Like a pancake Harriers fall flat at Brackley

With the chance to move back into second place in the race for the title the Harriers slipped up yet again on the road and came away with nothing to show for their efforts.  Two late goals for substitute David Moyo clinched the points for mid table Brackley and left our fans wondering when we'll ever see the Harriers win away from home again this season.  Our last win on the road came thirteen weeks ago at Bradford at the start of December and since then we have only scored once away from home (at Chorley last week) and we are desperately crying out for new ideas upfront.

As against Stockport on Saturday we started with the same line-up with just the one change on the bench.  Mani Dieseruvwe returned from injury in place of Josh Ezewele to give us at least one striker available to us from the bench.

In drenching wet conditions the game got underway with the Harriers looking the more likely to score.  Arthur Gnahoua tested the keeper with a shot straight at him and saved easily enough while ten minutes in Andre Brown tried an acrobatic overhead kick that went narrowly over Laurie Walkers crossbar.  The game went quiet following that and Town just seemed content to contain us while we passed the ball around to no final product.

The Harriers were forced into making an early change when Darryl Knights was sent on in place of Elton N'Gwatala after he had injured his shoulder earlier.  Reports following the game suggested that Elton had been taken to hospital.

Brackley had a couple of slight chances to score when Glenn Walker (one of three Walkers playing for the hosts) saw his free kick fall for another Walker, Adam, but his shot was cleared to safety and then three minutes later James Armsons shot went just wide.  It took seven minutes before the break when we saw the Harriers come to life.

We were awarded a free kick on the edge of the area and in a training ground routine the ball was passed from one player to another until it reached Tyrell Waite who finally took a pop at the goal but then watched as it hit first one upright and then the other before being cleared away by a Town defender.  Waite again went close to opening the scoring a minute later when his volley went just wide of the target.

A minute before the whistle was raised for half time James McQuilkin also came close to scoring when he drove the ball at Laurie Walker from twenty yards out forcing the keeper to push the ball away.

If the first half was an ok performance from the Harriers then the second half has to be classed as dreadful.  Steve Diggin, for the home side, could have given his team the lead after he collected the ball in the area and rounded Alex Palmer only to find his shot blocked on the line.  The follow up from Lee Ndlovu was sent high over the bar.

Darryl Knights had a chance for us and then Waite too but his shot hit the side netting but we were really struggling to make any impression on the game and it was crying out for changes to be made.  That came when Dieseruvwe came on for the ineffective Andre Brown and the ideal next change would have been for Sam Austin to come on and give us some wide pace and whip the balls in for Mani but that never happened.  Instead Liam Truslove came on for Waite and basically do away with a wide player completely.

It was looking like we were going to settle for the point when complacency set in and disaster struck.

Brackley had bought on David Moyo twenty minutes earlier for Diggin and it was his late brace that won the game for the hosts and left us stunned.  First, with the home side calling for a penalty following a perceived handball, the ball ran to Moyo who made no mistake with an angled drive and then just two minutes later clinching all three points after breaking free and rolling the ball past Palmer.

So our poor away form continues with no sign of when it will end.  The chance to go above Salford into second place was gone and we now have only one game in hand over them.  Another tough away game next Saturday see's us travelling up to FC Utd and the slim hope of getting three points form one of the few teams to have won at Aggborough this season.

 Goals for Brackley: Moyo 84, 86

REFEREE:

Mr E Kaye Essex