11-02-20 – Report – Farsley Celtic 0 Kidderminster Harriers 1

Ollie Shenton earns the points in frozen Farsley

Report: Phil Lench

Ollie Shenton eased the hearts of the Harriers fans this evening following a day of yet more turmoil within the walls of Aggborough. This morning the departure of our manager, Jimmy Shan, was the bolt from the blue that no wanted to hear and since that mid morning announcement it’s been nothing but doom on the various social media outlets.

Russ Penn was in charge, once again, for this long trip to an arctic Farsley Celtic knowing that nothing but a win would do if he hoped to placate the fans and move us slightly further away from the stragglers in the bottom seven places in the table. That late goal from Ollie gave us the breathing space needed.

There was something of a surprise within the starting line-up with Ryan Johnson out injured; Correy Davidson returned to the eleven, and Ashley Hemmings sent to the bench for reasons unknown; Ethan Freemantle took his place. Harry Higginson was also on the bench following the end of another loan spell with Bromsgrove Sporting.

In a game that had been in doubt due to the poor weather it was good to see that the Farsley groundstaff had managed to provide a playable pitch but the could do nothing about the icy wind that howled around the exposed ground.

The first half was one of very few chances for either side. Early on Adam Clayton saw a header go just wide for the hosts and the Dave Syers tried a volley from outside the area and the wind caught it and sent it looping up well over the crossbar.

It took until the twenty fifth minute for the Harriers to register their first attempt on goal when Freemantle tried to set the ball on its way home only for the Farsley keeper, Bobby Jones, to deflect it the other side of the post with his foot.

Farsley went on the attack again and chances came the way of Jordan Richards as his corner got caught by the wind and almost caught out Will Mannion too as he had to back peddle quickly to make sure it was going over the bar. Syers, again, and Tyler Walton both forced Mannion into two further saves to keep the hosts at bay. Shenton had the last chance for us with a shot that was blocked away.

At least in the second half we’d have the wind behind us.  

HT: 0 – 0

Again it was Farsley that started the second period more positively with Jimmy Spencer getting a shot away only for Mannion to save once more. Alex Prosser responded with a shot fired in from distance but it could only go wide of the target.

He then delivered in a free kick that evaded the Celtic defenders but it also evaded the attentions of Ashley Chambers and Ethan Freemantle too as it skidded past them with the goal at their mercy. Dave Syers, for Farsley, sent yet another wind assisted shot over the bar down the other end but then so did Ollie Shenton when he tried the same up our end, in front of an empty net, and saw that take flight above its intended destination.

Ollie had another chance soon after as the Harriers began to pile on the pressure. This time his on target shot was parried away by Jones who then had to parry away a header from Freemantle. Keith Lowe rushed in to try and send it back in again but just failed to connect.

Another chance came our way with Prosser, again, sending his shot wide before up at Will Mannions end he was doing his part in denying them a chance to score after Spencer got clear only for the on loan keeper to beat him to the loose ball.

After that we made our first change of the evening in sending on Ed Williams for Freemantle and then immediately after another Prosser attempt went wide. It wasn’t going to be his night tonight.

A few minutes later came the goal the game had been crying out for and it came our way. The ball was played into the area and there was Shenton waiting to fire the ball home into the corner of the Farsley net for his third goal of the season.

We almost gave the hard earned advantage away a minute later when Rhys Williams only just avoided putting the ball into his own net. Thankfully it went out for a corner that, ultimately, Dan Ellis could only head onto the roof of the net.

It was now Farsleys turn to pile on the pressure as they went in search of a face saving equaliser. Nathan Cartman broke through and fired towards Mannion only for the keeper to push the ball away and then watch as Sam Austin blocked the returned ball on the line.

With time running out we could have added to the scoreline but in the last minute before the ninety Chambers set up Alex Prosser once more and once more the keeper saved. Chambers himself also had a chance seconds later as he broke clear only for Jones, again, to stop it going in.

The game ended with a scramble to stop the home side grabbing a point as the massed ranks combined to stop them from scoring culminating in Spencers header being cleared off the line from an unidentified player in red.

On to Gateshead on Saturday now. An equally far away place and this time even nearer to the Arctic Circle than it is to Kidderminster. Three points should make it worth the while.

FT: 0 – 1

Goal for Harriers: Shenton 76

Talk about the game here

Latest table and stats here

Farsley Celtic	Goals	Subs	Time	Cards
Jones
Richards
Hayhurst
Higgins
Ellis
Clayton
Walton			65
C Atkinson
Cartman
Syers			78
Spencer
Subs:
Bower
Maltby
Regan			78
B Atkinson			65
Bett
Harriers	Goals	Subs	Time	Cards
Mannion
Austin
Davidson
R Williams
Moyo
Lowe
Prosser
Butterfield
Chambers			90
Freemantle			69
Shenton
Subs:
Palmer
Hemmings			90
Higginson
E Williams			69
Samuels
Referee:
Mr Dean Hulme
Newcastle on Tyne