03-11-17 – Preview – FA Cup 1st rd – AFC Fylde Vs Harriers

The Harriers have an early opportunity to get their own back on AFC Fylde in the FA Cup tomorrow when they travel there to play their, now, higher placed opponents. They matched us all the way last season and finally won promotion with a few games left due to us falling at the last hurdle at home to Chorley in the play-offs. You could also claim that the inability to get a more positive result at Mill Farm on a rainswept day in March didn’t help either.

That 2-2 result came after we had gone into what we thought would be an un-assailable two goal lead but failed to take into account our own poor defending and then the added seven minutes of ‘Fyldie’ time that allowed them to grab an undeserved last minute equaliser. We now need to make sure that if we do get the lead we don’t make the same mistakes again.

We should have James O’Connor back following his one game suspension last week at Stockport. We won that game without him but to not play him tomorrow would be the greatest mistake that John Eustace could come up with because Tyrone Williams is prone to far too many mistakes and may cost us the game. We might also have James Pearson back from injury but that could be too early for a hamstring and he could play from the bench.

Dan Bradley? Now there’s an enigma. Will he play or won’t he? It seems to most fans that he only plays half a game every other week and to many of us that doesn’t warrant the fee we paid Fylde for him (talking of which, what’s happened to the Jordan Tunnicliffe money?). I fully expect Bradley to now be fit and raring to go against his old club and then to keep playing week in, week out. It’s also high time that Liam Truslove made his way back from injury too having been out injured since the Brackley Town game at the backend of August. That would be too much to ask though. 

We all know that there are three former Harriers with Fylde and at least two of them will start. Tunnicliffe will be one and Zaine Francis-Angol is the other while Josh Ezewele seems to be out of favour and hasn’t featured much for them. No doubt they’ll get a ‘warm’ welcome from the Harriers fans amassed behind the goal.

After a poor start in the Conference Premier our hosts have picked up in recent weeks and are now on three games unbeaten. That could be four if you include the game at home to Maidstone Utd that was abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch a couple of weeks ago with Fylde winning 2-1. Ironic that they get a game called off for conditions better than we had last March!

Two of those games in that winning run were against Wrexham AFC with the first one being the 1-0 home Cup game that saw them paired with us in the next round and then a week later they went one goal better with a 2-0 scoreline. Last weekend they hammered relegation favourites Solihull Moors 4-0 at Damson Lane to set themselves up for tomorrow.

Not much injury information comes out of Mill Farm but we do know that James Hardy will miss the game due to a back injury.

We should have a good following there with around 200 Harriers fans expected to make the trip. Sadly that’s nowhere near the 900 that went to AFC Fylde fans other club, Blackpool, last season in the same round but, let’s be honest, a game against AFC Fylde doesn’t have the same romance of the Cup attached to it.

We know from last season that games against Fylde are never going to be easy and this one is no exception but I do expect us to go there and make a damned good effort to win. I’d also be happy with a draw too but there would be no greater feeling than to gain vengeance on their patch. 

Photo © KHFC

Teams:

Harriers from:

Hall, Palmer, Williams, Joel Taylor, Horsfall, O’Connor, Pearson, Finch, Croasdale, Truslove, Weeks, Austin, A Brown, Sonupè, Bradley, McQuilkin, N’Gwatala, Ironside, Wright.

AFC Fylde from:

R Taylor, Lynch, Francis-Angol, Langley, Tunnicliffe, Ezewele, Grand, Richards, Burke, Edmondson, Stott, Jason Taylor, Montrose, Bond, Finley, McCready,  Smith, Tasdemir, Jones, Rowe, Muldoon, Blinkhorn.   

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

Links to AFC Fylde websites here

Find Pubs around Kidderminster here