21-03-22 – Preview – Kidderminster Harriers Vs Chorley FC

Preview: Phil Lench

Harriers supporters will be hoping that the misery comes to an end tomorrow evening when fellow play-off hopefuls, Chorley FC, arrive at Aggborough. Both teams suffered a 1-0 defeat at the weekend but Chorleys’ wasn’t really expected after they lost at home to strugglers Blyth Spartans. At least our defeat was expected losing at second placed Brackley Town.

That defeat was our fourth in five games and was a continuation of our poor form since the end of February. In that time we’ve only scored once and that was a penalty up at Farsley Celtic – another defeat and the start of this particular poor run. Sooner or later we’re going to have to get back in the groove because Saturdays result dropped us down to fourth place and defeat tomorrow would see Chorley go within three points of us and with a game in hand too.

The answer and remedy for this form is hard to pinpoint with some saying it’s down to a lack of confidence since the injury to Matt Preston. Some say it’s due to not having a creative midfielder on the pitch meaning that the ball is being launched from the back for our lone front runner, Amari Morgan-Smith, to chase after. That policy has also seen our passing game forgotten as we resort to desperation tactics. Others say that we need to start playing two upfront and that should be easy to remedy.

At the minute though we have a mini injury crisis in defence with Nathan Cameron missing while Alex Penny still seems to be playing with a slight limp. At Brackley Joe Foulkes also took yet another clattering and was down injured for quite a while but recovered enough to carry on. Hopefully it’s nothing to worry about and he’ll be ok to play but if not then we could be struggling for defensive numbers with Ryan Nolan nowhere near match fitness.

Like us Chorley are on a run of poor form but they have at least won two of their games in the last five. Both 2-1 wins away to Chester FC and at home to Southport. The only known player missing for them should be Harvey Smith who will be serving part of a three match suspension.

Now this last bit is beginning to get a little repetitive. This is a game we simply have to win otherwise that slippery slope to extra play-off games will be drawing ever closer. We have to begin the climb back to third place asap.

Teams:

Harriers from:

Simpson, Emery, Richards, Cameron, Foulkes, Moyo, Nolan, Penny, Bajrami, Lowe, Austin, Redmond, Lissimore, Montrose, Carrington, Martin, Freemantle, Bastable, Tolley, Hemmings, Bell, Morgan-Smith, White, Sterling-James.

Chorley FC from:

Urwin, Henley, Smith, Halls, Leather, Baines, Blakeman, Shorrock, Whitehouse, Calveley, Tomlinson, Shenton, Birchall, Sampson, Ustabasi, Blyth, Alli, Hall, McHale, Holmes.

Referee: Mr Oliver Mackey. Leicester

Shanes Opposition Stats Pack:

Away from home in the league: (P15, W5, D6, L4) AFC Telford 3-0, Alfreton 0-1, Blyth 0-2, Guiseley 0-0, Southport 0-0, Hereford 1-0, Boston 2-2, York 1-1, Fylde 1-2, Gateshead 0-1, Brackley 0-0, Farsley 3-3, Leamington 2-1, Darlington 3-0, Chester 1-2

Goals (all competitions): 10 – Hall, 7 – Cardwell (no longer with the club), 5 – Shenton, 4 – Alli, 3 – Ustabasi, 3 – Calveley, 3 – Blakeman, 2 – Whitehouse, 2 – Tomlinson, 2 – Sampson, 2 – Leather, 2 – Holmes, 2 – Blyth, 1 – Smith, 1 – Baines, 1 – Own goal.

The streaks (league only):

Games since last win: 1

Games since last away win: 0

Games since last draw: 6

Games since last away draw: 3

Games since last defeat: 0

Games since last away defeat: 1

Games since last clean sheet: 9

Games since last away clean sheet: 4

The Squad (appearances are starts + sub, includes both league and cups):

Goalkeepers: Matt Urwin (P34 conceded 38, saved 2 out of 4 penalties).

Defence: Lewis Baines (P34, 1 goal), Adam Blakeman (P28, 3 goals), Andy Halls (P12), Adam Henley (P23) Scott Leather (P31), Harvey Smith (P27, 1 goal), Kai Shorrock (P0).

Midfield: Mike Calveley (P34, 3 goals), Ollie Shenton (P24, 5 goals), Will Tomlinson (P31, 2 goals of which 1 was a penalty), Billy Whitehouse (P34, 2 goals), Liam Birchall (P0).

Attack: Millenic Alli (P24, 4 goals), Jacob Blyth (P15, 2 goals), Connor Hall (P27, 10 goals 1 of which was a penalty), Brad Holmes (P10, 2 goals, on loan from Blackpool), Callum McHale (P0), Jack Sampson (P5, 2 goals. 23 games for Fylde without scoring), Jonathan Ustabasi (P29, 4 goals).

Harvey Smith should miss out as he’s serving a suspension after picking up his second red card of the season against Spennymoor and has missed the last two games.

In the ten games since the loss of forward Harry Cardwell to Southend for an undisclosed fee, they’ve lost 4 games although they have all been in the space of the last six weeks.

Talk about the game here

Links to Chorley FC websites here

Find Pubs around Kidderminster here