Rugby Town 2(2) v (2)4 Kidderminster Harriers

Friendly - Butlin Road - 6 August 2001

Attendance: 200 (est)

Individual Stats
Rugby v Kidderminster
     
Louis Connor[1] Danny Lewis
Gary Morgan[2] Lee Vaughan
Dominic Reece[3] Mike Williams
Melvin Gourlay [5/4] Luke Jones
Nick Preston [4/6] Tom Marshall
Andy Gundelach [6/24] Kyle Storer
Ben Steane [7/8] James Vincent
JJ Cole [8/14] Nick Wright
Tyrone Fagan [9/20] Jamille Matt
Seb Hamilton[10] Marc Williams
Richard Wesley [11/5] Scott Phelan
Lewis Haycock [12/7] Dave Hankin
Steve Evans [14/9] Steve Guinan
Jamel Wilson [15/11] Jack Byrne
Adam Khan [16/13] Robert Thompson-Brown
Danny Hall [17/15] Tom Sharpe
Lynval da Costa [18/16] Michael Briscoe
- [17] Luke Medley
- [18] Callum Gittings
- [21] Dean Lyness
- [22] Mickey Demetriou
Team Stats
  Fouls Conceded Offside Corners Shots On Shots off
Rugby 5 0 7 6 3
Kidderminster 11 4 7 8 18
GOALS
Rugby Kidderminster
24 Seb Hamilton 11 Marc Williams
34 Seb Hamilton 37 Nick Wright
   51 Callum Gittings
   88 Steve Guinan
SUBSTITUTIONS
Rugby Kidderminster
55 Evans Gundelach  46 Hankin Wright 
66 Haycock Fagan  46 Guinan Matt 
75 Wilson Cole  46 Sharpe Vaughan 
81 Khan Hamilton  46 Gittings Phelan 
88 Hall Reece  58 Byrne Storer 
     58 Thompson-Brown Vincent 
     58 Medley Ma. Williams 
     58 Demetriou Mi. Williams 
     61 Briscoe Marshall 
BOOKINGS
Rugby Kidderminster
    
Referee: tbc (tbc)
Match Report by St@tto

A fifth consecutive victory saw Harriers end their pre-season campaign on a high note defeating Southern League Rugby Town at a sunny Butlin Road.

Steve Burr made full use of his entire squad again, with the exception of the injured Jack Cresswell, giving few clues to his starting line-up for the Conference opener against Gateshead next weekend.

Harriers had to survive a second minute scare; Rugby counter-attacked from a Harriers corner with Richard Wesley holding off the challenge of Lee Vaughan before smacking a shot against the crossbar.  There were just ten minutes on the clock when Harriers took the lead, though; Nick Wright broke into the penalty area on the right and pulled the ball back to James Vincent, his shot was blocked but Marc Williams was quickest to react stabbing the rebound past Louis Connor - who had been in goal for Wolves in the friendly between the two clubs at Aggborough a little over a week previously - in the Town goal.

Rugby didn't buckle, though, and showed glimpses of some decent football themselves which should stand them in good stead in their Southern League matches in the coming season.  The hosts drew level after 23 minutes when Seb Hamilton's effort was too strong for Danny Lewis who got a hand to it but was unable to keep it out.

At the other end Tom Marshall went close to restoring the Harriers lead on the half-hour but his header from Scott Phelan's free-kick was saved by Connor.  Three minutes later the home team went ahead; a long ball over the top was misjudged by Marshall allowing in Hamilton who managed to avoid Marshall's second challenge before firing a low shot under Lewis at the near post.

Rugby held the lead for just a few minutes; Vincent was again involved, this time setting up Wright whose first shot was blocked but he managed to get to the rebound and tuck it into the bottom corner of the net.  In the last minute of the half Rugby could have got themselves back in front; a corner was only partially cleared by Harriers and the ball dropped invitingly for JJ Cole who saw his shot hit the post and then Melvin Gourlay fired the loose ball over.

Harriers took the lead again five minutes after the interval; Steve Guinan broke clear on the right then passed inside to Callum Gittings who jinked his way into the penalty area with some excellent close control before despatching a shot over Connor.  Better finishing from Harriers would have seen them win the game comfortably.  In total they mustered 12 off-target shots in the second half, most of which flew over the bar.

Connor made good saves to deny Gittings again and Jack Byrne while at the other end a defensive mix-up almost allowed the home team to level the scores, Tyrone Fagan taking the ball around Dean Lyness before firing against the bar.  Guinan set up Luke Medley with quarter of an hour remaining but he fired over the bar.  Two minutes from the end Guinan took matters into his own hands and rather than passing he lashed a 30-yard effort over Connor to complete the scoring.