Match preview Vs Brackley Town Venue: St James Park Date: 19-03-22 Kick off: 15:00hrs |
Preview: Phil Lench
That run of defeats ended at Spennymoor Town on Tuesday evening when the Harriers battled their way to a scoreless draw and stemmed a three game run of losses before it got out of hand. A return to the side for Cliff Moyo was a surprise on the night and he did well enough in his forty five minutes of game time to bode well that he could feature in more games at this crucial time of the season. Cliff was eventually forced off with a tight hamstring and Joe Foulkes came on for him.
Moyo came in due to the injury to Nathan Cameron and also because of the doubts surrounding the future of new loan signing Ryan Nolan with the club after playing just a hour against AFC Fylde when he looked unsure, out of his depth and subsequently pulled from the pitch. He has probably been given a little longer to gell with his team mates but there has been no mention of his status from the club since last Saturday.
With the ‘rot stopped’ we now travel again to take on second placed Brackley Town tomorrow.
As usual with Brackley they’re never a spectacular team to watch but they grind out results one after the other and are always up near the top of the table season in, season out. They don’t usually score hatfuls of goals in a game – except for when they beat Guiseley AFC 5-0 away the other week. They’ve always been tight at the back and it’s up to us to break them down.
They recently signed Jaanai Gordon from Hereford FC, a player that never really impressed with the Bulls, and he’s formed a striking partnership with Lee Ndlovu that is already reaping benefits for The Saints. They also signed Max Dyche on loan from Northampton Town recently.
With both sides almost at full strength and a sunny day expected it looks likely that we’ll be seeing a good game of football if we can keep the ball on the floor and there lies our problem of late. We seem to have forgotten how to play. Let’s hope that tomorrow is when it all clicks back into place.
Photo © KHFC
Teams:
Harriers from:
Simpson, Emery, C Richards, Cameron, Foulkes, Moyo, Nolan, Penny, Bajrami, K Lowe, Austin, Redmond, Lissimore, Montrose, Carrington, Martin, Freemantle, Bastable, Tolley, Hemmings, Bell, Morgan-Smith, White, Sterling-James.
Brackley Town from:
Lewis, Worby, Dean, Myles, Franklin, Dyche, Cullinane-Liburd, Wise, Lomas, Armson, M Lowe, Murombedzi, Walker, York, Prosser, J Richards, Putz, Ndlovu, Rolt, Mitford, Yussuf, Gordon.
Referee: Mr Dale Wootton. Cheltenham
Shanes Opposition Stats Pack:
At home in the league: (P14, W11, D2, L1) Leamington 2-1, Southport 1-0, Darlington 1-3, Gloucester 1-0, Spennymoor 2-0, Curzon Ashton 0-0, Guiseley 1-0, Hereford 1-0, Kettering 1-0, Chorley 0-0, Farsley 3-2, Fylde 1-0, BPA 3-0, AFC Telford 2-1
Goals (all competitions): 15 – Ndlovu, 12 – Lowe, 6 – Gordon (5 at Hereford), 5 – Armson, 4 – Mitford, 3 – Yusuf, 2 – York, 2 – Dean, 2 – Cullinane-Liburd, 1 – Walker, 1 – Rolt, 1 – Richards, 1 – Myles, 1 – Murombedzi, 1 – Dyche, 1 – Own Goal.
The streaks (league only):
Games since last win: 0
Games since last home win: 0
Games since last draw: 2
Games since last home draw: 4
Games since last defeat: 11
Games since last home defeat: 12
Games since last clean sheet: 1
Games since last home clean sheet: 1
The Squad (appearances are starts + sub, includes both league and cups):
Goalkeepers: Danny Lewis (P36 conceded 26, saved 1 from 2 penalties), Ali Worby (P0).
Defence: Jordan Cullinane-Liburd (P20, 2 goals), Gareth Dean (P35, 2 goals), Max Dyche (P5, 1 goal, on loan from Northampton), Connor Franklin (P14), Louis Lomas (P34), Ellis Myles (P29, 1 goal), Shepherd Murombedzi (P33, 1 goal).
Midfield: James Armson (P28, 5 goals, 1 out of 2 penalties), Matt Lowe (P35, 12 goals, 1 out of 2 penalties), Alex Prosser (P6), Jeff Putz (P6), Jordan Richards (P14, 1 goal), Brad Rolt (P14), Glenn Walker (P35, 1 goal), Wes York (P31, 2 goals), Twariq Yusef (P28, 3 goals).
Attack: Jaanai Gordon (P4, 1 goal), Fabio Lopes (P3), Tre Mitford (P21, 4 goals), Lee Ndlovu (P36, 15 goals).
Max Dyche got sent off in the 0-0 draw at Southport on March 5th, so could potentially be out of Saturday’s game.
The addition of Jaanai Gordon from Hereford has been a good one, providing much needed cover for the always dangerous Lee Ndlovu, although they played as a partnership in their last couple of games which could spell danger for Harriers given their collective pace and power. It’s ironic really, as some observers opined that The Saints may struggle to replace Shane Byrne when he joined Boston but really, they’ve gone from strength to strength.
I’ve always called them the National League North Arsenal, mainly because they’d always finish fourth, but this season “1-0 to the Brackley” is a saintly refrain for their fans, if you will, as they look to win the league. As is oft said, goals win games, defences win titles – and that certainly applies to the NLN title race between them and Gateshead this season.
Talk about the game here
Links to Brackley Town websites here
Find Pubs around Kidderminster here
Previous games against Brackley Town | |||||
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Played: 10Won: 3Drew: 0Lost: 7 | |||||
Results marked (v) are for information only following the season being made null & void in 2021 due to the pandemic | |||||
Date | H/A | Comp: | Score | Goals | Att: (away) |
09-10-2021 | H | National North | 0 – 2 | 1764 (53) | |
17-11-2020 | A | National North | 0 – 2 (v) | Morgan-Smith, Austin | 0000 |
28-12-2019 | A | National North | 2 – 0 | 775 (150) | |
03-09-2019 | H | National North | 1 – 3 | Davidson | 1069 (32) |
23-03-2019 | A | National North | 3 – 1 | Ironside | 845 (150) |
08-12-2018 | H | National North | 2 – 0 | Chambers 2 | 1288 (58) |
02-04-2018 | H | National North | 2 – 1 | Horsfall, Bradley | 1935 (80) |
28-08-2017 | A | National North | 2 – 0 | 690 (150) | |
28-02-2017 | A | National North | 2 – 0 | 371 (150) | |
09-08-2016 | H | National North | 1 – 2 | Waite | 1446 (31) |