02-09-17 – Report – Harriers 1 Boston Utd 1

One half good. One half bad. Very bad!

Report: Phil Lench

Great we thought. This is more like it.

It was a nice sunny day and we were sat watching the Harriers actually looking like the team we saw last season with the better passing and build up play from them that we had yet to see since the first half at home to Chorley on opening day. We were forgiving John Eustace for again going with Joe Ironside up front all by his lonelyo even though we had just bought two more strikers in twelve hours previously.

Yes it would have been nice to start with an Andre Brown alongside Joe but our crisp style of play made up for that. The first of the new boys signed during the week, Fraser Horsfall, looked to have a quick turn of pace that took him past the opposition quickly and it was a vast difference to the oil tanker qualities of the departed Liam Daly. Solihull are welcome to him.

On the bench were the other two newbies, the returning Andre Wright and the lad on loan from Doncaster, Will Longbum – sorry Longbottom. We had a plethora of attacking options to choose from so why were we starting with the lone striker formula again?

With that feel good factor it got even better after just six minutes when a superb ‘long ball over the top’ ie not the Kidderminster way! from Brandon Hall found Manny Sonupè just about onside near the halfway line. Manny took it on quickly towards the Boston keeper who had decided coming out of his safe haven was the best way to deal with him. Mistake. Sonupè is the master of firing the ball into an empty net and with a skip to one side of George Willis he lofted the ball goalwards and into the net á lá Leamington a few weeks ago.

Boston were there for the taking, so poor were they. Ironside should have scored our second goal minutes later but dithering in front of goal just invites a defender to close you down and that’s just what happened.

We were doing well but then the cracks began to appear. Horsfall slipped on the edge of the area and let Kabongo Tshimanga in for a one on one with Hall but thankfully our keeper was his equal and smothered the ball well. Then Joel Taylor passed backwards but not to a Harriers player and the Boston man hared off goalwards and laid the ball off across the edge of the area where James McQuilkin stupidly fouled Ashley Hemmings. The referee (we’ll not talk about him and his antics just yet) pointed to the spot. Up stepped Adam Chapman to take it just to the left of Brandon but the keeper was down quickly and parried it away. He then followed up with another excellent stop from James Cliftons follow up.

That ref? Who cribbed his papers for him in the exam to become a referee because he looked far from qualified to be a real referee.

Another great ball out wide to Sonupè saw him begin to surge down the right hand side of the pitch only to be bought down in full flight by Chapman when he was clear on goal. Mr Failed My Exams Referee saw fit to ignore the seriousness of the foul and merely issued a yellow card.

We finished the half with a header from Ironside that Willis saved well and it all looked promising for an even better second period.

HT: 1 – 0

I don’t know what was said in the dressing room but we trooped out late and appeared to have forgotten completely how well we had played in the first half. Or was it the roasting that Adam Murray had given to his Boston team that led to them dominating 90% of the second half with us just chasing shadows.

It took them three minutes to draw level and it was something of a cruel goal for our debutant Fraser Horsfall. A long ball over the top was collected by Tshimanga out wide and quick as a flash he fired the ball goalwards only for Horsfall to try and block it but instead deflecting the ball above Brandon Hall and against the underside of the bar then into the net. There was the possibility of it having beaten Hall anyway but the deflection made sure of that.

Our heads collectively dropped and we looked defeated before Boston even came close to getting a second goal when Tshimanga again beat Tyrone Williams to the ball and sent a shot straight at Hall. John Eustace rung the changes by taking off Ironside for an equally ineffective Andre Brown when the better option would have been to get radical and actually play two strikers together. Try it one day John. It might work.

The referee carried on with his antics and destroyed the game completely while Sonupè was the next to be sacrificed needlessly with Andre Wright coming on for his second spell at Aggborough. He did ok but he wasn’t match fit considering he hadn’t played a game since last season and didn’t really do as much for us and we had lost all interest.

Boston also seemed happy with the point and began time wasting tactics. We rallied slightly towards the end and our third sub, also a new signing, Will Longbottom had only been on the pitch a few minutes before he turned and twisted in the area to fire a shot just wide.

The ref had the last say in the game when he told Jordan Keane – brother of the just departed Cieron – to leave the pitch to get a blood injury looked at for the second time in the game. Keane tried to come back on without the refs permission so Mr Failed Exam made a drama out of it and spoke to his assistant for some reason and then spoke to Keane. Then let him on and then told him to go off again. To top it all he then told Boston to give the ball to Brandon Hall even though the ball had been put out for a throw in.

In the four minutes of time added on we rallied and had two attempts to score but it was all too late by then. We had looked a shadow of our first half personas and it was back to square one of our ambition to finish mid-table once more. 

FT: 1 – 1

Goal for Harriers: Sonupè 6

Goal for Boston: Horsfall (og) 48

The Harriers Online MotM is: Brandon Hall

Talk about the game here and phone the Harriers Hotline on 01905 577 777 after the game too

Latest table and stats here

Harriers	Goals	Subs	Time	Cards
Hall
Austin
Taylor			83
Croasdale
Horsfall	(og)
Williams
Sonupè			77
McQuilkin
Ironside			57
N’Gwatala
Bradley
Subs:
A Brown			57
Weeks
Wright			77
Longbottom			83
Webb
Boston Utd	Goals	Subs	Time	Cards
Willis
Clifton
Yeomans			61
Beatson
Keane
Cowgill
Rollins
Chapman
Tshimanga
Hemmings			59
Broadhead
Subs:
Vince			59
Hare			61
Waite
Hawley
McGuire
Referee:
Mr Alex Kirkley
Manchester