18-03-23. Match report Vs Gloucester City

Better but we gave it all away

Report: Phil Lench

A far better showing from the Harriers in the storms at Gloucester City today was ultimately let down by us giving a goal away at the death after leading the game for so long. Question have to be asked though why, after taking the lead, we didn’t go on to add a second goal at some point in the game after the amount of chances that we did have were, basically, squandered. It all comes down to a barebones strikeforce low on confidence being asked to do a job that they are not skilled enough, at this level, to carry out.

I won’t name names but the striker that we seem to be relying on lately doesn’t have the skill, brain, talent or wherewithal to carry out the simplest of a strikers role and would struggle in a team a level, or two, below the one he’s playing at now.

With the game being played out in something more than a typical April shower in March (I blame Gertie Thunderpants and global warming) it was the Harriers that dominated the first half. City, unbeaten at home since Darlington FC beat them at the New Meadow on December 10th, had no answer to our play and struggled to cope. Their answer, strangely, seemed to be to go to ground holding a leg in an attempt to interrupt our pressure.

It took eight minutes for us to go into the lead. We won a corner that was played short by Ashley Hemmings to Joe Foulkes. He played the ball back to Hemmings who took aim and hit the crossbar with the ball bouncing back down into a ruck of players. Shane Byrne was the one who got a lucky foot to the ball and scrambled it into the net past Brandon Hall, the former Harriers keeper who wanted to move back to London.

Kai Lissimore sent in a shot that Brandon tipped over and Zak Brown sent a somewhat weak effort into his grateful armes. We continued to press Halls goal but most of the ensuing chances were wasted by poor decision making in front of goal.

By this time the rain was stair rodding it down and it slowed the game down a bit even though the plastic turf was perfectly playable unlike a normat turf surface would be with the amount of water dropping onto it.

In a rare City foray forward Lissimore found his name going into the referee’s notepad even though the slight shirt pull out on the touchline didn’t really warrant a yellow. Just a free kick would have sufficed. Later on in the game he was shoulder to shoulder with one of theirs and the ref again called him over as he reached to his pocket. He turned him round to check his name but Byrne came over and talked him out of it thankfully. It would have been a terrible reason to send a player off.

Next with a chance to add to the scoreline was Joe Foulkes with a lovely header from a crossed ball but, sadly, it went just over the bar, again. The final chance of the half went Caleb Richards way but his shot in was blocked. 

All told it was a first forty five that could have seen us return to the dressing rooms with a three goal lead and, at the least, two goals. It looked promising for the second half.    

HT: 0 – 1

The rain had stopped by the time the game resumed so that promise was on. No it wasn’t because we just didn’t kick on.

City had made a change at the break due to a hamstring injury to Owen Evans (no, not our Owen-Evans) but they didn’t seem to kick on either although the Harriers fans were expecting them to come back out with their ears ringing. We had made a change of our own but that was just precautionary with Keziah Martin replacing Lissimore withdrawn for his own sake.

It was through Martin that we should have got that all important second goal when he was pulled backwards in the penalty area but the referee, well placed, didn’t think so and waved our calls away. Soon after came the hosts first real chance of the game, on the hour mark, when the disappointing Kieran Phillips found himself unmarked and headed a searching cross over the bar. He should really have scored though.

Ethan Freemantle had one of many chances to get onto the scoresheet but, as on many previous occasions the ball got stuck under his feet and the defender deprived him of the ball oh so easily. He was then taken off in favour of Amari Morgan-Smith to give us a bit more muscle upfront. We had all been expecting a double sub though with Jack Bearne also coming on to give us some electric pace out wide and, maybe, put in a telling cross or two. A bit naive from our management team sadly.

Following a period of nothing much happening it was Richards that took up the gauntlet to try and get something more from the game. His mazy run from the halfway line saw him skip one challenge, avoid another tackle and advance into the area to fire off a shot that went just over the bar. 

Gloucester then began to ‘lose it’ a bit as tempers flared due to their own frustration. One player Zak Brown over and got away with it then minutes later all hell broke loose when Ben Morgan pulled Reiss McNally over. McNally pushed him back and everyone piled in with the melee ending in a card apiece.

Five minutes extra was announced and all we had to do was hang on. Keep banging that ball forward, defend tight and don’t give them an inch.

Topi Obadeyi was given too much time to put a cross into the area and, as the ball skimmed across the face of the goal, JJ Hooper seemed to get his knee in the way and the ball headed for goal just as Krystian Pearce tried to get a foot to it but could only help it home beyond the reach of Christian Dibble. That was the ninety third minute and we should have had the game sewn up by then.

The goal was incorrectly awarded to Obadeyi but as photo evidence shows he couldn’t have scored from the touchline.

We all knew it was going to happen but when it came it was gutting and it was all down to more game management and poor management by the management.

FT: 1 – 1

Goal for Gloucester City: Byrne 8

Goal for Harriers: Hooper 93

The Harriers Online MotM is: Kyle Morrison

Talk about the game here

Latest table and stats here

Gloucester City	Goals	Subs	Time	Cards
B Hall
Leadbitter
Evans			46
Nirennold
Nugent			31
Morgan
Tiensa
Dada			74
Phillips
McHale
Agyepong
Subs:
Armstrong
Hooper			74
Gyasi
Obadeyi			31
O’Sullivan			46
Harriers	Goals	Subs	Time	Cards
Dibble
Foulkes
Richards
McNally
Pearce
Morrison
Brown
Lissimore			46
Freemantle			76
Hemmings
Byrne
Subs:
Leak
Morgan-Smith			76
Bearne
Martin			46
K Hall
Referee:
Mr Darren Rogers
Warrington