| Venue: Aggborough Date: 26-11-22 Harriers 0 Gloucester City 1 Att: 2228 (away fans: 139) |
Harriers show no improvement since last home defeat
Report: Phil Lench
The Harriers slumped to yet another home defeat against Gloucester City today making it over a month since our last home win arrived against Chorley FC. Since then Russ Penn has changed things around shipping a couple of players out and bringing new ones in but still we haven’t really improved. In fact at times we look clueless, lethargic, un-interested and above all dire.
Sitting and shivering through that it’s now hard to remember us having a serious shot on Brandon Halls goal let alone the former Harriers keeper having to make a save. I’m not going to go through every move of the match in fine detail because there just wasn’t any.
We started with one change to the side that won late on in the game at AFC Telford Utd on Tuesday and that was Keziah Martin coming in for Paddy McLaughlin who went to the bench. There was no Shane Byrne on the bench raising talk of him out of favour with Russ Penn and possibly being the next to leave the club.
City came to Aggborough on a run of four defeats in a row but with three new players lining up for them having all been signed either late on Friday or early this morning. Whichever it was they seemed to have got all the relevant registrations done quickly.
The first half was forgettable. Zak Brown hit the post, Ashley Hemmings sent one wide, City’s Dominic McHale forced Tom Billson into a save early on as he did from one of the new signings Michael Gyasi. Probably the only memorable moments were when City rough housed Amari Morgan-Smith and Brown and got a way with it. The referee only pulling out a card late on in the half.
HT: 0 – 0
The second half was worse, much worse.
It took six minutes for the visitors to take the lead through someone that actually knows where the goal is. City broke through our defence and Gyasi’s shot was deflected off Reiss McNallys’ head but only as far as Matt McClure who, having been played onside, headed the ball beyond the reach of Billson. They came close to adding a second soon after through another new signing, Topi Obadeyi, but his shot went wide.
We still hadn’t had a clear shot on goal and was it surprising when Morgan-Smith was playing out wide and, at times, we had no one in the box waiting for a cross in anyway. All very depressing.
Ethan Freemantle came on for a below par Ashley Hemmings but that move didn’t improve us and neither did Tom Owen-Evans coming on for Joe Foulkes later on. Our only chance on goal in that time coming for Kez Martin but again it didn’t trouble Hall due to going well wide yet again. McHale hit the post for them and Freemantle hit the side netting in the last minute of the game.
We lost – again. Krystian Pearce gets my MotM. If it wasn’t him it would have been Kez Martin but the missus told me to go for Pearce. She thought the game was rubbish too.
FT: 0 – 1
Goal for Gloucester City: McClure 51
The Harriers Online MotM is: Krystian Pearce
Talk about the game here
Latest table and stats here
| Harriers | Goals | Subs | Time | Cards |
| Billson | ||||
| Foulkes |  | 78 | ||
| Richards | ||||
| McNally | ||||
| Pearce | ||||
| Martin | ||||
| Leesley | ||||
| Brown | ||||
| Morgan-Smith | ||||
| Hemmings |  | 67 | ||
| Bearne | ||||
| Subs: | ||||
| Owen-Evans |  | 78 | ||
| Margetson | ||||
| Freemantle |  | 67 | ||
| Rogers | ||||
| McLaughlin | ||||
| Gloucester City | Goals | Subs | Time | Cards |
| Hall | ||||
| Leadbitter | ||||
| Mahorn-Rendall | ||||
| Tiensa | ||||
| Nugent |  | |||
| Andrews | | |||
| James | | |||
| Gyasi | ||||
| McHale | | 86 | ||
| McClure |  | | 75 | |
| Obadeyi |  | 86 | ||
| Subs: | ||||
| O’Brien | ||||
| Evans | ||||
| Brockbank |  | 86 | ||
| Mitford | | 75 | ||
| Buse | | 86 | ||
| Referee: | ||||
| Mr Dale Baines | ||||
| Liverpool | ||||