| JULY |
| AUGUST |
| SEPTEMBER |
| OCTOBER |
| NOVEMBER |
| DECEMBER |
| JANUARY |
| FEBRUARY |
| MARCH |
| APRIL |
| MAY |
| JUNE |
26 Mar
Lincoln City Preview
Harriers face another tough trip tomorrow when they travel to Sincil Bank to take on Lincoln City. Jan Molby will be without Dean Keates who begins a three-match ban for his sending-off at Leyton Orient but otherwise has no new selection doubts. His choice will be whether or not to give debuts to any of the four players signed before yesterday's transfer deadline.
After last weekend's debacle Molby may be tempted to change his team around and bring in Steve Burton at the back or Leon Clarke or Simon Brown in attack. Lincoln are a tough team to break down, however, and so he may decide to go with the tried and tested to begin with and only introduce the new players from the bench later on. Jesper Christiansen did his chances of a recall a power of good with a four-goal haul in Tuesday's behind-closed-doors friendly against Cinderford, although it has to be said that the standard of the opposition was not what he can expect in the Third Division. Lee Jenkins also continued his recovery from knee surgery in that game, playing the whole 90 minutes.
Lincoln were also busy in the transfer market yesterday signing three players - Craig Rocastle, Aron Wilford and Kevin George - who are all added to their squad straight away. One player that Keith Alexander will be without is the suspended Jamie McCombe while Mark Bailey and Peter Gain will have to have fitness test before it is decided whether or not they can play.
The meeting of the teams at Aggborough ended in a 2-1 win for the visitors; Lloyd Dyer scored his first goal for the club to give Harriers the lead but Marcus Richardson and Richard Butler hit back for The Imps. The game was also marked by the short Harriers career of Mikael Antoine-Curier. For all of the previous results of games between the clubs, click here.
I expect Harriers to line-up as follows (4-3-2-1): Danby, Hinton, Stamps, Hatswell, Viveash, Yates, Murray, Bennett, Williams, Foster, Parrish.
Referee for the game is Martin Atkinson from West Yorkshire. So far this season he has been the man-in-the-iddle for 22 games in which he has shown 55 yellow cards and 3 red. In Division Three he has done 11 games and shown 29 yellow and 3 red cards. This will be the second time he has done a Harriers game this season, having been in charge of the game at Darlington in August.
25 Mar
Transfer Deadline Sees Rush Of Squad Changes
Today's transfer deadline has brought a late flurry of activity with a number of changes to the Aggborough playing squad. Two players have left, three have arrived and one has been promoted from within.
The departures are fans' favourites Danny Williams and Bo Henriksen who have both left the club on free transfers and joined Division Three rivals Bristol Rovers. Promoted from within is youth team defender Chris McHale. The new arrivals are Steve Burton who returns from Hull City, while attacking players Leon Clarke and Simon Brown who have come on loan from Wolves and West Brom respectively, Clarke will spend the rest of the season at Aggborough while Brown is here for just one month.
Danny Williams' move is quite surprising; having left Aggborough for Chester because he wanted to be closer to home in the North-West, Bristol seems an unusual choice of club. Only yesterday it was announced that his loan at Chester had been extended for a further month. Less, surprising, perhaps, is Henriksen's departure. After finding the net 20 times last season he has not scored since opening day this term, he has also struggled with his fitness levels for most of the season, and in truth most of his time here, and has been unable to justify his inclusion in the side. Reportedly he is the highest wage earner in the squad, so his departure has probably gone some way towards enabling Jan Molby to bring in four new faces today.
Both loanees are youngsters, Clarke has made three substitute appearances for Wolves in cup ties this season while Brown has yet to make a first team appearance for the Albion. He will be familar with Aggborough, however, having featured regularly in the Albion reserve team in their games that they have played here, he is also the leading scorer for West Brom's reserves this season.
21 Mar
Molby Blasts Rubbish Reds
"A few of them thought they were in the comfort zone" - Jan Molby
Jan Molby summed up his team's performance yesterday with just one word - "Rubbish". Speaking after the game he said, "Rubbish, that's the best way of describing that performance against a very average team.
"You could argue that the conditions were difficult but Macclesfield played on the same pitch and they won 4-1 so they'll go away happy with that. It was a poor game.
"The players have all been doing their jobs of late but it was rubbish and I'm sure that a few of them thought they were in the comfort zone as it was only Macclesfield they were playing but you cannot afford to do that."
He went on to suggest that he saw the bad performance coming, "I felt on Thursday their attitude was not right and it got no better in training either that day or on Friday. The players are all very quiet because I think they know that today's performance was not acceptable."
The Dane still felt that despite the set-back that Harriers will be playing in Division Three next season, "There's no need to panic. We've got to bounce back, but I would back this side to get enough points to stay in the Third Division".
Naturally, Macclesfield boss John Askey was delighted with the result, "I am absolutely delighted with the result but I’m not going to get carried away just yet. We got off to a great start and that gave us the initiative. Although we scored four, I was very pleased with the defensive performance. The confidence level is really improving and will get better. But, two wins on the bounce has done us the world of good. It will have made a few other teams sit up and take notice of us. That will hopefully put some of them under a bit more pressure. The players have given themselves some self belief and we have to keep that going. We are in a better position than two weeks ago and we want to continue to improve it."
20 Mar
Dreadful Harriers' Horror Show
Harriers' charge to Division Three safety was brought to a juddering halt by lowly Macclesfield at Aggborough. A completely unacceptable performance by Harriers saw them them three down before half-time, giving John Danby a nightmare home debut in goal although he was not at fault for any of the goals.
The horror show began just three minutes into the games when Mark Yates tripped Matthew Tipton in the penalty area, Tipton got up to take the kick and sent Danby the wrong way to open the scoring. Sloppy defending gifted further goals on the first half with Martin Carruthers heading in the second and then Scott Stamps turned Paul Harsley's wayward shot into his own net.
After the break Harriers stemmed the flow of goals but never looked like getting back into the game; Macclesfield added a fourth late in the game when Tipton headed in his second of the afternoon. Harriers eventually added a consolation effort when Scott Rickards outpaced the Town defence to tuck away his first goal in a Harriers shirt.
*************
Meanwhile, the Under-19 side was beaten 2-0 at Northampton Town in their Merit Division Three South game.
19 Mar
Macclesfield Town Preview
Harriers can take another massive step towards guaranteeing their position in Division Three next season by beating Macclesfield Town at Aggborough tomorrow. Victory would put Harriers 13 points ahead of The Silkmen and leave them needing to win five of their remaining nine games to catch up.
There are no new injuries for Jan Molby to worry about; Lee Jenkins managed to get some action in in Wednsday's friendly defeat at Port Vale but he is still some way from First Team action. The biggest selection poser is probably between the posts where John Danby will hope to keep his place after impressing with a solid performance and a clean sheet in Tuesday night's win at Scunthorpe, Stuart Brock may have to be content with a place on the bench again. Matt Gadsby could come into the reckoning for a place in the squad, he was not hurt as badly as first though in the game at Orient last week and was close to a recall at Scunthorpe but was not needed in the end.
Macclesfield have four players available again after spells on the sidelines; Karl munroe has served a suspension while Matt Carragher, George Abbey and Steve MacAuley have all recovered from various injuries. The Silkmen gained a vital win on Tuesday over Swansea, their first in ten games.
The game between the two sides at Moss Rose earlier in the season ended in a draw, one of Harriers' late defensive lapses costing them all three points when Colin LIttle's injury time strike cancelled out Danny Williams' opener. Last season's game at Aggborough resulted in a 2-0 win for Town with goals from Michael Welch and David Eaton. For the results of all previous meetings between the clubs, click here.
I expect Harriers to line-up as follows (4-2-1-3): Danby, Hinton, Stamps, Hatswell, Viveash, Yates, Murray, Bennett, Williams, Foster, Keates.
The referee will be Kevin Friend from Northampton. So far this season he has been in control of 20 games issuing 78 yellow cards and 4 red. In Division Three those stats are: 10 games, 42 yeellows, 3 reds. He has already done a Harriers game this season, officiating in the 1-0 defeat at Huddersfield back in September.
16 Mar
Harriers Show Iron Resolve
A thoroughly professional performance from Harriers earned them their first ever win at Scunthorpe and moved them even closer to mid-table security. Despite the breakdown of the team coach on the way to Scunthorpe, which led to the team hijacking the supporters' coach, Harriers' preparations were not unduly disrupted and they were able to give on of their best away performances of the season.
After surviving an early penalty appeal by the home team, and some early pressure, Harriers took control of the game and took the lead through Ian Foster. John Danby was making his first start, and his first appearance for nearly two years, between the posts for Harriers and was rarely troubled by the home team but showed a safe pair of hands whenver he was called upon.
After the break Harriers doubled their advantage with a deflected Dean Keates shot and were further helped when United left-back Kevin Sharp was sent off. With the game kicking off fifteen minutes earlier than the other games in the division Harriers briefly occupied thirteenth spot in the table, but by the time the other results were in they had dropped one back to fourteenth.
16 Mar
Scunthorpe United Preview
After Saturday's trip to a ground where they are unbeaten Harriers make the opposite trip tonight - to a ground where they have never won. The Reds visit Glanford Park to take on Scunthorpe United looking to continue their recent improvement in results and overtake their hosts in the league table.
Scott Stamps returns to the squad after serving his one-game ban on Saturday and will take the place of the injured Matt Gadsby who is likely to be missing for weeks rather than days as a result of the challenge from David Hunt at Orient that led to him being stretchered off. Still missing is Adam Willis but Bo Henriksen and Kenny Coleman could be considered for selection - both made the trip to Orient on Saturday but sat in the stands to watch the game.
Mark Jackson will be missing for United, he is set to have surgery on an ankle injury but Wayne Graves is set to return to the squad after recovering from a head injury. The Iron are defending a six-game unbeaten record at home, the last team to triumph there was Boston United on December 28, they have won three and drawn three since then; they were, however, beaten at Hull City on Saturday.
Earlier in the season the game at Aggborough ended in a 2-0 win for United, second half goals from Cliff Byrne and Steve McLean gave them the points. The last meeting of the clubs at Glanford Park ended in a 1-1 draw, Sam Shilton scored the Harriers goal with Scott Brough equalising. For all of the previous results, click here.
I expect Harriers to line-up as follows (4-5-1): Brock, Hinton, Stamps, Hatswell, Viveash, Yates, Bennett, Murray, Williams, Keates, Foster.
The man-in-the-middle is Peter Walton from Winwick. He has so far this season take charge of 25 games in which he has shown 54 yellow cards and 2 red. His Division Three stats are as follows: 2 games, 5 yellow cards.
15 Mar
Referee Under Fire From Molby
Steve Tanner, the referee of Saturday's game at Leyton Orient, has come under fire from Harriers boss Jan Molby for his performance. During the game he showed red cards to Dean Keates and Orient's David Hunt and a further eight players had their names taken. Harriers now face the possibility of being fined £1000 for having six players booked.
After the game Moby said, "There were yellow cards shown that wouldn't be given in a netball match, let alone a football match. It’s quite amazing that people of that standard are allowed to referee."
15 Mar
Rob Betts Released
Rob Betts, one of Ian Britton's last signings, has today been released by the club. The player's contract was due to expire at the end of the season and boss Jan Molby told him that it would not be renewed. Speaking to the club's Official Website, Molby said, "It was in the best interests of both parties that he be allowed to leave the club and kick-start his career elsewhere, which he agreed to."
In his short time at Aggborough Betts made just eight starts and two further appearances as sub. He also led the Reserves in their Worcestershire Senior Cup win over Stourport Swifts.
13 Mar
Battling Harriers Save A Point
A battling performance from Harriers gained them a point at Brisbane Road and stretched their unbeaten run to three games despite playing most of the second half with just ten men. Mark Yates' late penalty also preserved Harriers' unbeaten record at Brisbane Road.
Harriers trailed at the interval to Gary Alexander's headed goal, scored midway through the half when the visiting defence allowed him an unchallenged run at Donny Barnard's cross. By this time Harriers had already lost Matt Gadsby - stretchered off after a horrendous challenge from David Hunt - and early in the second half lost Dean Keates when he was shown the red card for his part in a mass brawl sparked by Mark Yates' challenge on home keeper Glenn Morris. Hunt was also dismissed for his involvement with Keates in the fight.
With ten men Harriers coped better than their hosts and eventually drew level late in the game when Morris brought down John Williams in the penalty area. Yates stepped forward to stroke home the kick to register his second goal in four games since his return to the club.
12 Mar
Leyton Orient Preview
Improving Harriers will look for their first away win since Boxing Day in east London at Leyton Orient tomorrow. A third consecutive win would have Harriers almost in mid-table and breathing down the necks of the Londoners, it would also help to complete their second double of the season and protect their unbeaten record at Brisbane Road.
Jan Molby has been boosted by the return of Bo Henriksen to fitness; he came through the whole 90 minutes of Wednesday's friendly with Hereford and scored the winning goal. The Dane is a possibility to feature but the biggest selection headache is at left back as Scott Stamps will be missing through suspension after being sent off at Doncaster a fortnight ago.
Martin Ling, the Orient boss, has an almost full squad to choose from: Dave McGhee made his comeback from injury with a runout in the Reserves on Wednesday and is available for selection; the only absentees are veteran left back Matt Lockwood who is injured and Simon Downer who is out on loan at Aldershot. Orient have seen their push for a spot in the play-offs falter in recent games, they are currently four games without a win but they have not lost at Brisbane Road since Swansea City were the visitors back in October.
The meeting of the teams earlier in the season ended in a 2-1 win for the Harriers. Gabby Zakuani gave the O's the lead before an own goal from Mark Peters and a Matt Gadsby volley gave Harriers the points. For all of the previous results between the clubs, click here.
I expect Harriers to line-up as follows (4-5-1): Brock, Gadsby, Hatswell, Hinton, Viveash, Yates, Bennett, Murray, Christiansen, Keates, Foster.
Refereeing the game is Steve Tanner from Bristol. So far this season he has taken control of 20 games in which he has issued 87 yellow cards and 8 red. His Division Three stats are 10 games, 49 yellow and 4 red. He was the man in the middle for Harriers' opening fixture of the season against Mansfield Town.
10 Mar
Henriksen On Target In Friendly Win
A team of fringe players and trialists took on a very young Hereford United side at Aggborough this evening with Bo Henriksen finding the target in a 1-0 Harriers win.
Lee Jenkins was expected to play as part of his recovery from knee surgery but a knock in training yesterday meant that his comeback was put on hold for a little longer. Also surprisingly missing from the line-up was back-up keeper John Danby who had to be content with a place on the bench and was the only sub not to see any action.
A dull first half ended goalless but Harriers took the lead three minutes after the interval when Henriksen latched onto a flick from fellow Dane Jesper Christiansen to rifle the ball home. Harriers gave run-outs to several trialists: goalkeeper Daniel Lewis from Studley BKL; right back Erdem Artun - formerly with Ipswich Town and more recently Darlington; left back Daniel Caines (or possibly David Carnes!) from Torquay United; and central defender Clark Smith of Hartlepool United.
The full line-up: Lewis, Artun, Caines, Betts, Sall, Smith, Ward, Bonar, Christiansen, Henriksen, Rickards. Subs: Fitter (Artun, 52), Dudley (Bonar, 52), Farrell (Smith, 58), Willmore (Caines, 68), Danby.
5 Mar
York City Preview
Harriers will be looking to build on Tuesday night's victory over Northampton Town with a follow-up win tomorrow when York City visit Aggborough. Another win for Harriers could see them almost at mid-table, and if the margin of victory was large enough they could even leapfrog over their visitors.
On the injury front Harriers are likely to be without Bo Henriksen again: he now has a chest infection. John Williams is also ill but should be available for selection and Scott Rickards could also figure after he sat out Tuesday's win with a shin injury. Matt Gadsby is recovering well from his stomach strain, the injury is not as bad as initially feared, but he will not be ready in time for tomorrow's game.
York player-manager Chris Brass will have a number of selection problems. First of all he is suspended himself after being sent off in the recent game at Boston, his second red card of the season. Also suspended is Darren Dunning while a calf strain will keep Darren Edmondson out and a thigh strain ensures that Richard Hope will miss the game. The Minstermen are not enjoying the best form at the moment, so now is probably the best time for Harriers to play them, currently they are eight games without a win and Tuesday's goalless draw at high-flying Oxford ended a run of four straight defeats.
Earlier in the season when the teams met at Bootham Crescent just before Christmas City ran out winners by the only goal of the game scored by Lee Bullock. For all of teh previous results between the clubs, click here.
I expect Harriers to line-up as follows (4-3-3): Brock, Hinton, Stamps, Hatswell, Viveash, Yates, Murray, Bennett, Christiansen, Foster, Keates.
Referee will be our old friend Mark Cowburn from Blackpool. Last season he was in charge of the home game with Carlisle United when both Sean Flynn and Scott Stamps saw red. So far this season he has done 19 games and shown 58 yellow cards and 5 red. In Division Three those stats are four games, 8 yellow cards and no red.
2 Mar
Harriers Bounce Back With Win
Harriers bounced back from their crushing defeat at leaders Doncaster on Friday night with a crucial victory over Northampton town at Aggborough to complete their first double of the season.
Goals in each half, from Dean Keates and Dean Bennett, ensured a desreved 2-1 win and three points that moved The Reds away from the relegation zone and into 18th place, their highest position since December.
As expected Jan molby changed formation again, reverting to 4-3-3, and gave a debut to new loan signing Adrian Viveash at the heart of the back four. The experienced defender gave an assured performance with a calm style of play and good reading of the game. He was surprisingly partnered at the back by Wayne Hatswell who had recovered from the concussion that he picked up in Doncaster sufficiently to enable him to play.
Keates' first goal in a Harriers shirt arrived just before the half hour mark, a well-struck drive from outside the penalty area. Harriers should have been further ahead by the interval but had to settle for just the one. The lead was doubled just after the break when Dean Bennett volleyed home Ian Foster's cross. Chris Hargreaves headed a goal back for Northampton from a corner to ensure a frenetic end to the game.
1 Mar
Northampton Town Preview
Jan Molby must find a way to lift his shell-shocked troops ahead of tomorrow evening's must-win game with Northampton Town at Aggborough. The Harriers boss will also be without a number of players after Friday's defeat at Doncaster.
Wayne Hatswell spent the night in hospital in Doncaster with concussion and will not be ready for action yet, neither will Matt Gadsby who had to be replaced midway through the first half with a stomach muscle injury. Molby also said that Abdou Sall will not play as he is lacking in match fitness. On the bright side, Craig Hinton will be available after missing Friday's game through suspension. Harriers could therefore line-up with a makeshift defence once again, Mark Yates and Graham Ward may have to fill in at centre back and right back respectively although Molby is on the lookout for a new defender in time for the game. Fortunately there are no other new injuries elsewhere in the team and the selection should just ride on whether Molby opts for the same 4-5-1 he used at Belle Vue or reverts to 4-3-3 as it is a home game.
Northampton boss Colin Calderwood has just been named as the Division Three Manager of the Month for February after The Cobblers picked up five wins from six games. Northampton are also welcoming back a player from suspension, Chris Hargreaves was banned for the last game. Martin Reeves is likely to be missing as he has a hamstring injury but Greg Lincoln and Marc Richards are available for selection.
The first meeting of the two clubs took place at Sixfields earlier in the season; it was Jan Molby's first game back in charge and ended in a 1-0 Harriers victory with the only goal of the game coming from ex-Cobbler Sean Parrish.
I expect Harriers to line up as follows (4-3-3): Brock, Ward, Stamps, Hinton, Yates, Murray, Bennett, Rickards, Christiansen, Foster, Keates.
Refereeing the game will be Eddie Ilderton from Tyne & Wear. So far this season he has taken charge of 23 games issuing 71 yellow cards and 4 red. In Division Three those stats are 7 games, 22 yellow and 2 red. Last season he was in the middle at three Harriers games: the wins over Hull and at Rochdale and the defeat at Boston.
