10-10-20 – Report – Darlington FC 1 Kidderminster Harriers 3

The Harriers grab all of the goals at Darlington

Report: Harriershane

Following the disappointing result, but not performance, at home to Chester FC on Tuesday evening, the Harriers made the long trip north to Darlington, who lost late on against AFC Fylde.

For Harriers Cliff Moyo was a welcome addition to the matchday squad, taking a berth on the substitutes bench, with the starting eleven unchanged. The Quakers made two late signings yesterday, Levi Amantchi and Theo Hudson, who were both on the bench.

The game started terribly for the home side, losing the talismanic Will Hatfield inside ten seconds to what transpired to be a hamstring injury and he was replaced by Ben Hedley. The Quakers bounced back from this setback though and started the game very much on the front foot with Jarrett Rivers and Justin Donawa making plenty of headway down the sides. It was Hedley with the first chance of the game, bending an effort over the bar, but they were ahead three minutes later.

Again, getting joy down the right, it was Donawa making a nuisance of himself firing a ball low across the area. With Luke Charman lurking at the far post Alex Penny slid in to intercept and the ball squirmed off his body and past the Harriers keeper Luke Simpson. Simpson was called upon again moments later, following Charman’s smart play, making a good save from a powerful effort.

Alex Storey then had a brace of headed efforts saved as Tony McMahon, the former Middlesborough full back, delivered a succession of set pieces. Out of nothing though, on what was their first real foray forward, Harriers were level and what a piece of inspiration it was. Alex Prosser won the ball in midfield and played the ball into the feet of Omari Sterling-James who rolled his man and bent a breathtaking effort into the top left hand corner, leaving Johnny Saltmer with absolutely no chance.

This sparked the Harriers into life, forcing a corner following efforts from Prosser and Ashley Hemmings. Max Taylor also had a headed chance from a free kick given for a push on OSJ as Harriers looked to convert their new-found dominance. A, what was now rare, foray forward for the home side saw them force a corner following neat play from Rivers and Donawa. Harriers countered this corner and forced one of their own after the effervescent OSJ released Hemmings, who was denied only by a superb saving challenge from Joe Wheatley: Keith Lowe heading over on this occasion.

The pressure would pay off though as Sam Austin was the latest beneficiary of an OSJ ball, getting to the byline and lofting a ball into the six yard box where Hemmings was arriving to cushion a volley into an empty net.

HT: 1 – 2

The second half started scrappily, with neither team able to mount any real chances, although Darlo did struggle to make any inroads into the final third.

The first real point of note of the half saw Wheatley pick up a booking for a tackle on Hemmings which lead to him being taken off and replaced by Jaiden White. The resulting free kick was headed well wide by Keith Lowe.

The Harriers began to reassert themselves on the game and, with sixty five minutes played, Saltmer was called into action again, saving well from an Austin snapshot.

With twenty minutes to go Levi Amantchi was called upon, replacing Wheatley as Alun Armstrong’s men sought an equaliser. They had their first real sustained period of pressure of the half with around fifteen minutes to go, with their best opportunity a header that was glanced wide after another McMahon delivery.

Sterling-James was withdrawn by Russ Penn with nine minutes remaining, with the returning Cliff Moyo being employed in midfield in a bid to see the game out. Almost immediately it was almost three as White and Amari Morgan-Smith combined excellently, with the former holding off the centre back and feeding the Harriers number nine who could only fire a tame effort straight at Saltmer.

Harriers would not be denied though, with the winner being every bit as good as the build up to it was scrappy. Prosser won the ball in a tackle, but unable to control it, it popped out towards Alex Storey where AMS contested a block tackle with the centre half and emerged successful, with the ball squirming out again, this time to an onrushing Sammy Austin who dispatched a fine curling effort past the despairing reach of Saltmer into the top right corner from just outside the area.

A fine end to what conspired to be a fine performance that takes us up to ninth place in the table.

FT: 1 – 3

Goals for Darlington FC: Penny (og) 10

Goals for Harriers: Sterling-James 30, Hemmings 43, Austin 85

The Harriers Online MotM is: Omari Sterling-James

Talk about the game here

Latest table and stats here

Darlington FC	Goals	Subs	Time	Cards
Saltmer
Liddle
Wheatley			71
Hunt
Hadfield			2
Rivers			75
Donawa
Storey
Charman
McMahon
Reid
Subs:
Watson
Hedley			2
Laing
Hudson			75
Amantchi			71
Harriers	Goals	Subs	Time	Cards
Simpson
Penny	og
Richards
Taylor
Lowe
Montrose
Austin
Prosser
Morgan-Smith			91
Hemmings			61
Sterling-James			79
Subs:
Palmer
Martin
Freemantle			91
White			61
Moyo			79
Referee:
Mr John Mulligan
Carlisle