Northwich Victoria 1(0) v (0)1 Kidderminster Harriers

Football Conference National - Victoria Stadium - 7 October 2008

Attendance: 725

Individual Stats
Northwich
Shots
Fouls
Off.
v Kidderminster
Shots
Fouls
Off.
 
On
Off
For
Ag
     
On
Off
For
Ag
 
Scott Tynan 7 0(5) 0 0 0 0[1] Adam Bartlett 6 0(3) 0 0 0 0
Michael Aspin 5 0 0 0 0 0 [17/21] Keith Lowe 5 0 0 0 1 0
Ryan Brown 6 1 0 1 0 0[3] Lee Baker 6 0 1 2 1 0
Mark Roberts 5 0 1 2 3 0 [5/6] Luke Jones 5 0 0 0 0 1
Simon Grand 5 0 1 0 0 0 [25/5] Mark Creighton 5 0 0 1 1 0
Joel Byrom 5 0 0 0 0 0 [8/4] Andy Ferrell 5 0 1 2 1 0
Jamie Mullan 5 0 0 0 2 0 [7/16] Martin Brittain 7 0 1 0 0 0
Matt Crowell 5 0 0 2 2 0 [6/10] Russ Penn 6 1 1 2 3 0
Aaron Burns 6 2(2) 3 1 0 3 [20/11] Justin Richards 5 0 0 0 0 0
Johnny Allan 5 0 0 0 0 0 [10/9] Matt Barnes-Homer 7 2(2) 1 1 1 0
Michael Byrne 6 1(1) 2 1 0 0 [16/14] Brian Smikle 6 2(1) 0 3 0 2
Michael Welch      [4/8] Darryl Knights 8 2(1, 1w) 1 0 3 2
Chris Flynn 5 0 0 1 1 0 [14/17] David McDermott     
Matt Bailey      [15/20] Dean Bennett 5 0 0 0 0 0
Darryn Stamp 5 0 0 3 3 0 [24/22] Neil MacKenzie     
Michael Jones      [12] Dean Coleman     
Team Stats
  Fouls Conceded Offside Corners Shots On Shots off
Northwich 11 3 7 4 7
Kidderminster 11 5 6 7 6
GOALS
Northwich Kidderminster
80 Ryan Brown  47 Brian Smikle 
Formations
Northwich
   Tynan  
Aspin Roberts  Grand Brown
     
Mullan Crowell  Byrom Byrne
     
  Burns  Allan 
Kidderminster
   Bartlett  
Lowe Jones  Creighton Baker
     
Brittain Penn  Ferrell Smikle
     
  Richards  Barnes-Homer 
SUBSTITUTIONS
Northwich Kidderminster
66 Stamp Byrom Stamp to striker, Allan to right central midfield, Crowell to left central midfield. 29 Knights Richards Knights to striker.
76 Flynn Mullan Flynn to left midfield, Byrne to right central midfield, Allan to left central midfield, Crowell to right midfield. 74 Bennett Brittain Bennett to right central midfield, Penn to right midfield.
BOOKINGS
Northwich Kidderminster
    
Referee: J. G. Adcock (tbc)
Match Report by St@tto

Harriers failed to bounce back from their disappointing weekend defeat at the hands of Barrow and dropped more points against the league's bottom club Northwich.

Again the weather was a factor in making the game poor as a spectacle with a stiff breeze blowing from end-to-end and constant drizzle.  Neither team looked particularly good in a very scrappy first half; in the first half hour the most notable incident was the loss of Justin Richards to a hamstring injury, he was replaced in attack by Darryl Knights.  It was ten minutes before the break before either side had a good sight of goal, a long crossfield pass picked out Vics' Michael Byrne on the left wing, he cut inside and hit a shot towards the far post that Adam Bartlett did well to push away for a corner.  At the other end, in stoppage time, Martin Brittain's deep right wing cross found Brian Smikle whose diving header was tipped over the bar by Scott Tynan in the home goal.

After the interval Harriers started much brighter with the wind at their backs.  Brittain was set free on the right in the 47th minute, he got to the byline and sent in a low cross to the far post where it was turned in by Smikle for his fourth goal of the season.  Soon afterwards Aaron Burns just about beat the offside trap but his low 20-yard shot was saved by Bartlett.

Knights and Matthew Barnes-Homer were working well together and just after the hour mark they combined with Knights' flick dropping to Barnes-Homer in the inside-right channel, he had more time than he realised and could have done better with his attempted lob which didn't have enough height on it and was easily caught by Tynan.  A couple of minutes later a Brittain corner from the left found Knights beyond the far post, his half volley flashed across the face of goal.

Barnes-Homer and Knights exchanged passes again with the former creating space for himself for a 20-yard shot that was straight at the goalkeeper.  The same player did well to chase down a Mark Creighton clearance and keep the ball in play on the left wing, he pulled it back to Knights whose shot clipped the bar.

Harriers were made to rue their missed chances with ten minutes remaining in the game; a free-kick on the right was kept in play at the far post by ex-Harrier Darryn Stamp who knocked it back to the advancing Ryan Brown who was not closed down quickly enough and rifled a drive from the edge of the penalty area inside the far post.