| Venue: Haig Avenue Date: 22-04-23 Southport 1 Harriers 3 Att: 1080 (away fans: 190) |
Harriers take it to the wire
Report: Phil Lench
The Harriers came away from Southport with yet another win under their belts and a better chance of reaching the play-offs than anyone would have thought they would have done some ten games ago when we were struggling to score a goal let alone picking up three points. Todays win was our fifth in a row and it was also the fifth time in a row that we’ve scored our first goal within five minutes if the game starting.
Today saw us score in the very first minute for the third time when Ashley Hemmings and Joe Foulkes combined from the kick off to bring a happy smile to the faces of the almost two hundred Harriers followers attending the game. It took just twenty seconds for Joe to beat his man and cross the ball in for Hemmo to side foot it in off the post to the far side of the goal and leave the home keeper, Tony McMillan, scratching his head wondering just what had gone wrong.
With the same starting formation as in the last game, at home to AFC Telford Utd, it was the Harriers that dominated the first half in a, for once, sunny and warm Southport. The only downer was the failure to add to the opening goal but it wasn’t for trying.
Southport were very, very poor and there for the taking although they did come close five minutes following our goal when Connor Heath tested Christian Dibble after winning the battle for the ball with Krystian Pearce. Dibble saved it without much problem but for the remainder of the game Heath made a pathetic habit of standing next to Dibble at every goal kick in the vain hope that he was going to drop the ball for him.
We next went close through Amari Morgan-Smith when he skewed his shot, on the angle, just wide of the post and then Hemmings achieved similar five minutes before the break when his shot was pushed around the corner by McMillan.
On balance of play in the first half I’d say we had at least 70% of it.
HT: 0 – 1
It was obvious that the second half was going to be a different game and so it was. Southport came out with a more pressing intent and playing a higher line. It looked a little worrying for us because this time it was the hosts getting the lions share of the possession.
AMS should have got the second goal soon after the re-start when both Hemmings and himself broke free from the defence but they seemed to knock into each other and with AMS slightly wrong footed he tried to lob the keeper but the keeper got a touch on the ball to push it over the bar.
Just under the hour mark and Caleb Richards and Adam Anson collided in the area. Anson dropped like a stone and the referee pointed to the spot, ignoring all the pleas of injustice from the Harriers players. Charlie Oliver took the spot kick and got his side back into the game with a well taken penalty that gave Dibble no chance of stopping.
Joe Leesley, seeing we were losing grasp, rallied his troops to up the game and they did just that. For the next ten minutes we regained the upperhand in terms of possession as Hemmings sent a shot over the bar just minutes before a Leesley corner was played to the far post where a scramble for the ball saw Morgan-Smith come out on top as his head got the all important touch to send it into the back of the net and with it we were back in control.
It didn’t take long for us to make the game safe when Leesley beat his markers one after the other, out wide, and whipped in a lovely cross that Hemmo nodded home with ease to send the Harriers fans into seventh heaven.
We were content to manage the game out to the end with three late substitutions to slow it all down. The win sends us soaring up from eleventh in the table up to ninth place and right onto the very edge of the play-off places. Next Saturday see’s us at home to relegation threatened Kettering Town in the final game of the normal season and it’s a game that we need to get all three points from and hope that those above us slip up.
FT: 1 – 3
Goal for Southport: Oliver 58 (pen)
Goals for Harriers: Hemmings 1, 77, Morgan-Smith 70
The Harriers Online MotM is: Joe Foulkes
Talk about the game here
Latest table and stats here
| Southport | Goals | Subs | Time | Cards |
| McMillan | ||||
| Oliver |  | |||
| Watson |  | 55 | ||
| C Doyle | ||||
| Anson | ||||
| Hmami |  | 75 | ||
| Carberry |  | 79 | ||
| Munro | ||||
| C Heath | ||||
| Bainbridge | ||||
| Walton | ||||
| Subs: | ||||
| Wade | ||||
| Adams | ||||
| Miles |  | 55 | ||
| Vassallo |  | 75 | ||
| F Heath |  | 79 | ||
| Harriers | Goals | Subs | Time | Cards |
| Dibble | ||||
| Foulkes | ||||
| Richards | ||||
| Penny | ||||
| Pearce | ||||
| Morrison |  | |||
| Leesley | | 88 | ||
| Brown | | 91 | ||
| Morgan-Smith | | |||
| Hemmings | | | 92 | |
| Byrne | ||||
| Subs: | ||||
| Palmer | ||||
| Knight-Percival | | 88 | ||
| Lissimore | | 91 | ||
| Bearne | ||||
| Hall | | 92 | ||
| Referee: | ||||
| Mr Matthew McQuillan | ||||
| Wigan | ||||