St@tto's Kidderminster Harriers Diary
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30 August Darlington Preview The spotlight was all set to shine on Aggborough tomorrow with the nation's press set to decend on the club to cover the debut of Faustino Asprilla in a Darlington shirt. All that must change now as the deal has collapsed and the player has disappeared. After successfully appealing against the Home Office decision nott to award him a work permit, and then parading in front of the Darlington supporters at Feethams on Tuesday evening, the player has twice failed to show up for a medical and is now believed to be in the Middle East, possibly with another club already lined up. The news will not bother Harriers boss Ian Britton at all as he has already said on numerous occasions that all that matters to him is what the Harriers do. He has his own problems to consider with injuries and suspensions affecting his team selection again. Drewe Broughton will definitely miss the game as he serves a one match ban for his sending-off in the game at Rushden, Bo Henriksen should return to the side to take his place after sitting out the game at Leyton Orient on Monday to save his troublesome abductor muscle. Abdou Sall and Dean Bennett have ankle injuries, and Craig Hinton is still recovering from a broken nose, Hinton or Sall are likely to play and possibly will be joined by one of the other two. Darlington have had a fairly good start to the season having only been beaten once in their opening five games, winning two and drawing two in the remainder. The Quakers have no injury worries to report, although the teeams' plans will have to be altered after the loss of Asprilla. Last season Darlington beat a ten-man Harriers side at Feethams but lost the return at Aggborough when Andy Ducros gave his best display of the season and scored the only goal of the game. Darlington did win at Aggborough, however, knocking Harriers out of the FA Cup. For a run-down on previous results, click here. I expect Harriers to line-up as follows: Brock, Smith, Stamps, Ayres, Hinton, Williams, Doyle, Flynn, Foster, Henriksen, Parrish. 25 August Leyton Orient Preview Harriers travel to the east end of London tomorrow looking to build on yesterday's victory over Exeter in a match against Leyton Orient, but they will need to tighten up their defending if they are to get anything from the game. Ian Britton still has injury problems to contend with, Craig Hinton will still be missing, so Lee Ayres should continue in his place. Dean Bennett was withdrawn at half-time on Saturday with an ankle injury and is doubtful, Daire Doyle who replaced him yesterday stands by as do Andy Ducros and Sam Shilton. Bo Henriksen is still suffering with the abductor muscle strain which almost kept him out of the Exeter match and caused his withdrawal late on. If he is unavailable, Brit may decide to bring in an extra midfielder and employ similar tactics to those used in the game at Bournemouth. Orient have had a good start to their home campaign winning both games at Brisbane Road so far although they have lost both games away. Only Rushden have a better home record, Orient have beaten Macclesfield 3-2 and Scunthorpe 2-0. They were beaten at Cambridge United on Saturday 2-1 leaving manager Paul Brush blasting his players as "Not good enough". Last season's encounter at Brisbane Road end with a 3-1 Harriers victory with debut goals from Richie Appleby and Bo Henriksen. For the complete record of Harriers v Orient, click here. I expect Harriers to line up as follows: Brock, Smith, Stamps, Sall, Ayres, Williams, Doyle, Flynn, Broughton, Henriksen, Parrish. 24 August Harriers Net First Victory Harriers came out on top in a seven-goal thriller at Aggborough beating Exeter 4-3. Defending that left manager Ian Britton tearing his hair out on the touchline led to Exeter being 2-0 up inside 14 minutes with goals from Steve Flack and Martin Thomas. Harriers kept plugging away, however, and pulled goals back first through Bo Henriksen and then Lee Ayres' first for the club brought the scores level by half-time. Henriksen's third of the season put Harriers ahead before another for Ayres looked to have sewn the game up. The Grecians refused to give up and pulled one back through Andy Roscoe to leave Harriers with an anxious backs-to-the-wall last fifteen minutes. 23 August Exeter City Preview Harriers go in search of their first victory of the seaon tomorrow when Exeter City are the visitors to Aggborough (Ko 3:00pm). Ian Britton has a number of injury concerns before he finalises his team selection. Abdou Sall and Craig Hinton both suffered injuries in the defeat at Rushden and Hinton is still a doubt but Sall has been back in training since then. Hinton's stand-in, should he fail to make the team is Lee Ayres, and he has also been suffering from a foot injury this week but should be OK. Goalkeeper Stuart Brock has a hamstring problem, Sean Parrish a thigh strain, and Bo Henriksen a pulled stomach muscle. Exeter, with "celebrity" chariman Uri Geller in charge, have had a better than expected start to the season. Although they have yet to score on their travels, they are unbeaten at home and last weekend triumphed 3-1 over Championship favourites Hull City. The squad has seen numerousd changes over the summer and fresh faces include veteran striker Don Goodman and ex-Manchester United winger Lee Sharpe. Returning to the club is goalkeeper Kevin Miller, a Grecians legend, and this has forced out Arjan van Heusden who is set to leave the club with Swansea and Clyde favourites for his signature. Definitely missing tomorrow will be Brazilian central defender Santos Gaia who begins a three match suspension after being sent-off in the opening game of the season, while set to return from injury is defender Alex Watson and making his debut in attack, standing in for the injured Don Goodman could be new signing Italian striker Sebastien Scalise. Last season Harriers' trip to St James' Park was one of the games that they will want to forget, throwing away the lead to lose 2-1, while the game at Aggborough ended in a comfortable Harriers victory, 3-1 with two goals from Ian Foster and on from Drewe Broughton. For the complete low-down on previous meetings, click here. I expect Harriers to line-up as follows: Brock, Smith, Stamps, Sall, Ayres, Williams, Bennett, Flynn, Broughton, Ducros, Parrish. Also, Harriers have been selected to stage an England Under-19 fixture when Macedonia visit on November 3. 19 August Brit Disappointed With Diamonds Defeat "We shot ourselves in the foot" - Ian Britton Harriers boss Ian Britton was not happy with his players after they had contributed to their own downfall in Saturday's defeat at Rushden. Facing the press straight after the game at Nene Park Britton complained, "How many times do I need to tell them? We shot ourselves in the foot big time today." Around the time of Drewe Broughton's sending-off Harriers played some good football in the middle third of the field, but it was what was happening in the penalty areas that was causing Brit most concern, he continued, "We can do whatever we want in the middle of the park, but at the end of the day it really comes down to what you do in both boxes: at one end we didn't defend well and at the other we failed to put away some good chances." The defence came in for some criticism for the way in which they coped, or otherwise, with Rushden's direct style, "I think that our back four were poor today. The two centre halves couldn't cope with straight balls down the middle today. In the first five minutes we had a warning, and we couldn't cope. It's not as though Rushden have worked the defence by playing diagonal balls." he said. Both Craig Hinton and Abdou Sall picked up injuries in the game and Brit will be hoping that they will be available for the next game despite their performances on Saturday otherwise he could be left with a centre back pairing of Lee Ayres and Inderpaul Khela. He was confident, however, that things will pick up, "We will always create chances and at 2-1 I thought we could go on to level matters. It's disappointing to play good football and lose like this. The positives are always the same, when we get it down and start to play we'll open up teams, but we need to take our chances. We will win more game than we lose this season." 17 August Harriers Outshone By Diamonds Harriers suffered their first defeat of the season at Nene Park losing 3-1 to Rushden, victory that sends Diamonds to the top of the league. The Reds, sporting their new all-black strip, only had themselves to blame for the defeat; Sean Flynn scored the opening goal in his own net, Danny Williams conceded a penalty and Drewe Broughton was sent off. Flynn, returning from injury, headed into his own net after just fifteen minutes when under little pressure. By half-time Harriers had lost Abdou Sall with a head injury, and after an hour Broughton was back in the changing room after picking up his second yellow card. Harriers improved but were soon two down after Williams had given away a penalty converted by Stuart Gray. Williams made ammends by pulling a goal back but before the equaliser could be found Rushden's Duane Darby had struck for the third. 16 August Rushden & Diamonds Preview The first needle match of the season takes place tomorrow at Nene Park when Harriers visit Rushden & Diamonds and Harriers will be looking to continue their solid start to the season. Ian Britton still has an injury doubt over Sean Flynn who hurt himself at home last weekend, and also on the doubtful list are Sean Parrish and Sam Shilton who picked up minor knocks in the game at Bournemouth. Ian Foster returns to the squad after missing the Lincoln game through suspension. So far this season Rushden are unbeaten, drawing their opening game at Swansea City 2-2 with a last minute goal from Paul Underwood saving them a point, and then in their first home game on Tuesday they beat Torquay United 3-0 with goals from Darby, Wardley and Hall, and lie in second place in the league with four points. Rushden are likely to be without ex-Harrier Marcus Bignot who picked up a knee injury in the Diamonds' opening game, Barry Hunter will play before beginning a suspension after being sent-off in the Swansea game. Last season Harriers completed the double over the Diamonds with a 3-0 win at Aggborough and a 2-0 win at Nene Park that almost put a dent in Rushden's play-off hopes. For the complete low-down on previous encounters, click here. I expect Harriers to line-up as follows: Brock, Smith, Stamps, Sall, Hinton, Williams, Bennett, Shilton, Broughton, Henriksen, Parrish. 13 August Harriers Stand Firm A solid defensive performance by Harriers saw them come away from the Fitness First Stadium at Dean Court with a goalless draw. Setting out to defend from the midfield and prevent their hosts from playing, Harriers frustrated The Cherries and despite not creating chances themselves, almost snatched victory in stoppagethime when Drewe Broughton curled a shot past the far post. 12 August AFC Bournemouth Preview Harriers have a new injury to contend with ahead of tomorrow evening's trip to Dean Court to take on Bournemouth. Skipper Sean Flynn tripped over a child's toy at home and fell doen the stairs leaving him needing stitches to his face. Manager Ian Britton will have to plan without him as he tries to build upon the second-half performance on Saturday, Andy Ducros or Sam Shilton should deputise. One thing that has been decided since Saturday is that Drewe Broughton will not be taking any more penalties, Bo Henriksen has been nominated to take them from now on. Like Harriers, Bournemouth had to settle for a draw in their opening game on Saturday when they were held 2-2 by League new-boys Boston United at York Street. The Cherries had taken an early lead only for Boston to strike back with two goals soon after the break, their lead did not last long, however, as Bournemouth equalised within ten seconds of the restart. Bournemouth manager Sean O'Driscoll has selection problems of his own, goalkeeper Gareth Stewart is set to miss at least three months of the season after damaging ankle ligaments in training. On Saturday they were unable to name a substitute keeper while Chris Tardif, on loan from Portsmouth, made his debut between the posts. Tomorrow Harriers and Bournemouth meet for the first time so there is no history to the fixture. I expect Harriers to line up as follows: Brock, Smith, Stamps, Sall, Hinton, Williams, Bennett, Parrish, Broughton, Henriksen, Shilton. 10 August Harriers Pay The Penalty A weakly hit penalty by Drewe Broughton five minutes from the end of today's opening League fixture allowed Alan Marriott to dive to his right to save and cost Harriers two extra points. The visitors had taken an early lead with a goal from a set-piece (for a change!) scored by Simon Weaver. Harriers were disappointing in the first half, but fought back after the break and levelled with a goal from Bo Henriksen after which they were the better team. Dene Cropper was sent off for the visitors seven minutes from time for a second bookable offence and then Harriers were handed their match-winning opportunity but Broughton's spot kick was kept out by Marriott. 9 August Lincoln City Preview The time for waiting is over, after weeks of anticipation and expectation Harriers take to the field tomorrow to begin their third and most testing Football League campaign. With the well-documented crash of the ITV Digital deal money has obviously become very tight across the whole of the league and a good start to the campaign is imperative to encourage more people through the gates and to keep them coming. Ian Britton has done what he can to improve the squad and has made two crucial signings in Sean Parrish and Sean Flynn. Flynn will lead the team tomorrow on his debut and Harriers fans will be looking for a repeat of his Man-of-the-Match performance in the last friendly against Cheltenham last Saturday. His influence will be crucial in the absence of Mark Blake in what is a very young squad, and he will need to continue the cajoling and instructing that we saw last week to drive the team on. Pre-season has not been the best for Harriers with only two victories and some disappointing defeats, particularly the one at Solihull and the draw at Worcester. This may not be a such bad thing, however, as had they won all of the games expectations would have been sky-high, although some of the performances left a little to be desired. For Lincoln, pre-season saw a number of new arrivals, Simon Weaver, Simon Yeo, Dene Cropper and Scott Willis who should all play, while Ben Futcher will miss the game through suspension. Harriers' main injury is to Mark Blake, but Ian Britton is hopeful that Scott Stamps, Adie Smith and Abdou Sall will all be available after suffering various knocks during the warm-up programme. The most interesting selection dilemma will be at right-back should Adie Smith fail to recover, will Brit choose Lee Ayres who looked exceedingly uncomfortable in the position pre-season or will he gamble on young Scott Lower who is a more natural full-back and did everything that was asked of him in the games against Stratford and Cheltenham. Ian Foster will definitely miss the match as he completes the suspension he received for being sent-off in the game at Bristol Rovers in April. Last Season's encounters saw Harriers pull off a late win at Sincil Bank with a goal from Dean Bennett, while the Aggborough encounter was also ended with a late goal when Dave Cameron's injury time strike cancelled out a Drewe Broughton goal. A full run-down on previous Harriers - Imps encounters can be found here. Assuming everybody is fit, I expect Harriers to line-up as follows: Brock, Smith, Stamps, Sall, Hinton, Williams, Bennett, Flynn, Broughton, Henriksen, Parrish. 7 August In Like Flynn After days of speculation, Sean Flynn has finally completed his move to Aggborough. Initially the player was believed to have signed for three months last Friday, a move which was to allow the club to have a look at the Flynn and Flynn to have a look at Harriers. The Harriers management were also reluctant to commit to a longer deal for a 34-year-old without being certain that it was the right move when finances are so tight. At the eleventh hour a couple of other Third Division clubs were believed to have made better offers to the player. After having played a crucial part in Harriers' win over Cheltenham on Saturday, Flynn stated his desire to stay at the club as it is only ten miles from where he lives. The Harriers board met over the last couple of days to discuss the matter and today it has been announced that he has signed a 12 month contract. Manager Ian Britton has confirmed also that he will lead the team on Saturday in the absence of Mark Blake when the League campaign kicks-off. 3 August Robins' Wings Clipped Harriers beat local rivals Cheltenham by the odd goal in five in an entertaining game at Aggborough. New signing Sean Flynn showed his talents with a good debut performance controlling the midfield throughout. Drewe Broughton opened the scoring with a penalty after 28 minutes, but this was cancelled out on the stroke of half-time by Paul Brayson. The visitors went ahead early in the second half with a goal from Damian Spencer but Harriers fought back with another from Broughton and then a last gasp winner from Bo Henriksen in the last minute. 2 August Britt Brings In Veteran Midifelder Harriers have today completed the signing of veteran Midlands midfielder Sean Flynn for three months. Flynn, 34, has seen service with six Midlands clubs throughout his career although the last two years have been spent on The Wirral with Tranmere Rovers. He began his career at Bromsgrove before moving to Halesowen Town from where he made the step up into the professional ranks joining Coventry City for £20000. Derby County paid nearly a quarter of a million pounds to take him to The Baseball Ground and then sold him on to WBA for a small profit after a loan spell at Stoke. After over 100 League appearances for The Baggies he moved to Tranmere on a free transfer. He will add experience to the Harriers midfield until the end of October by which time Mark Blake should be nearing fitness. |
