| Match report Vs Gloucester City Venue: New Meadow Park Date: 23-11-21 Att: 1396 (away fans: 341) |
Cheltenhamshire 1 Harriershire 3
Report: Phil Lench
The Harriers carried on with their brilliant away form at Gloucester City this evening with an amazing second half comeback after going into the break 1-0 down and outplayed. It was a first half display from us that put a worried look on the faces of many of the large numbers of Harriers fans that had travelled down the short distance from Harriershire. We were being outplayed all over the park by the high press employed by the Tigers (somewhat a misnomer of a nickname seeing as they play in all red with a touch of yellow).
We were being forced into the ‘hoof it as far away as possible’ game and also having problems adapting to City’s zippy plastic pitch surface. Every time they attacked hearts went into mouths. It was from one of those attacks that they took a ten minute lead through the impressive Ollie Hulbert, on loan from Bristol Rovers.
With our defenders caught napping a diagonal through pass was played out wide for Hulbert to race after and then stop, pick his spot, then fire home on the angle. It was the kind of goal Sammy Austin usually scores.
We continued the rest of the half trying hard to stem the flow of balls forward from City although they were pressing us a little too hard at times with a couple of names going into the book but also some that weren’t.
It was only in the last ten minutes of the half did we start to pick our game up and look like the team we were expected to look like. City did get the ball in the net again on the stroke of halftime but clattering Luke Simpson down before slotting the ball home was a little unfair and it was rightly chalked off.
HT: 1 – 0
There had obviously been some home truths discussed during the break because the Harriers came out with a gameplan. That does help.
Gone was clearing the ball away as quickly as they could and in came passing. Now they were used to the ball skidding over the pitch and we were all the better for it. Quick breaks were leaving their immobile central defenders chasing shadows and it wasn’t long before our just rewards came.
Ashley Hemmings broke through by sidestepping a Gloucester defenders challenge and heading towards the goal. A nice, cool finish and the ball was slotted home to deafening noise from behind the goal. Now we were level it would surely only be a matter of time before we got a second goal.
That came following more pressure. This time a free kick, for yet another foul, was floated in by Omari onto the head of Amari who then sent a header crashing against the bar. The ball rebounded down to the alert Alex Penny who then crashed the ball home through a ruck of players to make that his fourth of the season.
It was now one way traffic towards Jake Coles goal and when Sammy Austin collected the ball in his own half you just knew what was coming next. Yes, a Sammy Screamer from the halfway line. Get in! Well no. Actually he just set off for goal and jinked past one defender, slipped past another, left one for dead, looked one way, moved the other, stopped and lit a fag, then slotted the ball home for a goal that was totally un-Sammy like.
With the game now finished we took our foot off the gas and sent on Keith Lowe to strengthen the defence just in-case and Jaiden White to let Sammy milk the applause. Strangely though I’ve given Alex Penny the Man of the Match because he was a rock at the back for the whole ninety minutes. Maybe it should have been Sammy as well.
FT: 1 – 3
Goal for Gloucester City: Hulbert 10
Goals for Harriers: Hemmings 50, Penny 65, Austin 83
The Harriers Online MotM is: Alex Penny
Talk about the game here
Latest table and stats here
| Gloucester City | Goals | Subs | Time | Cards |
| Cole | ||||
| Leadbitter | ||||
| Gerring |  | |||
| Nugent | ||||
| Galvin |  | 88 | ||
| Robert | ||||
| Dawson | ||||
| Hulbert |  | |||
| Tomlinson |  | 69 | ||
| McClure | ||||
| O’Sullivan |  | 62 | | |
| Subs: | ||||
| Armstrong | ||||
| Harrison | ||||
| Young |  | 62 | | |
| Noel-Williams |  | 69 | ||
| Mensah |  | 88 | ||
| Harriers | Goals | Subs | Time | Cards |
| Simpson | ||||
| Richards | ||||
| Penny | | |||
| Cameron | ||||
| Bajrami | ||||
| Carrington | ||||
| Austin | | | 92 | |
| Martin | ||||
| Morgan-Smith | ||||
| Hemmings | | |||
| Sterling-James | | 87 | | |
| Subs: | ||||
| Emery | ||||
| Lowe | | 87 | ||
| Lissimore | ||||
| Clayton-Phillips | ||||
| White | | 92 | ||
| Referee: | ||||
| Mr Savvas Yianni | ||||
| Weston-super-Mare | ||||