Kidderminster Harriers 2(0) v (1)1 Fleetwood Town

Football Conference National - Aggborough - 22 April 2011

Attendance: 2738

Individual Stats
Kidderminster
Shots
Fouls
Off.
v Fleetwood
Shots
Fouls
Off.
 
On
Off
For
Ag
     
On
Off
For
Ag
 
Danny Lewis     [1] Danny Hurst     
Lee Vaughan     [2] Shaun Beeley     
Mike Williams      [3/12] Junior Brown     
Michael Briscoe      [16/5] Steve McNulty     
Mark Albrighton      [6/29] Sean Gregan     
Keith Briggs      [8/4] Anthony Barry     
Matty Blair      [17/11] Jamie Mullan     
Jack Byrne      [11/18] Jamie McGuire     
Lee Morris      [9/19] Gareth Seddon     
Chris McPhee      [10/27] George Donnelly     
Callum Gittings      [18/7] Sean Clancy     
Tom Shaw      [5/8] Alex-Rae Harvey     
Nick Wright      [14/15] Lee Thorpe     
Jamille Matt      [20/24] Keigan Parker     
Sean Canham      [23/26] Peter Cavanagh     
Andy Stevens      [33/16] Scott Davies     
Team Stats
  Fouls Conceded Offside Corners Shots On Shots off
Kidderminster 10 1 10 8 5
Fleetwood 12 0 11 6 6
GOALS
Kidderminster Fleetwood
53 Jack Byrne 39 Jamie Mullan
57 Jack Byrne   
Formations
Kidderminster
   Lewis  
Vaughan Briscoe  Albrighton Williams
     
Blair Byrne  Briggs Gittings
     
  Morris  McPhee 
Fleetwood
   Hurst  
Beeley McNulty  Gregan Brown
     
Mullan McGuire  Barry Clancy
     
  Seddon  Donnelly 
SUBSTITUTIONS
Kidderminster Fleetwood
70 Shaw Briggs Shaw to left central midfield. 73 Parker Clancy Parker to right midfield, Mullan to left midfield.
88 Wright Morris Wright to striker. 90+1 Thorpe Seddon Thorpe to striker.
     90+3   Donnelly Now 4-4-1.
BOOKINGS
Kidderminster Fleetwood
McPhee 45 Dissent  Donnelly 28 Foul
McNulty 50 Foul
Donnelly 90+3 Foul
Donnelly 90+3 Persistent Misconduct
Referee: Rob Merchant (Staffordshire)
Match Report by St@tto

Harriers pulled off an excellent victory to keep their play-off hopes alive, beating Fleetwood to close the gap on them to just one point with two games remaining.

Lee Morris and Jack Byrne returned to the starting line-up, the only changes from the side that lost to Darlington three days earlier, as Steve Burr switched to a more conventional 4-4-2 formation.  After a series of corners - three at each end - in the first ten minutes the game took a while to settle down, both sides a little tentative in the opening exchanges.  The visitors were the first to go close, Gareth Seddon bringing a save from Danny Lewis with a header from Sean Clancy's corner.

Fleetwood created the better chances in the first half; Seddon went close again ten minutes before the break firing across the face of goal after being set up by Jamie McGuire.  On 39 minutes Town took the lead; the ball ricocheted into the penalty area from Anthony Barry's pass, Lee Vaughan attempted a clearance that went across the penalty area straight to Jamie Mullan on the opposite flank who had plenty of time to pick his spot and plant the ball past Lewis.

The atmosphere inside Aggborough was already electric when Harriers got themselves back into the game seven minutes after the break and lifted the noise level even further; a long ball forward was knocked down by Matt Blair to Jack Byrne, Byrne hit a shot from beyond 25 yards out that took a deflection and looped over Danny Hurst to level the scores.

The turning point came on 55 minutes; Mark Albrighton was caught out by George Donnelly who broke into the the penalty area but his goal bound shot was deflected away for a corner by Lewis' outstretched leg.  Harriers cleared the corner, attacked and won a corner of their own.  Callum Gittings' corner from the left was met by the head of Byrne and guided into the far corner off the goal, his seventh strike of the season; the roof was lifted off Aggborough as Harriers took the lead.

On the hour Harriers should have stretched their lead; Keith Briggs made a strong run to the byline on the right and pulled the ball back to Morris; his shot was somehow cleared off the line by Shaun Beeley, deflecting it up over the bar for a corner.  Shortly afterwards Blair's pass set Morris clear but just as he was about to shoot he was halted by a perfectly timed tackle from Steve McNulty.

Late on Vaughan made up for his earlier error with an excellent block, getting his body in the way of Donnelly's shot.  In stoppage time Harriers could have made the game safe when Town messed up an attempted short goal kick, Sean Gregan gifting the ball straight to Nick Wright who took the ball forward into the penalty area and fired wide of the far post.  Even further into stoppage time Fleetwood were reduced to ten men when Donnelly was shown his second yellow card.