|
|
|
DROUGHT OVER! -- STRIKER JAMES CONSTABLE HAMMERED HOME HARRIERS' EQUALISER AGAINST HALIFAX TOWN TODAY. Pic: (c) harriers.co.uk |
A BLISTERING second-half performance from Harriers saw them ease through to the semi-finals of the FA Carlsberg Trophy after beating Halifax Town 3-1 at Aggborough this afternoon.
Match Summary
A week's an age in football, so they say - and nothing ever stays the same for as much as seven days at Kidderminster Harriers, that's for sure. This time last week Neil Howarth rightly tore strips off his troops for a poor performance against Exeter; tonight though he was full of praise for his men following this Trophy triumph.
Certainly in the second half today, things were so far removed from last Saturday's showing that you'd be forgiven for thinking you were watching a different side - Harriers certainly played like a different outfit with three quality goals, namely one for Mr. James Constable, the relief after he ended his mini-goal drought was clear to see.
All of this doesn't detract from the fact that Harriers frustrated many inside Aggborough for the first 45 minutes and Halifax, who played decent football almost all afternoon, deserved the lead given to them in first-half stoppage time by Neal Trotman.
But the second half was very much a different story and Harriers were certainly the ones telling it - further goals from Gavin Hurren and Russell Penn helped seal the win. There was a tinge of disappointment at the end with the news that a booking means Iyseden Christie will join Stuart Whitehead on the suspended list for next Saturday. For many, though, seeing Christie back in action was the important thing.
So it's off we go to the semi-finals, and a tie against either Stevenage, Northwich or the winners of Welling v Grays Athletic - who'd bet against Harriers over two legs?
Match report
The first half belonged almost entire to Halifax and they perhaps should have been in front by more than just one goal at the interval.
Gus Uhlenbeek and Danny Forrest had good early chances with the former seeing his powerful header from the edge of the box held strongly by Scott Bevan.
Harriers struggled for chances in the first period but James Constable had the first - he stabbed wide through a crowd of players in the area.
How the hosts weren't awarded a penalty on 37 minutes was a bit of a mystery, mind you, Tortman almost sliced Constable in half in the penalty area only for Gary Lewis to wave away all appeals.
Lewis Killeen wasted the best chance of the opening 40 minutes by an absolute mile - he must have thought he'd got it easy when Forrest beat Harkness for pace to pull the ball back to him in the area, only for Killeen to fire over Bevan and over the stand.
Tom Kearney had a shot held by Bevan four minutes before the break but on the stroke of half time it was his corner-kick that TROTMAN powered home past Bevan.
Rockets must have been fired metaphorically but sternly up the backsides of the home players at the break but certainly did the trick, as within six minutes of the re-start they were level. Michael Blackwood blasted one of the most impressive volleys you'll ever see towards goal, only for Craig Mawson to palm it outwards, into the path of CONSTABLE who smashed home into the roof of the net.
Two minutes later Forrest was again making a nuisance of himself inside the Harriers' penalty area with Bevan needing to get down low to save with his legs.
Simon Russell was being just as dangerous at the other end and two minutes after he shot over from 20 yards, he put in a superb cross to find the head of HURREN who headed downwards - Mawson appeared to have saved but could in the end only help the ball into the back of the net.
Halifax as you'd expect applied the pressure for the next quarter of an hour but apart from a woeful and wasteful effort from Uhlenbeek and a weak penalty claim when Matt Doughty went to ground, they had little to show for it.
Four minutes of injury time were added on but Harriers' barely needed half of that before they put this game beyond doubt - PENN smashed a purely speculative but ambitious effort from some 35 yards with its lack of height completely bamboozling Mawson, who again could do nothing to stop it rolling over the line. Game, set, and match; it's off to the semi-finals!
Harriers: Bevan, Kenna, Harkness, Hurren, Creighton, Whitehead, Hay (Christie 74), Blackwood, Russell, Penn, Constable (Sedgemore 90).
Subs Not Used: White, Taylor, Smikle.
Halifax: Mawson, Doughty (Wright 82), Kearney, Forrest, Killeen, Billy, Bastians, Cresswell, Trotman, Uhlenbeek, Stamp (Haslam 60).
Subs Not Used: Toulson, Torpey, Butler.
Attendance: 1,580 (293 away fans)
Referee: Gary Lewis (Cambridgeshire).
ALSO ONLINE: Post-match comments from Neil Howarth and Chris Wilder and news of events elsewhere in today's FA Trophy and Conference games....
