Ian Britton made changes to the side that was knocked out of the FA Cup in midweek, leaving out
Sam Shilton and Kenny Coleman and bringing in Andy Bishop for his first start while Bo Henriksen
dropped back into the hole behind the strikers. Hartlepool took the lead in the third minute,
Danny Williams was careless with his distribution and passed straight to Marcus Richardson who quickly
released Ritchie Humphreys. The midfielder outpaced the Harriers defence and slipped his shot
inside Stuart Brock's near post. The poor start soon became a disastrous start, Ian Joy slipped
at just the wrong moment allowing Eifion Williams to create space for himself on the right and pull the ball
back into the centre of the goalmouth for Mark Tinkler who sidefooted home past Brock.
Without being flamboyantly good, Hartlepool were efficient in the way that they prevented Harriers from playing their normal game. Gradually, however, The Reds began to get into the game and after half an hour Drewe Broughton saw his header cleared off the line by Michael Barron. Two minutes later Harriers almost shot themselves in the foot again, Craig Hinton directed a poor header into the path of Eifion Williams but Brock saved well to beat out his shot. Before the break Broughton went close again, this time his shot came back off the post.
After the break Harriers came out with more purpose and two minutes into the second period pulled a
goal back. Henriksen received the ball from the right and immediately switched play to the left
where Sean Parrish waited at the corner of the penalty area, and he directed a perfectly judged chip
to the far top corner to record his first goal in a Harriers shirt. Hartlepool didn't give up
either, and five minutes later Eifion Williams found himself free on the right but blazed his
shot over the bar.
That shot was to prove to be Pools' best chance of the second period as Harriers tightened up their
defending immensely and at enjoyed greater possesion. With 17 minutes remaining the visitors had
a glorious chance to equalise, Sean Flynn crossed from deep on the right towards Broughton who headed
down into the path of Bishop who could only steer the ball wide under pressure from his marker. From
then on, however, goalscoring chances were few and far between and Harriers were left to rue their earlier
slapdash defending as Hartlepool maintained their lead at the top of the league.
