18-01-20 – Report – Kidderminster Harriers 1 Spennymoor Town 1

The Harriers and Spennymoor fight out a tough encounter

Report: Harriershane

The week leading up to this game was dominated by a flurry of activity by the club, with two new signings, one on loan, and a fans forum which yielded its own revelations, such as the transfer embargo the club had been placed under at the end of last year. The general reaction to the forum was a positive one and that positivity appeared to spill into the stands and into the play on the pitch.

One of those new signings, Samir Nabi, was only good enough for a place on the bench whilst the Wolves loanee, Austin Samuels, was handed a starting berth up front with Ashleys’ Chambers and Hemmings appearing to play just off him.

An eyebrow may have been raised with Oliver Shenton being handed the number three shirt but it appeared he played further forward in what could have been viewed as a 4-3-2-1 formation when they had the ball and a 3-4-2-1 when we had possession.

The first effort of the game was a Hemmings effort which went well wide; the less said about that the better. With ten minutes played the Harriers had a penalty shout denied as James Curtis used his strength in a coming together that could be filed in the “seen them given” category. Spennymoor’s first effort came courtesy of Lewis Butroid, with Will Mannion equal to it.

The Harriers seemed to gain a foothold in the game retaining possession regularly and utilising the pace and work ethic of Sam Austin, targeting him with diagonal balls throughout. Hemmings saw another shot fly wide of the post before Glen Taylor narrowly missed out on connecting with Andrew Johnsons’ dangerous delivery.

Hemmings was dangerous throughout the first half and it was his industry that created the best chance of the half to date – playing in Samuels who could only scuff his shot but the young striker was acquitting himself well against the experienced quality of James Curtis, working hard off the ball. This was epitomised with the veteran defender hacking the youngster down on the halfway line in front of the East Stand as he tried to break.

Before conceding, Harriers almost went in front when the Moors keeper, Matthew Gould, spilled a Hemmings effort wide. The corner came in and was cleared before the Moors took the lead with a counter attack executed with surgical precision at great pace.

Cleared up to Taylor, the ball was then slipped into James Roberts who found the onrushing Tyler Forbes, he showed great composure to square for Rob Ramshaw who slammed home for an undeserved lead, very much against the run of play. How’s your luck?

Fortunately, the Harriers response was superb, winning a free kick inside the D. Hemmings fired it low but straight into the wall. The rebound fell back to him and he struck a venomous effort back towards goal, where it was cleared by star striker Glen Taylor.

Harriers were not to be denied though as they pulled level straight after. Hemmings again found himself in a central position and scooped the ball in behind for Chambers who headed the ball, backwards, past the onrushing Gould. Samuels, on the stroke of half time, managed to work a slight opportunity but his effort was under Gould and wide of the post.

HT: 1 – 1

A lot of the positive play from Harriers was being enabled by Alex Prosser, who was excellent throughout in the central midfield role. The second half was very much in the balance but Harriers did have the ball in the net on the hour mark when Hemmings headed home a superb delivery from Ryan Johnson. Sadly, he was offside.

The Harriers offensive then resumed with Samuels holding off the attentions of both Curtis and Nathan Buddle, but his shot was off balance under that significant pressure and saved comfortably.

The Moors did strike the woodwork from a wide position as Johnson’s free kick was swung in and clipped the bar on its way over. This signalled the start of a ten minute spell between the 65th and 75th minutes where Spennymoor looked the most likely to score, with Taylor forcing Will Mannion into a save whilst several good positions were squandered at the final ball.

With ten minutes to go the Harriers came again. A superb ball through to Chambers saw him have to chip Gould to get an effort on goal. It was heading in before Forbes headed off the line despite the attentions of an onrushing Samuels. Substitute  Correy Davidson offered some added width to the Harriers attack and it was the Irishman’s wicked delivery that found Chambers who could only head over as he rushed in.

Harriers were in the ascendency but ultimately the clock beat them. The point earned keeps them in eighteenth place in the table after briefly dropping down one place due to Gloucester City leading at Guiseley. Luckily for us Guiseley turned it round to win 2-1 and so keep us where we were.

We now have two very tough away games at Boston Utd and table toppers Kings Lynn Town. To get something from them we’l have to be right at the top of our game because we’re still deep in trouble at the bottom and we have to do all we can to get away from there. 

FT: 1 – 1

Goal for Harriers: Chambers 40

Goal for Spennymoor: Ramshaw 36

The Harriers Online MotM is: Alex Prosser

Talk about the game here

Latest table and stats here

Harriers	Goals	Subs	Time	Cards
Mannion
Austin
Shenton			76
Moyo
R Johnson
Lowe
Prosser
Butterfield
Chambers
Hemmings
Samuels			85
Subs:
Palmer
Freemantle			85
Nabi
Digie
Davidson			76
Spennymoor Town	Goals	Subs	Time	Cards
Gould
Forbes
Butroid
Chandler
Buddle
Curtis
Roberts
Henry
Taylor
Ramshaw
A Johnson			85
Subs:
Mason
Earing
Anderson			85
Boyes
Cogden
Referee:
Mr Matthew Corlett
Liverpool