Burton Albion 0(0) v (1)2 Kidderminster Harriers

Football Conference National - The Pirelli Stadium - 3 November 2007

Attendance: 1864

Individual Stats
Burton
Shots
Fouls
Off.
v Kidderminster
Shots
Fouls
Off.
 
On
Off
For
Ag
     
On
Off
For
Ag
 
Kevin Poole 7 0(6) 0 0 0 0 [1/22] Chris MacKenzie 7 0(4) 0 0 0 0
John Brayford 5 0 1 2 1 0 [17/18] Paul Bignot 6 1 0 0 0 0
Aaron Webster 5 0 0 0 2 0 [3/11] Michael Blackwood 6 0 0 1 0 0
Ryan Austin 5 0 0 4 1 0 [15/6] Stuart Whitehead 6 0 0 3 0 0
Tony James 5 0 0 2 1 0[5] Mark Creighton 6 0 1 1 1 0
John McGrath 5 0 0 2 1 0 [6/17] Andy Ferrell 6 0 2 0 1 0
Andy Corbett 5 0 0 0 2 0 [2/14] Brian Smikle 8 3(3) 1 2 2 2
Andy Gooding 5 0 0 0 0 0 [21/19] Dean Bennett 5 0 1 0 2 0
Daryl Clare 6 2(2) 1 1 1 1 [10/9] Justin Richards 6 2(2) 1 1 2 1
Jake Edwards 6 2(2) 3 0 3 1 [9/10] Russell Penn 7 2(1) 2 2 4 1
Keith Gilroy 5 0 0 3 0 0 [11/15] Michael McGrath 6 0 0 2 1 0
Marc Goodfellow       [8/3] Jonny Harkness      
Danny Holmes       [12/4] Gavin Hurren      
Shaun Harrad 5 0 1 0 0 1 [14/21] Matt Barnes-Homer 5 0 0 0 0 0
David Farrell       [18/23] Iyseden Christie 5 0 0 0 1 0
Martin Taylor       [13] Dean Coleman      
Team Stats
  Fouls Conceded Offside Corners Shots On Shots off
Burton 12 3 4 4 6
Kidderminster 14 4 4 8 8
GOALS
Burton Kidderminster
    19 Russ Penn  
    61 Paul Bignot 
Formations
Burton
   Poole   
Brayford Austin   James Webster
     
Corbett Gooding   McGrath Gilroy
     
  Clare   Edwards  
Kidderminster
   MacKenzie   
Bignot Whitehead   Creighton Blackwood
     
Smikle Bennett   Ferrell McGrath
   Penn   
   Richards   
SUBSTITUTIONS
Burton Kidderminster
62 Harrad Austin Harrad to striker, James to central defender, Webster to left central defender, Brayford to right central defender.  Now 3-4-3. 69   Bennett Penn to right central midfield.  Now 4-4-1.
     76 Christie Richards Christie to striker.
     80 Barnes-Homer McGrath Barnes-Homer to striker, Penn to central midfield, Smikle to right central midfield.  Now 4-3-2.
BOOKINGS
Burton Kidderminster
James 51 Foul
McGrath 72 Foul
  Bignot 61 Unsporting Behaviour Bennett 69 Serious Foul Play
Referee: Gary Sutton (Lincolnshire)
Match Report by St@tto

One of Harriers' best performances of the season so far brought Burton's 14-game unbeaten run juddering to a halt despite playing twenty minutes of the game with ten men.

Mark Yates had devised a plan to stop Burton from playing their normal game which came off to perfection with the whole team hitting form at once.    Michael McGrath was rewarded with a place in the starting line-up after his match-turning performance from the bench in the FA Cup tie against Vauxhall Motors a week earlier; Justin Richards played alone in attack with Russ Penn behind in the hole.

Penn reveled in his role and thought that he had given Harriers the lead after 17 minutes but his strike from the edge of the penalty area was ruled out for a foul in the build-up.  He didn't have to wait long to break the deadlock, however, Richards flicked on Chris MacKenzie's kick to Brian Smikle who fed it Penn who beat veteran keeper Kevin Poole with a low angled shot.

Harriers dominated play in the first half and could, and probably should, have increased their advantage on more than one occasion.  On 28 minutes Smikle threaded a long pass through to Richards whose shot on the turn seemed destined for the top corner until Poole managed grasp it.  Ten minutes before the interval Michael Blackwood got to the byline on the left and pulled the ball back to Penn at the far post but he could only direct his shot across the face of goal.

Early in the second half McGrath got free on the left and crossed to the far post where Smikle knocked the ball back to Penn whose shot was deflected over for a corner.  On the rare occasions that Burton threatened their shooting let them down; just before the hour mark Daryl Clare blasted over the bar from close range when he should have done better.

Harriers doubled their advantage after 60 minutes; Smikle won the ball on the right touchline and knocked it back to Paul Bignot.  He played a neat 1-2 with Richards on the edge of the penalty area and continued his run into the box to fire under Poole to record the first ever professional goal of his career.

There was a setback for the visitors after 69 minutes when Dean Bennett was sent-off after making a needless late tackle on John Brayford on the halfway line.  Despite being a man down Harriers continued to dominate the game, however, and continued to create chances.  Four minutes later Richards set up Penn who made a strong run through the heart of the Burton defence before rolling the ball to his right to Smikle who saw his shot held by Poole.  In the closing minutes Smikle was denied again by Poole after being set up by a good flick-on from substitute Iyseden Christie.  Albion had a late chance to get back into the game when Jake Edwards raced on to a ball through the middle of the park but he fired wide under pressure from Blackwood.