30-04-22 – Report – Kidderminster Harriers 3 Guiseley AFC 0

Harriers make fourth place safe

Report: Phil Lench

The Harriers took a big step in catching third placed AFC Fylde when they took all three points, and scored all three goals, against relegation threatened Guiseley AFC at Aggborough today. A brace from Ashley Hemmings and a maiden goal for Geraldo Bajrami did the damage to give the Reds an emphatic win but overall it was poor game for the onlooker. The result took us two points closer to third place after Fylde could only manage a draw but, with only two games left, it may be too much to ask of us to overtake them.

Guiseley should have come to us looking for a win of their own with AFC Telford Utd just one point above them but they never looked likely to achieve that with their negative spoiling tactics throughout. It would have made for a more exciting game. 

We started the game with an enforced change to the goalkeeping department with Tom Palmer coming in for the suspended Luke Simpson while Alex Penny dropped to the bench in favour of Joe Foulkes. Lewis Montrose was originally named for the bench but his place was taken by the other keeper, Jamie Emery, at short notice.

We came out of the traps quickly and it took just six minutes to open the scoring when Caleb Richards broke from his marker on the left and whipped a smart cross in for Hemmings to get his head to and slip the ball between keeper and post. 

We thought then that we’d go on and do another Southport/Curzon Ashton type of demolition job on Guiseley but we didn’t and sat back slightly instead. We weren’t helped by the continual stoppages in play for injuries to the visitors but to their credit they did appear to be genuine injuries. It’s just that there were so many of them.

It took until ten minutes from halftime to see the second of our goals go in and this one was special just because it was scored by Baj. Hemmings and Omari Sterling-James combined on a short corner to confuse the visitors defenders a little before the ball was sent into the area to Baj who then picked his spot and slotted into the bottom corner to double the Harriers lead.

A minute before the break one of the many injuries to Guiseley players ended in a substitution when Regan Hutchinson departed to be replaced by Oliver Brown.

HT: 2 – 0

The fans were expecting the Harriers to come out for the second period in a more forceful frame of mind and they did to some extent but it was without conviction. It was as if they knew the job was done and it was a waste of energy, and risking injury, to try any harder. We can’t drop below fourth place now so it was understandable.

We had a couple of free kicks, taken from some distance out by Sterling-James but they came to little apart from one injuring a Guiseley player when it hit the side of his head. The game resumed again with the referee strangely giving the visitors keeper a dropped ball kick after it had rolled out of play for a corner kick to us when he had blown his whistle for the injury. As I said, strange!

It was soon after that the third, and final goal, arrived. The ball was knocking about in the area and hit a defenders hand but the referee took a while to decide that it was a penalty before awarding it. Hemmings did his Bruno Fernandes impression but to better effect and fired the ball beyond Owen Mason.

The game then lapsed back into something resembling Sunday football with neither side producing anything to write home about, or on here. More subs came and went for both sides and, more surprisingly, the Lions actually woke and began to put pressure on us without actually achieving much. They did get Tom Palmer to actually make a save so that at least kept him awake.

Towards the end of the game they should really have seen a man sent off when George Cantrill went straight over the top into Keziah Martins knees and a fracas ensued. Three players were booked including for another strange reason, Martin himself, while the perpetrator received a similar card for the GBH.

The game fizzled out to the conclusion with the news that Fylde hadn’t been given their usual guaranteed ninety sixth minute goal and their game had ended scoreless. I think we have to accept fourth place now. 

FT: 3 – 0

Goals for Harriers: Hemmings 6, 54 (pen), Bajrami 36

The Harriers Online MotM is: Ashley Hemmings

Talk about the game here

Latest table and stats here

Harriers	Goals	Subs	Time	Cards
Palmer
Foulkes
Richards
Cameron
Bajrami
Carrington
Austin			67
Martin
Morgan-Smith			62
Hemmings			77
Sterling-James
Subs:
Emery
Penny
Freemantle			77
White			62
Redmond			67
Guiseley AFC	Goals	Subs	Time	Cards
Mason
Hutchinson			44
Latty-Fairweather
Ekpolo
Mbeka
Cantrill
Felix
Spencer
Haw			46
Johnston
Cartwright			58
Subs:
Moloney
Tear
Brown			44
Stones			46
Kellett			58
Referee:
Mr Sam Mulhall
Cheshire