09-09-17 – Report – Southport 0 Harriers 3

Harriers get back to winning ways

Report: Phil Lench

After a string of poor results the Harriers got back onto the winning trail at Southport today with a much depleted side through injury and personal reasons. Out again for the so called fitness reasons were Joe Ironside and Dan Bradley while James McQuilkin was out injured after he picked up a knock at home to Curzon Ashton on Tuesday evening. Ryan Croasdale was the other one missing and that was thought to be for personal reasons.

On the understaffed bench were just four names. One was new signing Jack Finch while another was keeper Charlie Bannister so there was little chance he would see any action. The other two were Kennedy Digie and Andre Wright. The missing players meant there was a first start for Will Longbottom with Declan Weeks, Josh Webb and Andre Brown all coming into the side

Southport were coming into the game on the back of a 6-0 hammering at Stockport in midweek and they were expected to try and get that defeat out of their system with a, supposedly, routine home win against struggling Kidderminster.

They started the game by having the first chance of the game when Yves Zama fired a shot straight at Brandon Hall and then Curtis Jones placed his header just wide of goal. We soon got over that and chances came our way through Sam Austin and Fraser Horsfall before Longbottom got his name on the scoresheet with his first goal in Harriers colours. Declan Weeks took a corner and following a series of scrambled chances in front of the goal, when it hit both players and the underside of the bar, it was finally bundled over the line by Longbottom.

We pressed on for a second goal as Southport began to crumble. A free kick from Weeks was pounced on by Andre Brown after the Southport keeper Mark Halstead pushed the ball into his path but Brown put it hurriedly wide. Minutes later Elton N’Gwatala saw his goal ruled out by the linesmans flag for offside.

The half ended with the Harriers in full control of the game and a second chance to score for Longbottom but his effort was blocked by the keepers legs to go wide of the goal. From the ensuing corner Andy White almost put the ball into his own net but his keeper managed to get to it in time. 

HT: 0 – 1

Following a scrappy seven minutes at the start of the second period the Reds amazingly added a second goal to their tally for the day. Longbottom, again, was at the centre of it and his tenacity robbed Curtis Jones of the ball and then crossed it perfectly for Andre Brown to slot home his first goal of the campaign.

It could have been three for us soon after when Horsfall rose highest to meet a Weeks free kick and looped his header narrowly over the bar.

Southport had done very little up to now but substitute Lee Croft came close to narrowing the deficit when he fired goalwards following some neat interplay between himself, Brad Jackson and Gary Roberts but Hall saved the resulting shot well. Manny Sonupè, who had been having a quiet game so far, then saw his shot go just wide of the goal after embarking on one of his mazy runs from deep. He was subbed soon after to allow Andre Wright to come on.

Wrights first move was to send a shot over the bar. A flurry of team changes and yellow cards then took place and that disrupted the game for a while but both sides continued to go in search of goals. It was the Harriers who were to succeed in that though when, with time running out, Andre Brown struck for his brace and our third goal of the day.

Brown picked up a pass some twenty five yards from goal and then just let loose with a shot that screamed into the back of Halsteads net and confirmed the Harriers as the match winners along with three points and a small rise up the table to thirteenth place. It also sets us up nicely for a short trip to Tamworth on Tuesday evening.

FT: 0 – 3

Goals for Harriers: Longbottom 27, A Brown 52, 86

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

Latest table and stats here

Southport	Goals	Subs	Time	Cards
Halstead
Smith
White
Jennings
Dugdale
C Jones
Jackson
Schumacher
Roberts			74
Zama			54
Sang			54
Subs:
Fletcher
E Jones			74
Croft			54
Cockerline			54
Kpohomouh
Harriers	Goals	Subs	Time	Cards
Hall
Webb
Taylor			90
Weeks
Horsfall
Williams
Sonupè			72
Austin
A Brown
N’Gwatala
Longbottom			87
Subs:
Bannister
Digie			90
Wright			72
Finch			87
Referee:
Mr Sam Barrott
Yorkshire