

We thought we would be heading the same way as in previous recent games.
First we had a penalty appeal turned down for a blatant push on Broughton by Arber and then went 1-0 down to a superb goal from the Barnet player/manager, Tony Cottee.
He collected a cross from Stockley with his back to goal and turned on a sixpence to fire past the advancing Tim Clarke into the far corner of the net.

Aggborough was stunned into silence.
All that could be heard was the faint cheers from the handful of Barnet fans who had turned up.

After that the Harriers could not seem to put two passes together and we had totally lost it in midfield.

We couldn't seem to get it together in the goalscoring department either.
Chances went begging when Broughton sent a couple of efforts wide, but the best chance fell to Durnin when he took the ball to the bye-line past a Barnet defender, turned and then instead of lifting the ball over the advancing keepers head he coolly dropped it into his hands.

At halftime the team went off to boos and catcalls from the disappointed Harriers fans and almost certainly another rocket from Jan.

HT. 0-1

The second half started with more of the same, the midfield were totally out of it.

It took a moment of determination from Adie Smith to instill some belief in the team when he won possession off Bell to send Mackenzie on his way.
After that the Harriers lifted their game, Bennett moved out to the wing and Mackenzie went deeper into the midfield and the team started to put some fine moves together.

A minute later Mackenzie tried a shot from the edge of the area, but the Barnet keeper saved easily.

It took another minute for the Reds to equalize.
Macca took a pass from Smith and then unleashed a shot which flew into the top left hand corner leaving the keeper rooted to the spot.

The winner thankfully came 15 minutes from time.
Durnin crossed for Broughton to send his header into the bottom corner of the Barnet net to the delight of the Harriers fans.

Dean Bennett almost added a third when he saw his goalbound effort saved by Harrison in the Barnet goal.

As the final whistle went the cheer went up to celebrate our first win of 2001 and a climb of three places up the table.

FT. 2-1

Harriers-Online Man of the Match is ADIE SMITH
It was his determination that turned the game in our favour.

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Clarke, Clarkson, Hinton, Shail, Medou-Otye, Smith, Bennett, Ducros, Mackenzie, Durnin, Broughton.
Subs;Brock, Bird, Bogie, Hadley, Doyle.

Barnet.
Harrison, Stockley, Flynn, Heald, Arber, Cottee, Goodhind, Gower, Brown, Bell, Richards.
Subs;Sawyers, Currie, Naisbitt, Basham, Strevens.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 0.
Yellow. Barnet 0.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Barnet 0.

Referee;S Baines (Chesterfield).

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17/2/01
LEYTON ORIENT..Vs..HARRIERS.

HARRIERS GET POINT AT BRISBANE RD.

The Harriers came home from Leyton Orient with a hard earned point from this hard fought game.

The Reds spent the first half camped in the the Orient half and peppered their goal with shots from Doyle, Bennett and Mackenzie but couldn't quite make the breakthrough that they were looking for.

The only chance of note from Orient came in the last few minutes of the half when Griffiths smashed a fierce right foot drive towards goal, but Mark Shail was there to block it.

HT. 0-0

At the start of the second half Orients manager, Tommy Taylor, made three substitutions, obviously a result of a halftime 'pep talk'.

The result was a complete reversal of the first half, Harriers were now on the back foot and doing all the defending.

Harriers new signing, Drewe Broughton, became the first name to go in the refs book for an alleged elbow offence, and this sparked complaints from the Red bench with Gary Barnett having to be restrained by the fourth official.

A few minutes later Drewe went off holding his bloodied head.

Orient came close to opening the scoring just after the hour mark when Watts poked the ball through Clarke's legs and with it rolling towards the goal Clarkson cleared it for a corner.

Ten minutes later Broughton returned with stitches to his head injury.

Just after Orients Griffiths was sent off after he dived in late on Adie Smith.
Then Broughton, who had been bought down by Opinel, was taken off by Jan for his own safety and on came Hadley and also Ian Bogie for Doyle.

At the end it was a hard earned point and sets us up nicely for Tuesday evening at home to Southend.

FT. 0-0

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Clarke, Clarkson, Hinton, Shail, Medou-Otye, Smith, Bennett, Mackenzie, Doyle, Durnin, Broughton.
Subs;Brock, Bird, Ducros, Bogie, Hadley.

Orient.
Bayes, Joseph, D. Smith, McGhee, Martin, Harris, Brkovic, Walschaerts, Jones, Griffiths, Pinamonte.
Subs;Barrett, Haughton, Opinel, Watts, Tape.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 2. Broughton, Medou-Otye.
Yellow. Orient 0.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Orient 1. Griffiths.

Referee;C. J. Foy (St Helens)

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20/2/01
HARRIERS..Vs..SOUTHEND UTD.

SUPER SUBS SINK SOUTHEND.

Harriers continued their run of good form with a 2-1 win tonight against Southend.
This win follows the three points against Barnet in their last home match and the well deserved 0-0 draw at Orient last Saturday.

After a scrappy first five minutes the Reds stamped their authority on the game. Neil Mackenzie and Barry Horne took charge of the midfield and sprayed passes around the field only to come up against a strong Southend rearguard when the final telling pass to Durnin and Broughton was expected.

It looked like the old, old problem of too much approach work had resurfaced.

It came as a shock to everyone when Southend took a surprise lead.
Tim Clarke tackled the clean through Martin Carruthers just outside his area and when the ball fell to Parfait Medou-Otye he slipped.
With Clarkie stranded and nobody covering the open goal Black sidefooted the ball into the empty net from 30 yards.

The jinx had struck again.

After that Southend didn't seem interested in scoring again.

HT. 0-1

The second half started in a similar way that the first half had started, scrappily.

This time Southend started to take charge and it was becoming obvious that Jan needed to make some changes.

That came in the 57th minute with a risky, but inspired substitution.
Webby on for Doyle, Bogie on for Horne and Hadley on for the disapointing Durnin.

Straight away the game turned our way. Webby gave the much needed tenacity in midfield with Bogie providing the creative spark.

It was Bogie who got us back on level terms with a scorcher of a goal when he blasted a 65th minute equaliser from 20 yards after a poor clearance from Hutchings.

The very quiet crowd suddenly came alive and the team lifted their game in response.
Southend didn't know what had hit them with shots coming from all angles and Bennett and Bogie running them ragged.

The winner came in the 89th minute winner after Adie Smith’s long ball had been headed down by a Southend defender and Stewart Hadley, with his first goal since August, slid the ball into the back of the net.

FT. 2-1

Harriers-Online Man of the Match is Ian Bogie His superb ball control and passing skills changed the game completely.

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Clarke, Clarkson, Hinton, Smith, Bennett, Medou-Otye, Horne, Doyle, Mackenzie, Durnin, Broughton.
Subs;Webb, Bogie, Hadley, Brock, Bird.

Southend.
Flahavan, McSweeney, Maher, Whelan, Searle, Hutchings, Johnson, Black, Lee, Carruthers, Bramble.
Subs;Abbey, Williamson, Webb, Porter, Thurgood.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 0.
Yellow. Southend 1. Maher

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Southend 0

Referee;U.D. Rennie (Sheffield).

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25/2/01
HARRIERS..Vs..CARDIFF CITY.

BLUEBIRDS FLY BACK WITH THE POINTS.

Jan Molby sprung a surprise on the Aggborough faithful before the match when he decided to start the game with only one recognised striker upfront in the shape of Drewe Broughton.

It was a move which I think backfired. Although Drewe had a good game, at times he could have done with a bit of help.
This was proved in the total cock up between himself and Paul Webb when, if Drewe hadn't taken the ball off Webby's feet we would have gone two up and probably gone on to win the game.

Obviously Broughton thought that he was the striker and the ball belonged to him.

We started the game strongly, our slick passing game had got the Bluebirds rattled and we came close to opening our account with shots from Adie Smith and Ian Clarkson.
The goal wasn't long coming though when after a beautiful touchline cross from Dean Bennett the ball ricocheted around the area after shots by Daire Doyle and Neil Mackenzie were blocked and finally Drewe Broughton drove the ball home for Harriers first.

A few minutes later came the Webby/Broughton episode and after that we seemed to lose the fluency of our game and our grip in midfield.

Andy Legg for Cardiff was doing the most damage with his long throw ins'.
How many goals have Cardiff scored from these throws?

But it wasn't a throw in that they scored from but a corner from the same man.

His inswinging corner landed on the head of Scott Young at the far post and he couldn't miss.

The second came a few minutes later when Legg laid on the second for the unmarked Jason Bowen, who volleyed in from eight yards out.

HT. 1-2

At the start of this half it transpired that Jan had been banished to the stands after words with the ref during halftime.
There was also a surprise substitution when Andy Ducros came on for Adie Smith.

We still could not seem to regain control of midfield in this half but we still had our chances, even if they were from outside of the box.
First Mark Shails header crashed against the crossbar, then Mackenzie, Broughton, Webb, Ducros and Medou-Otye all had chances to grab a goal back.

Jan bought on Ian Bogie and John Durnin in the 78th minute in an attempt to change things but it was too late.

A few minutes later Cardiff increased their lead with a goal from the ex WBA defender, Gabbidon.
Clarke misjudged a corner and Gabbidon was there, unmarked, to stab the ball into the back of the net.

It looked like the game was all but over as the part time fans started to leave the ground, but that was their loss because moments later the Harriers almost clawed the game back from the brink.

First, in the 90th minute, Broughton took advantage of some defensive slackness to round the keeper and slip home his second goal.
Seconds later a fierce shot from Neil Mackenzie hit the post and then rolled along the line and out for a goal kick.

Our luck had walked out as well.

Then came a moment of controversy when the Cardiff sub, Earnshaw, scythed down Ian Clarkson on the touchline.
The ref, who until then had had a fair game, turned down all the calls to send him off or at least book him.

A few minutes later the same player claimed the 4th goal for City when he calmly knocked the ball past Clarke.

Although it was a good showing from the Reds it again showed up the old failings of not being able to take our chances and kill the other team off when we can.

FT. 2-4

Harriers-Online Man of the Match is MARK SHAIL

Held the defence together as long as he could.

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Clarke, Clarkson, Smith, Hinton, Shail, Bennett, Medou-Otye, Webb, Mackenzie, Doyle, Broughton.
Subs;Durnin, Ducros, Bogie, Brock, Hadley.

Cardiff.
Walton, Hughes, Gabbidon, Low, Bowen, Legg, Weston, Boland, Young, Lightbourne, Brayson.
Subs;Earnshaw, Nogan, Evans, Jordan, Collins.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 1. Doyle
Yellow. Cardiff 0.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Cardiff 0.

Referee;P.R. Richards (Preston).

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3/2/01
BLACKPOOL..Vs..HARRIERS.

IT'S US WOT GOT TANGO'D..AGAIN.

The Reds welcomed back Thomas Skovbjerg, all be it to sit on the bench, and to be honest they could have done with him 100% fit and on the pitch to maybe save them from this shambles.

As early as the sixth minute Blackpool opened the scoring with a goal from John Murphy.

He's the one that Jan had warned them about.

The big striker out jumped the Harriers defence to collect a cross from Danny Coid and hammered the ball past the hapless Clarke.

It was almost 2-0 minutes later from the same man but Parfait Medou-Otye, who had earlier been booked, blocked his first shot and then his second attempt was deflected wide.

Then against the run of play Harriers drew level, but with a goal from a Blackpool player.
Mackenzie crossed from the right and the Blackpool right back Coid could only turn the ball into his own net past his keeper Phil Barnes.

The respite didn't last long though when Murphy put them back in the lead again with his second goal of the game.
The other danger man that Molby had warned them about, Simpson, slid a pass into the area and Murphy slipped a low shot into the far corner of Clarke's net.

Craig Hinton, who was having a nightmare, picked up his second booking of the season when he fouled Brett Ormerod in the 28th minute.

Dean Bennett forced Barnes to save in a rare Harriers attack and then Broughton headed over after fine work by Mackenzie but the striker was judged to be off side.

Blackpool almost grabbed a third goal when Simpson cleverly dummied Mackenzie, his shot deflected off Hinton and forced Clarke to dive swiftly to his left and knock the ball away for a corner.

Then in the dying seconds of the half an awful backpass by the quaintly named Shittu almost let in Broughton but the keeper knocked it clear with his foot.

HT. 2-1

Things looked a bit better at the start of the second half as the midfield looked a more cohesive unit.
Some neat play saw Mackenzie gain possession but his fierce pass was cut out by Simpson, then Durnin was inches away from connecting with Broughton's return ball.

Then Medou-Otye was inches away after his 20 yarder went inches wide of Barnes' left hand post.

Drewe Broughton had treatment to his head after an ariel clash with Shittu but he got back to his feet to carry on.

The purple patch was soon over though when Blackpool took control again.
First Bushell tested Tim Clarke with a low effort which the Harriers keeper collected easily.
Then Richard Wellens put the game beyond Harriers reach when he collected Bushell's through ball and tucked home a low shot which Clarke could only help into the net.

In the 65th minute Craig Hinton brought down Wellens in the area Murphy completed his hat trick when he struck the penalty home to make it 4-1 to Blackpool.

And finally Ormerod made it 5-1 in the 86th minute when he surged past Mark Shail and side footed past Clarke after a pass from substitute Richard Walker, the on loan Villa striker who Jan Molby was once interested in.

Another disappointing result, just when is this defence going to stop leaking goals?

FT. 5-1

TEAMS:
Harriers.
Clarke, Clarkson, Shail, Hinton, Medou-Otye, Bennett, Webb, Mackenzie, Ducros, Broughton, Durnin.
Subs;Brock, Horne, Bird, Skovbjerg, Bogie.

Blackpool.
Barnes, Coid, Reid, Shittu, Jazsczun, Wellens, Bushell, Milligan, Simpson, J Murphy, Ormerod.
Subs;Kennedy, Hughes, P Clarkson, N Murphy, Walker.

Cards;
Yellow. Harriers 2. Medou-Otye, Hinton.
Yellow. Blackpool 0.

Red. Harriers 0.
Red. Blackpool 0.

Referee; A.Bates (Stoke-on-Trent).

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