Venue: Aggborough
Sat 7th February 2004, 3pm kick-off.
Conditions: Cold and blustery
Ground: Bumpy
Scorers: Gavin Williams (64, 0-1)
Attendance: 3,255 – including exactly 888 Glovers supporters
Referee: Kevin Wright (Northamptonshire)
Assistant Refs: Gary Chapman (Gloucestershire), Kevin Hawkes (Gloucestershire)
Bookings:
Yeovil: Weatherstone (90, persistent infringement), Williams (90, unsporting behaviour)
Kidderminster: Bennett (90, unsporting behaviour)
Line Ups
Yeovil Town : (4-4-2)
1. Chris Weale
16. Andy Lindegaard 2. Adam Lockwood 12. Hugo Rodrigues 3. Abdelhalim El Kholti
20. Gavin Williams 6. Darren Way 8. Lee Johnson 10. Nick Crittenden
17. Jake Edwards 25. Simon Weatherstone
Subs:
9. Kevin Gall (62, for Elam) 13. Steven Collis 19. Chris Giles 22. Lee Elam (24, for Crittenden) 26. Andy Bishop (56, for Edwards)
Kidderminster Harriers:
1. Stuart Brock 6. Matthew Gadsby 5. Craig Hinton 22. Wayne Hatswell 3. Scott Stamps 4. Danny Williams 17. Adam Murray 24. Robert Betts 7. Dean Bennett 10. Jesper Christiansen 16. Scott Rickards
Subs:
9. John Williams (60, for Rickards) 12. Bo Henriksen 14. Sean Parrish 15. John Danby 20. Graham Ward (60, for Betts)
Badger’s View Of The Game
For the second match running, Gary Johnson was forced to field a makeshift defensive line-up lacking club captain Terry Skiverton, left-back Colin Pluck and right-back Paul Terry. Thus the same back four that finished the match at Northampton were selected for the match at Aggborough. Nick Crittenden and Lee Elam returned from injury although neither were to finish the game, whilst the big surprise up front was that Kevin Gall was placed on the subs bench with Simon Weatherstone getting the nod. Adam Stansfield and Stephen Reed dropped out of the sixteen to make room for new loan signing Andy Bishop.
Chris Weale was forced into early action after four minutes when he had to turn a Kidderminster shot around the post for a corner, whilst at the other end Harriers keeper Stuart Brock had to do the same to stop a Simon Weatherstone shot hitting the net. It was a bright opening by both teams with Scott Rickards sending a looping header over the bar for the home side whilst Jake Edwards saw his header saved at the far post by Brock again following a Weatherstone cross.
Yeovil suffered an early blow when Nick Crittenden pulled up with a reoccurence of his hamstring strain, and he was replaced by Lee Elam. Initially Elam started off playing on the right, but he and Gavin Williams soon swapped places.
After the opening flurry of chances, the game developed into a non-descript scrap with neither side getting hold of the game. In the eyes of referee Kevin Wright, Yeovil were conceding too many fouls close to their own penalty area but Kidderminster rarely threatened to take advantage of that. The game was a stop-start affair and it took the Glovers makeshift backline a while to stop giving those free kicks away. Neither team could really get on top of the game and neither Williams, nor Elam could find space on the wings to get in behind the Harriers defence. The home side’s physical approach was giving them a slight edge on proceedings, but bar the early action. Chris Weale was rarely occupied other than to pick out crosses and backpasses.
Half-time: Kidderminster Harriers 0 – 0 Yeovil Town
Five minutes after the break, Dean Bennett broke in behind the Glovers defence, but Chris Weale came off his line quickly and did enough to force Bennett to hurry his shot over the bar. Andy Bishop made his debut 10 minutes into the half, replacing Jake Edwards who had struggled to get any success against the Kidderminster back-line. Bishop received a warm round of applause from the home support who had received his services earlier in the season.
Andy Lindegaard had to be alert in his right-back role when a deep cross went in behind Chris Weale, but Lindy did well to force a header out for a corner, when under severe pressure. From that corner Hugo Rodrigues had to hack the ball off the line. Despite this sudden wake-up of the Harriers attack, manager Jan Molby decided to force his attacking options further by making a double substitution, including former Cardiff striker John Williams.
The Glovers made their own changes, with Lee Elam becoming the third Yeovil player this season to be substituted as a substitute, with Kevin Gall replacing him. Simon Weatherstone dropped into the right-wing slot, meaning that Gavin Williams switched wings for the third time during the game.
Perhaps because of the introduction of Gall, or the movement of Williams across the park, Kidderminster were unsettled and a defensive error cost them a goal. Matthew Gadsby kindly gifted Gavin WILLIAMS the ball on the halfway line, and when he ran straight down the middle of the park, the movement of Kevin Gall and Andy Bishop towards the wide positions, stretched the Kidderminster defence and Williams was able to run straight through and plant his shot straight into the corner of the net. 1-0 and the way the team celebrated showed the relief at taking the lead in a game for the first time in a month.
With their tails firmly up now, the Glovers could have been two more goals to the good within minutes. A cast iron penalty after Andy Bishop was clattered by Harriers keeper Stuart Brock following a header, was ignored by both referee Kevin Wright and his linesman despite both having a perfect view of the foul. Then a minute later, good work by Bishop set up Kevin Gall but when your luck is out, it really is out and Gall’s well struck shot went inches wide of the post.
Kidderminster were having few chances to equalise and only really woke up when they threw bodies forward in the last ten minutes. They had claims for a penalty turned down when Jesper Christiansen fell in the area under pressure from Hugo Rodrigues but again Mr Wright was unimpressed, and in the ensuing chaos, Adam Murray’s shot was deflected wide for a corner.
But overall Harriers were making it easy for the Glovers. Poor passing, poor distribution and a tendency to gift Yeovil players with the ball kept their chances down right up until the final minute when referee Mr Wright again stole the show with a series of decisions that turned the heat up on the match. Kevin Gall was hauled down right on the edge of the Kidderminster penalty area, yet Mr Wright bottled the decision, and that lack of action was to almost prove to be costly.
Kidderminster moved down the other end of the park, and 20 seconds after the foul on Gall, a linesman adjudged Adam Lockwood’s challenge on John Williams to be illegal and Mr Wright accepted his advice by awarding a penalty despite initially looking to award a corner. The ex-Cardiff striker proceeded to goad the Yeovil supporters behind the goal and whilst Mr Wright was discussing the merits of the penalty decision with his linesman, a scuffle, provoked by Williams, broke out in the penalty box, with Hugo Rodrigues appearing to receive a punch from a Kidderminster player. The match official proceeded to caution Dean Bennett and Yeovil’s Simon Weatherstone for their part in the affray, with Williams somehow getting off scot-free. Another Williams – Gavin this time – was also cautioned for timewasting after he decided that Adam Murray’s positioning of the ball on the penalty spot was illegal. Mr Wright agreed with the Yeovil winger’s assessment yet still proceeded to caution him!
After a lengthy delay, Adam Murray stepped up to take the kick and hit it low, hard and into the bottom corner. Whether the delay put Murray off or not, he could not have hit it better, but Chris Weale stretched himself out to his full length and produced a tremendous save to push the ball round the post, resulting in him being mobbed by his team-mates as the 900 Yeovil fans behind him went wild.
Straight from that corner there was still time for some more drama. As Dean Bennett rose up to head the ball, Mr Wright reached for his whistle yet again, meaning that by the time Bennett’s header hit the back of the net, any chance of Kidderminster had of getting an equaliser had been disallowed for a push by a Harriers player. Not even two minutes of injury time could stop Yeovil claiming their deserved victory and their first three points for a month. The drama of the final minute, and the emotional scenes that followed will have no doubt brought back the confidence and togetherness of the Yeovil team and supporters, and hopefully we can move on from there and get the season back on track.
Badger
Full-time: Kidderminster Harriers 0 – 1 Yeovil Town
MOTM Vote Result:
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Overall match rating: 6.5 / 10
Performance: 6.6
Entertainment: 6.4
49 votes received.