22-12-23. Kidderminster Harriers Vs Southend Utd. Match preview

Preview: Phil Lench

The Harriers will be getting Christmas underway with a first visit since 2005 for former League club Southend Utd. A team we played ten times during our short spell there from the turn of the Millennium.

We would have been hoping for some Christmas cheer after a short unbeaten run should have been continued at Maidenhead Utd last weekend but a poor and un-inspiring performance saw us fail to threaten an equally poor Magpies for almost the whole game. Where had the upbeat football from the previous three games gone?

It had gone in negative tactics from an over cautious manager who thought the fans had had enough excitement for one day and it was time to get back to the boring, laboured football that could end up driving fans away and almost certain relegation if he doesn’t see the light of day and throw his bloody negative tactics out the window.

Maybe tomorrow he’ll play two upfront, together, and not this awful lone striker and a partner twenty feet away from him that he employed with Amari Morgan-Smith and Ashley Hemmings last week. Or was it the too deep Ben Tollitt and AMS that didn’t work. Possibly the AMS/Jack Lambert formation with AMS a mile behind and Lambert crossing to no one in particular. It wasn’t until Gold Omotayo came on with ten minutes to go that we looked dangerous.

Tomorrow we might get to see Gold actually start and get to see what damage he can do over ninety minutes (more like sixty before AMS comes on).

Our guests beat us 2-1 back in September when we played them at Roots Hall with them scoring in the final minute of the game after we had been hoping to hold onto a point following a spirited display out East. At the time Southend had just been deducted ten points but had begun to make that difference up having beaten us and they now sit in sixteenth place but could be in eighth instead.

Back when we played them they were having problems fielding a team and that part of the deduction still exists with the club still under a transfer embargo. Last week they could only name a twelve man squad for the home defeat to Bromley and ended up playing a midfielder in goal after David Martin got injured and a defender playing up front as a lone striker.

They’re hoping to have more players back for tomorrow but their star striker, Harry Cardwell, could be out injured for quite a while. Suits us more if they’re as weak as possible.

During the week the club announced the arrival of Dean Holdsworth as our first ever Director of Football. The reasoning behind this move is hard to fathom and most fans believe that a former much loved manager is lurking in the background still. You can read more about the fans views here and it’s far more informative than the official site.

It seems that the Christmas turkey came early last week at Maidenhead so let’s hope it’s been well and truly cooked since then and we can enjoy something more festive tomorrow. 

Photo © KHFC

Referee: Mr Dale Baines. Liverpool

Talk about the game here

Links to Southend Utd websites here

Find Pubs around Kidderminster here