Harriers maintained their unbeaten start to the season with their fourth straight win beating bottom club
Quorn after a close game at Aggborough.
The opening exchanges were dominated by Harriers who almost took the lead after just two minutes when Curtis
Shaw got free on the right and crossed to the far post where Michael McGrath got up well but his header was
deflected over for a corner. Harriers had a lot of possession throughout the opening half and created
several good chances; Aaron Farrell, McGrath and Simon Fitter all failed to hit the target. Despite the
lively opening the game degenerated into a scrappy encounter, Quorn looked like a team still searching for
their first win of the season but Harriers could not break them down until the 32nd minute. Leading
scorer Farrell recorded his fifth goal of the season with a low shot from the edge of the penalty area that
went through a crowd of legs and just inside the foot of the post.
Two minutes after the interval Quorn managed their first shot of the game, Eddy Appleton curled a 25-yard
free kick over the wall and straight into the arms of Michael Connolly in the Harriers goal. Harriers
stepped up their game and began to create more chances, twice in quick succession a second goal was threatened:
first Craig Timmins played a ball over the defence for Farrell to run onto but Ben Price in the Quorn goal
just managed to get a hand to his shot and keep it away and then seconds later Carl Dudley's shot from the
edge of the penalty area was blocked.
After 64 minutes the visitors snatched an unlikely equaliser, Robin Matthews chased a long ball outpacing
the Harriers defence but his shot was poorly placed and Connolly was able to save with his legs, the Harriers
defence didn't clear the ball, however, and when it was played back into the penalty area Matthews was still
in position to sweep the ball into the roof of the net. Five minutes later Harriers almost regained
the lead when Dudley hit a shot from the edge of the penalty area that went over Price but drifted wide of
the post.
Harriers pressed for a winning goal and as the game wore on the visitors began to tire visibly, fifteen
minutes from the end Fitter had a curling shot heading inside the far post but Price got across well to
save it and then a minute later a 30 yard shot from Farrell didn't go far wide. The winning goal eventually
arrived nine minutes from time, Danny Hodnett found himself on the edge of the penalty area and tried a shot
that was deflected into the path of Shaw who turned and slotted it under Price and into the far corner. |
