Venue: Bloomfields Date: 19-10-24 Needham Market 0 Harriers 3 Att: 462 (away fans: 100) |
Harriers get their first away win since the opening day
Report: Phil Lench
The Harriers cruised to their first away win, at Needham Market, since the opening day of the season way back on August 10th when we came away from Darlington FC with a 2-1 win. A first double goal tally from any player so far saw Ashley Hemmings gain that accolade.
It was a just reward for him after his poor performance against Guiseley AFC in the FA Cup last Saturday that saw the Reds go crashing out following a multitude of missed chances by him, including a poorly taken penalty kick. A performance that led to the whole team having to report for training on a Sunday.
Today was a different matter though and it looked like lessons had been learnt although the first half was a scrappy affair from both sides but still saw the Harriers going into the break two goals to the good.
It was the hosts that had the first sighting of goal when the Seb Thompson lookalike, Nico Valentine, took the ball to the byeline and tried to then get the ball past Christian Dibble, Hemmo style. Dibble pushed it away for a corner and the resulting shot went over the bar.
Soon after a penalty miss-like free kick from Hemmings he finally banished his demons a few minutes later when he met Joe Foulkes excellent cross into the box with a diving header beyond the amply bodied Marcus Garnham.
Ten minutes later and it was 2-0 and that goal came from the unlikely boot of David Davis. MotM Reece Devine pulled the ball back from the byeline into the path of Davis and he fired home through the Needham defence.
It could have been three before the break when Caleb Richards got into the area but he fired his chance across the face of goal.
HT: 0 – 2
Both sides came out for the second half with a little m0re purpose but it was the Harriers who increased their lead eight minutes in when Hemmings added his second goal of the day after Amari Morgan-Smith had laid the ball off to him inside the area and Hemmo diverted the ball beyond Garnham to seal the points.
It could have been a hat trick for the number ten when Maz Kouhyar set him up but he blazed his shot way over the bar much to his embarrassment. AMS himself almost added his name to the list but his shot hit the base of the post and went out of play.
Sensing the game was won we began to sit back a little and make changes. Off went AMS, Kouhyar and Zak Brown voluntarily for Harry Ibbitson, Jack Lambert and Maliq Cadogan while Joe Foulkes was replaced by Tope Obadeyi after Joe had picked up a slight knock.
Apart from a Dibble save from a Needham player the home team offered very little and look to be spending a shorter time than they would like in this division while a home win for us against Marine AFC on Tuesday could see us renewing our faltering bid for promotion back into the top level after just one seasons absence.
Early days yet though.
FT: 0 – 3
Goals for Harriers: Hemmings 33, 54, Davis 43
The Harriers Online MotM is: Reece Devine
Talk about the game here
Latest table and stats here
Needham Market | Goals | Subs | Time | Cards |
Garnham | ||||
Dye | ||||
Smith | 25 | |||
Hammond | ||||
K Morphew | 46 | |||
Hunter | ||||
Ingram | ||||
Valentine | 63 | |||
Tomlinson | ||||
Lambe | 72 | |||
Allen | ||||
Subs: | ||||
Chambers | 72 | |||
Lay | ||||
Fraser | 63 | |||
McGrath | 25 | |||
Mills | 46 | |||
Harriers | Goals | Subs | Time | Cards |
Dibble | ||||
Foulkes | 77 | |||
Richards | ||||
Kandola | ||||
McNally | ||||
Davis | ||||
Devine | ||||
Brown | 83 | |||
Morgan-Smith | 83 | |||
Hemmings | ||||
Kouhyar | 66 | |||
Subs: | ||||
Palmer | ||||
Lambert | 66 | |||
Cadogan | 83 | |||
Ibbitson | 83 | |||
Obadeyi | 77 | |||
Referee: | ||||
Mr Nathan Oakes | ||||
Colchester |