11-03-24. Kidderminster Harriers Vs AFC Fylde. Match preview

Preview: Phil Lench

In recent weeks the Harriers have gone away to a number of higher placed teams and come away with the points. Those wins against the likes of Hartlepool Utd, Oldham Athletic and Solihull Moors have upset the form book and also given the Harriers fans the belief that Phil Brown can actually perform a miracle and get us out of this mess.

Then we do exactly the opposite and find ourselves playing fellow teams also trying to avoid relegation and turn in a poor performance to draw a game that we’d now be expected to win or even lose after being the better team at some stage of the game. Draws at home to Dorking Wanderers and York City on Saturday were ones that should have seen us gather a further six points while in defeat away at Woking FC we just looked terrible.

Tomorrow we play a team, AFC Fylde, that have been near the zone but have pulled their socks up and almost escaped that situation but could still find themselves back in the mix if we can somehow find our winning form again and put a couple of goals past them. Considering that we’ve only ever won two games against them in eleven meetings makes that task psychologically hard.

A lot of the problem is that we seem to feel that we have to play the same desperate style as them, as we did against York, when if we actually played the ball on the floor and didn’t treat it with fear we might have actually got another three points instead of settling for the one.

If, as looks likely, we’ll still be without Alex Penny through illness then we can expect to see Cole Kpekawa getting another start but I’d like to see him employ a less agricultural technique this time and try and find a team mate rather than the ball landing miles from anyone. His fellow loanee from Bromley FC, Todd Miller, also made his home debut during the second half and made some good runs in trying to wake us from our lethargy. He just needs to find a little composure and he could get to start the game.

It’s up front that our problems seem to be coming from now with none of our strikers warm let alone on fire. Ashley Hemmings is still selfish while Sam Bellis has totally failed to impress anyone. Yes, he chases balls down and tries to scare the keeper but nothing ever comes of it and, apart from a shot that struck the post at Woking, he hasn’t come close to scoring in his ten games so far.

We could start with our former Fylde striker Gold Omotayo instead but sadly he didn’t even chase a ball against York. He could be so much better for us if he tried that little bit harder sometimes.

If Phil Brown could get his boys to get back to the creative side of the game and try to play as a team once again then we might even get a third win against Fylde. The Harriers fans would love that. 

Photo © KHFC

Referee: Mr Aaron Jackson. Liverpool

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