Eastbourne Borough 2(0) v (2)3 Kidderminster Harriers

Football Conference National - Langney Sports Ground - 27 September 2008

Attendance: 1248

Individual Stats
Eastbourne
Shots
Fouls
Off.
v Kidderminster
Shots
Fouls
Off.
 
On
Off
For
Ag
     
On
Off
For
Ag
 
Lee Hook 6 0(6) 0 0 0 0[1] Adam Bartlett 5 0(2) 0 0 0 0
Ben Austin 6 0 2 1 0 0 [5/21] Keith Lowe 5 0 2 0 2 0
Neil Jenkins 7 2(1) 0 0 0 0[3] Lee Baker 5 0 1 0 1(h) 0
Marc Pullan 5 0 0 1 0 0 [6] Luke Jones 6 1(1) 0 1 2 0
Darren Baker 5 0 0 1 3 0 [2/5] Mark Creighton 6 0 0 0 0 0
Matt Smart 5 0 0 3 2 0 [4] Andy Ferrell 6 1 0 1 0 0
Jay Lovett 6 0 0 0 0 0 [13/16] Martin Brittain 6 0 0 0 0 0
Paul Armstrong 6 1(1) 2 3 0 0 [8/10] Russ Penn 5 0 3 1 2 0
Andy Atkin 5 1 2 0 1 4 [9/11] Justin Richards 8 3(2) 0 2 2 0
Allan Tait 5 0 0 0 0 0 [10/9] Matt Barnes-Homer 6 2(2) 0 1 2 4
Matt Crabb 6 1 1 0 0 0 [11/14] Brian Smikle 7 1 1 0 0 0
Pat Harding 5 0 1 0 0 0 [7/8] Darryl Knights 6 1(1) 0 0 0 1
Nathan Crabb 5 0 0 1 0 0 [15/17] David McDermott     
Simon Wormull 5 0 2 0 0 0 [18/20] Dean Bennett 5 0 0 0 0 0
Darren Budd      [31/22] Neil MacKenzie 5 0 0 0 0 0
Chris Winterton      [22/12] Dean Coleman     
Team Stats
  Fouls Conceded Offside Corners Shots On Shots off
Eastbourne 6 4 4 5 10
Kidderminster 11 5 6 9 7
GOALS
Eastbourne Kidderminster
59 Neil Jenkins  13 Justin Richards 
69 Matt Crabb   38 Brian Smikle  
    62 Andy Ferrell  
Formations
Eastbourne
   Hook  
Austin Pullan  Baker Jenkins
     
Lovett Armstrong  Smart M. Crabb
     
  Atkin  Tait 
Kidderminster
   Bartlett  
Lowe Jones  Creighton Baker
     
Brittain Penn  Ferrell Smikle
     
  Richards  Barnes-Homer 
SUBSTITUTIONS
Eastbourne Kidderminster
67 Harding Lovett Harding to right midfield. 81 MacKenzie Brittain MacKenzie to right central midfield, Penn to right midfield.
67 N. Crabb Tait Crabb to striker. 84 Knights Barnes-Homer Knights to striker.
67 Wormull Smart Wormull to left central midfield. 90 Bennett Smikle Bennett to left central midfield, Ferrell to left midfield.
BOOKINGS
Eastbourne Kidderminster
    
Referee: Keith Yeo (Essex)
Match Report by St@tto

A fourth consecutive win, and sixth in seven games, lifted Harriers to second place in the Conference but after seeming comfortable at the break the made hard work of wrapping up the points against a spirited Eastbourne side.

Fielding the same line-up yet again, for the seventh game in a row in fact, Harriers began the game with the confidence of a team in form that had just risen to third in the league and began to stretch their hosts straight away.

Twelve minutes were on the clock when a sweeping move forward ended with Matthew Barnes-Homer slipping the ball through the inside-right channel to Brian Smikle who had crossed over from his left wing position and crossed low to the far post where Justin Richards was on hand to slide in his eighth goal of the season which lifts him to the top of the Conference scoring charts.

Shortly afterwards Richards picked out Martin Brittain on the right wing who pushed the ball inside to Russ Penn surging into the penalty area but his shot went wide of the far post.  At the other end the closest the home team came to threatening Adam Bartlett in the Harriers goal but Jay Lovett's deep right wing cross was headed well wide at the far post by Andy Atkin.

Harriers doubled their advantage eight minutes before the break; Brittain was left in acres of space on the right wing, Eastbourne clearly had not done their homework on him, and his cross to the far post was met by a diving Smikle who scored his second headed goal in as many games.

After the interval Harriers began in the same fashion as they had played the first half; Richards played the ball in from the left to Barnes-Homer whose shot on the turn was pushed around the post by Lee Hook in the home goal for a corner.  Soon afterwards Eastbourne had a lifeline when Matt Crabb's left-wing cross was forced in by Lee Jenkins.

Harriers responded well, however, and three minutes later they were two goals ahead again; a corner from the right was not cleared properly by the home team and Penn knocked the ball back to Andy Ferrell who rifled in a low drive from 25 yards out.  On 66 minutes Harriers could have had the game settled; Penn made a good run on the right into the penalty area but instead of shooting squared the ball to Barnes-Homer who saw his goal ruled out for offside.

The home team reduced the deficit again midway through the half; substitute Nathan Crabb got free on the right wing and crossed to the far post where his brother Matt was on hand to lash the ball past Bartlett.  Soon afterwards Harriers failed to clear a corner from the left and Pat Harding should have done better than shoot wide of the far post.

Harriers were still creating chances and ten minutes from the end could have given themselves a more comfortable lead; Ferrell's deep cross from the left was met by Richards but his header was well saved by Hook who pushed it away for a corner.

Eastbourne had their tails up by now and were throwing everything forward in search of an equaliser; Matt Crabb's free-kick from the right found Atkin at the far post who had more time than he realised but he couldn't direct his header and the ball went safely out of play.  The same player went even closer two minutes from the end, getting on the end of Harding's cross he saw his shot cleared off the line by Mark Creighton.

Moments later Borough had a free-kick halfway inside the Harriers half, played short to Paul Armstrong he saw his weak shot held comfortably by Bartlett.  Deep in stoppage time Harriers had one last chance; a crossfield pass found Neil MacKenzie on the right, he cut in across the front of the penalty area before slipping the ball through to Darryl Knights whose shot was saved by the legs of Hook.