23-01-24. Hartlepool Utd 0 Kidderminster Harriers 1. Match report

Harriers win in the wind and rain

Report: Phil Lench

Storm Isha was in charge for this game tonight (or was it Storm Jocelyn?) that saw the Harriers battling the elements at Hartlepool and coming out on top. A single goal from Ashley Hemmings (or was it Amari Morgan-Smith?) in the second half got us all three points and a 100% record for our new manager Phil Brown too. The win has also taken us off the foot of the table to move us up one place to twenty third.

There was just the one change to Saturday, when we came from behind to beat Aldershot Town, with Gold Omotayo replacing Amari Morgan-Smith. It was the Harriers that started the better of the two and within the first ten minutes we could have been three goals up if we had only a bit more composed in front of goal. Hemmings, Gold, Sam Bellis and Jack Lambert all trying their luck but not quite getting it right. Lamberts shot is still coming down.

Slowly the hosts began to gain control of the game but the Harriers defence was standing strong and limiting them to half chances and what did get through was kept out by a valiant Christian Dibble who parried away Tom Crawfords shot and then dropped down to deny Anthony Mancini scrambling it over the line.

Again it was Dibble to the rescue when he blocked out the veteran Nicky Featherstones cross come shot. The half ended with Pools on top but the Harriers were still in the game through sheer hard work. 

HT: 0 – 0

For the second half the Harriers were playing with the wind although it was swirling around quite a bit and making it hard for both side. It was the hosts that still had the edge though but they just hadn’t got the firepower or the nous to do anything with the possession they had.

It took until the sixtieth minute for the game to swing our way. AMS had just come on for the disappointing Omotayo and we began to press Hartlepool more with the intention of winning the ball. That came to fruition when we won the ball in the middle of the park and Hemmings was played in to cross the ball deep into the area where Amari was waiting. He appeared to get a head to it and it went down into the corner beyond the reach of Joel Dixon in the Hartlepool goal. Or did he???

After the game it was confirmed that it was actually scored by Hemmings and had evaded the head of AMS all along. 

The goal seemed to knock the steam out of Hartlepool and for a while it was the Harriers that took control of the game as Bellis had a shot but it was put out for a corner by a defender. The final chance for the home side to rescue something from the game came late on when Luke Hendrie fired a shot in but another brilliant block from Dibble kept the ball out and cleared away by our solid defenders.

So it’s now three wins in three since the arrival of the new man in charge so this ‘new manager bounce’ must really be a thing. Let’s take this ‘thing’ to Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday and make it four then.

FT: 0 – 1

Goal for Harriers: Hemmings 66

The Harriers Online MotM is: Christian Dibble

Talk about the game here

Latest table and stats here

Hartlepool Utd	Goals	Subs	Time	Cards
Dixon
Onariase
Ferguson
Hendrie
Parkes
Wallace			77
Crawford
Mancini
Duffus			70
Grey			81
Featherstone
Subs:
Jameson
Pruti
Stephenson			77
Cooke			70
Wreh			81
Harriers	Goals	Subs	Time	Cards
Dibble
Penny
Richards
Byrne
Preston
McNally
Brown
Bellis
Omotayo			61
Hemmings			89
Lambert			76
Subs:
Pearce
Morgan-Smith			61
Lissimore
Hesketh			76
Oxlade-Chamberlain			89
Referee:
Mr John Mulligan
Carlisle