21-04-23. Match preview Vs Southport

Preview: Phil Lench

We’re now into the final days of the normal season and it’s a trip up to sunny Southport that awaits us in this the penultimate game. The season ‘ends’ at home to Kettering Town next Saturday and we need maximum points from both games to give us an outside chance of reaching the play off stages.

We had some help on Tuesday when results went our way after Curzon Ashton beat Darlington to remove them from the top seven temporarily but at the same time also move Curzon closer to them. Alfreton Town got a draw at Banbury Utd to keep them in the play-offs. Both themselves and Curzon also have a game in hand over everyone else with the Nash at home to AFC Fylde next Tuesday and Alfreton away to Bradford (PA) the following evening.

We’ll be watching closely but we do have to win both of our games too starting tomorrow.

Last Saturday we turned in one of our better showings of the season in beating relegated AFC Telford Utd 3-1 at Aggborough. Telford were poor though and any team would have beaten them just by turning up. Again, for the fourth game in a row, we opened our scoring early when Shane Byrne scored in the first minute. Krystian Pearce and Ashley Hemmings added the other goals while at the other end Christian Dibble kept his fifth clean sheet running.

While we’ve been on this winning run our opponents tomorrow, Southport, have been in a terrible run of form. Six defeats in a row have seen them perilously close to the relegation zone but probably unlikely to actually drop that low. On Tuesday evening they crashed 3-1 at home to Spennymoor Town.

On Saturday Joe Leesley played most of the game with a groin strain and he’ll probably play with that strain again tomorrow. I went to training yesterday and he didn’t take any real part in it just happy enough to kick loose balls back and keeping the place tidy. Also not there was Ethan Freemantle and Joe McGlynn due to their long term injuries but the most obvious absence was Tom Owen-Evans who was no-where to be seen. It’s disappointing to see that one of our big signings at the start of the season is no longer involved in training.   

The only one missing from the Southport team that I can see is the former Harrier Nyall Bell. He got a ACL injury before the start of the season and it looks as if he now won’t be back for them until next season. You have to feel for him having to miss a whole season but that’s the risk you take in football.

With the Harriers in good form and Port in such poor form it looks to be a win for us, on paper, but it never works that way does it? 

Teams:

Harriers from:

Palmer, Dibble, Penny, Richards, Morrison, Knight-Percival, Foulkes, Leak, McNally, Pearce, Byrne, Leesley, Brown, Lissimore, Owen-Evans, Hall, Martin, Tolley, Bearne, Hemmings, Morgan-Smith.

Southport from:

McMillan, Goudie, Wade, Oliver, J Doyle, C Doyle, Anson, Evans, Munro, Archer, Walton, Heath, Quansah, Hmami, Vassallo, Watson, Bainbridge, Carberry, Miles, Adams. 

Referee: Mr Matthew McQuillan. Wigan

Talk about the game here

Links to Southport websites here

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