22-11-22. Match report Vs AFC Telford Utd

Harriers break Telford hearts

Report: Phil Lench

The Harriers broke struggling AFC Telford Utd’s hearts this evening when a performance that belied their position at the foot of the table was turned on its head with two late, late goals from the Harriers. Having gone into the lead in the first half through a soft penalty Telford looked to be hanging on to their slender lead following a better second half showing from the Reds but, sadly, Zak Brown and Ethan Freemantle wrecked their hard work.

In front of over 330 Harriers fans, way down on last seasons 803, they took the game to us. Battling and defending stoutly they stopped us settling and gave our debutant players, Reiss McNally, Paddy McLaughlin and the two with a game under their belts, Tom Billson and Joe Leesley, a torrid time but none more so than Caleb Richards and Joe Foulkes who were being well shackled.

We had a shot that went wide from Ashley Hemmings early on but it was Joe Foulkes that gave away the penalty when Modou Faal made his way into the area and found himself softly manhandled to the floor by our tenacious defender. Brendon Daniels stepped up to take the spot kick sending Billson the wrong way.

For the remainder of the half Telford kept the Harriers on the back foot but without really troubling Billson further. Daniels tried his luck from the edge of the area but his shot went wide while Faal had a half chance when a poor headed backpass was headed on by the West Brom loanee but, luckily, went wide. 

The only one of ours they couldn’t cope with was Jack Bearne who made his way forward on countless occasions but his crosses were coming to nothing with no one there to get on the end of them. By the end of the half it was clear that Telford were determined to win this game and that the Harriers didn’t seem to know how to stop them.  

HT: 1 – 0

Russ Penn had obviously been thinking long and hard about the answer to the problem and we came out looking to push Telford back before they could do the same to us. Faster pressing began to bring results for us without us managing to score. Three minutes in and we had our first real chance since Hemmings strike early in the game. The same player made space for himself and fired in a shot that cannoned off the upright back into the area where it was eventually cleared away. Close but not close enough.

Hemmings tried his luck again soon after but his curling effort was too soft and Luke Pilling, in the Telford goal, easily held on to it. Sixty odd minutes in and the first of our subs arrived, well two really, when Tom Owen-Evans and Keziah Martin came on for Paddy McLaughlin and Caleb Richards. The Paddy one was needed as he seemed to be tiring having rarely played this season but the loss of Richards meant a change at the back with Leesley moving into the full back slot.

Minutes after the other full back, Foulkes, went off to be replaced by Ethan Freemantle. Now it was getting confusing! Reiss McNally took over from Joe as we went three at the back and Ethan moved in alongside Amari Morgan-Smith for the first time in ages.

The move, that looked like desperation at first, worked and within minutes we had drawn level. Zak Brown collected the ball and drifted along the edge of the area looking for a gap before curling a shot around a couple of defenders and beyond the rooted Pilling.

The Harriers fans that had been biting their nails in expectation of defeat rose as one in joy but there was still more to come. More pressure from a newly invigorated Harriers forced a corner that Leesley took. It swept in and was punched away by Pilling for another corner on the other side of the pitch. Leesley ran over, took it and this time there was Freemantle surging in to head the ball over Pilling who had for some reason decided to dive towards the turf.

Again the Harriers fans rose as one knowing now that victory had been snatched from the depths of defeat and the first league win since the start of the month was ours. There was no time to add another goal but there was still time for drama.

Deep into injury time and the Reds were keeping possession by taking the ball into the corner. For reasons known only to himself Brendon Daniels thought it would be a good idea to go in two footed on Ethan, get up and walk straight down the tunnel without looking back to see the colour of the card that the referee had taken out. The red card and the red mist were one and the same.

With a long awaited league win delivered we can now look forwards to the visit of Gloucester City this coming Saturday. 

FT: 1 – 2

Goal for AFC Telford Utd: Daniels 23 (pen)

Goals for Harriers: Brown 84, Freemantle 87

The Harriers Online MotM is: Zak Brown

Talk about the game here

Latest table and stats here

AFC Telford Utd	Goals	Subs	Time	Cards
Pilling
Senior
Piggott
M Brown
Flowers
Ekpolo
Chong
Allen
Blissett			68
Daniels
Faal
Subs:
Campbell
Bood
Sloane
Moore			68
Knowles
Harriers	Goals	Subs	Time	Cards
Billson
Foulkes			75
Richards			63
McNally
Pearce
McLaughlin			63
Leesley
Z Brown
Morgan-Smith
Hemmings
Bearne
Subs:
Owen-Evans			63
Martin			63
Margetson
Freemantle			75
Byrne
Referee:
Mr Richard Holmes
Preston