FA Trophy 5th round |
Venue: Aggborough Date: 01-02-25 Harriers 1 Sutton Utd 0 Att: 2065 (away fans: 224) |
Harriers exit Trophy and the scrappiest goal ever did it
Report: Phil Lench
The Harriers exited the FA Trophy at this stage in yet another poor showing in front of goal. We had plenty of chances to go into a comfortable first half lead but our profligance in front of the target was our downfall yet again.
Yesterday we bought in a rookie striker, Charlie Lutz, from Aston Villa but to bring him on from the bench with only ten minutes of the game left and already a goal down was not the best way to go about getting him on the scoresheet.
The first half was all Harriers against a very mediocre looking Sutton Utd side that, now in the National League, were in the Football League two seasons ago. They looked clueless up front although decent defensively and I couldn’t recall them having a shot on target in the first half. They did have a few that went nearer the corner flag and the car park though.
It took us just four minutes but Amari Morgan-Smiths effort from the excellent Seb Thompson shouldn’t really be classed as a shot on goal as it only just avoided clearing the stand. Our next chance came much later on when AMS missed yet another chance and yet again another scoop over the bar.
Our best chance of the half fell into the path of Ashley Hemmings when his fine drive from outside the area was just about pushed away for a corner by the Sutton keeper Jack Sims.
HT: 0 – 0
The second half was something of a damp squib from our point of view. We offered little and delivered little. The visitors had worked out how to subdue Reece Devine by bring on a couple of subs after the break.
We re-started the game well enough but, again, it was our long standing problem of a poor front two that went a long way in our downfall and the obligatory one game, one cock up from Christian Dibble.
The half got underway with the strangest yellow card handed to a harriers player this season when AMS was blocked on the touchline and then had the culprit attempt to [ush him over. Amari stood firm and held out his arms showing he wasn’t interested. The ref booked him but not the aggressor!
Amari had a header on goa but again there was no direction on it and it went over the bar. Zak Brown tried his luck from distance but there was no real power on it and it went wide anyway.
Our best chance of the second came, again, from Hemmings with his shot from Devines cross, landing on the roof of the net.
A few minutes later we made our first substitution with Jim Kellermann coming on the replace Ryley Reynolds who had been having a disappointing game from him. Kellermanns first involvement of the game came with a yellow card after he blocked a Sutton players path through following the inevitable.
That inevitable was the goal that put an end to our Trophy campaign for another season. Dillon De Silva, one of those to come on at halftime, broke free of Seb Thompsons attention and played the ball into to Lewis Simper who then put the ball into the area. The ball was collected by Dibble who caught it cleanly at first but then dropped it to allow the former York City man Will Davies to get in behind him and tap the ball home.
We went into a shell and did very little to rescue the game. Lutz came on too late in place of Thompson when the better move would have been to replace the tiring AMS but that was never going to happen was it? If he had come on ten minutes earlier we may have seen a different outcome but too be honest he’s still not the striker we had been looking for.
Sutton had a couple of chances to finish us off soon after, both coming from the impressive Da Silva. His shot on the angle was parried away by Dibble but he then got the better when his mazey run ended with a shot against the base of the post that on another day would probably have gone in.
With the referee being generous he added on six extra minutes but we failed to take advantage and Sutton ran it down with keep ball that we couldn’t get off them.
They’ll now go into the hat on Monday while we’ll still have the pleasure of visiting Farsley Celtic on March 1st. That game could actually be played at Buxton FC on the Friday night if they still haven’t finished their pitch by then.
FT: 0 – 1
Goals for Sutton Utd: Davies 80
The Harriers Online MotM is: Seb Thompson
Talk about the game here
Latest table and stats here
Harriers | Goals | Subs | Time | Cards |
Dibble | ||||
Devine | ||||
Richards | ||||
Kandola | ||||
McNally | ||||
Brown | ||||
Thompson | ![]() |
85 | ||
Reynolds | ![]() |
78 | ||
Morgan-Smith | ![]() |
|||
Hemmings | ||||
Kouhyar | ||||
Subs: | ||||
Palmer | ||||
Downing | ||||
Lutz | ![]() |
85 | ||
Obadeyi | ||||
Kellermann | ![]() |
78 | ![]() |
|
Hill | ||||
Davis | ||||
Sutton Utd | Goals | Subs | Time | Cards |
Sims | ||||
Barbrook | ||||
Kirk | ||||
French | ![]() |
|||
Woodyard | ![]() |
46 | ![]() |
|
Vaz | ![]() |
84 | ![]() |
|
Coley | ![]() |
78 | ||
Simper | ||||
Davies | ![]() |
|||
Topallaj | ||||
Wadham | ![]() |
46 | ![]() |
|
Subs: | ||||
Kerby | ||||
Ransom | ||||
Odelusi | ![]() |
46 | ![]() |
|
Muller | ![]() |
84 | ||
Da Silva | ![]() |
46 | ||
Boateng | ||||
Jackson | ![]() |
78 | ||
Referee: | ||||
Mr Ross Martin | ||||
Bridport |