Kidderminster Harriers Youth 2(0) v (0)0 Gornal Athletic Youth

Harriers' sixth league win in a row ensured that their hopes of snatching the league title from under the noses of Sutton Coldfield remain alive.

The gap at the top is now down to two points, although Sutton who have not won in four games have a game in hand, but it looked for a long time as though Harriers would blow the chance to close it.  It took them over an hour to break down a stubborn Gornal rearguard as they wasted chance after chance.

It looked like it was not going to be Harriers' night midway through the first half when Mitch Butler set up Tom Byrne who then blazed his shot over the bar with the goal at his mercy.  Byrne went close again soon afterwards with a 25-yard free-kick that beat the wall but curled the wrong side of the post.  Gornal seemed set to make Harrier pay for their profligacy on the stroke of half time when Richard Esp's free-kick went narrowly over the bar.

After the break the game followed a similar pattern with Harriers having most of the play but not converting their chances.  Gornal managed to scramble the ball away to safety after Levi Chambers beat keeper Jamie Wood to a through ball and got a shot in  from a narrow angle.  Moments later Gornal counter-attacked but Esp, clear on goal, could only fire straight at Tom Harper from 25 yards out.  Byrne should have opened the scoring when he turned well inside the penalty area but he, also, shot straight at the keeper.

The deadlock was eventually broken midway through the half; Salmon crossed from deep on the right and Butler was on hand to turn the ball in at the near post.  At the other end Andy Parsons went close, heading wide at the far post from a right-wing corner.  Nine minutes from time Harriers made the result safe with a scrappy second goal.  Shawn Salmon received a pass on the left, cut into the penalty area and took the ball round Wood; his shot was blocked, as was Byrne's follow-up but he managed to stab in the rebound.  In stoppage time Byrne could have added a third after Butler had created the chance for him but he pulled his shot wide.