Kidderminster Harriers 1 Southend United 0

By no stretch of the imagination are Kidderminster Harriers - twice Football Conference Champions in the last ten years - world beaters but the Worcestershire outfit have now completed the double over Newman's men, with the Shrimpers not even managing a goal in anger.

There were however two changes from Saturday's line-up with both Damon Searle and Tes Bramble returning from suspension. Searle, quite naturally, returned to his left back slot in place of Steve Tilson but bizarrely, although not not surprisingly, Newman gave Bramble a right wing role whilst continuing with the immobile Dominic Foley upfront. Daniel Marney was the unfortunate party who made way for Bramble.

As so often seems to be the case in these types of games, it was very slow to come to life, and indeed the first chance didn't arrive until fourteen minutes into the contest when a superb run, fully 60 yards by Stephen Kelly resulted in a fiercely driven shot which was deflected just wide of Harriers goalkeeper Fraser Digby's left hand post.

Tall striker Drewe Broughton, once a target of Newman, poked an angled shot into the arms of Darryl Flahavan seven minutes later. The powerful Bramble then shot over the top after a strong run before young midfielder John Melligan fired over the top for the home side after a worryingly unchallenged run.

Broughton headed an Adie Smith cross over the bar on 36 minutes as Shrimpers forward Mark Rawle limped out of the action with what looked like an ankle injury. In a rather unusual tactical ploy however, Newman stuck with Bramble on the right flank and introduced Marney - a natural right winger - as a centre forward.

It was Marney who sent a low shot at Digby to bring the first half priceedings to a rather uneventful climax.

The second half sprung to a somewhat lively start as, following a Foley knock-down, Steven Clark was blatantly upended in the penalty area, but referee Eddie Evans desperately waved away United's appeals. The Lancashire based Official was later to deny the Shrimpers a second spot-kick appreal.

Both Foley and Kelly squandered opportunities from floated Kevin Maher corners before a great peice of skill by Bramble brought a great turn before he cut inside and saw a shot bounce inches wide of the upright.

Flahavan made a great stop to deny Sean Flynn's header from a Sam Shilton corner before the home side scored the only goal of the game, somewhat out of the blue, on 76 minutes. The lively Melligan read a lofted through ball perfectly and outpaced the United defence before coolly lobbing the ball into the net over the head of the advancing Flahavan.

The Southend reply however was instant, and literally within seconds Digby made a fantastic save to push a low, powerful Marney shot around the post.

At the other end Flahavan made another decent save, this time from the head of Melligan before the last action brought more penalty controversy. Digby did well to push a Bramble volley wide for a corner and the resulting Maher flag kick was met by the head of Leon Cort who's effort was stopped on the line only by the outstetched hand of Craig Hinton, amazingly Evans didnt appear to see the incident as Southend, and their frustrated supporters once again faced a pointless journey home.

KIDDERMINSTER HARRIERS (4-4-2):- Fraser Digby; Adie Smith (Kenny Coleman 83), Wes Morgan, Dion Scott, Craig Hinton; Danny Williams, John Melligan, Sean Flynn, Sam Shilton (Andrew Bishop 83); Bo Henriksen (Sean Parrish 83), Drewe Broughton. Unused subs - Ian Foster, Stuart Brock.

SOUTHEND UNITED (4-4-2, with ratings out of ten):- Darryl Flahavan 7; Daryl Sutch 5, Damon Searle 6, Leon Cort 6, Stephen Kelly 8; Kevin Maher 6, Jay Smith 6 (Stuart Thurgood 76, 6), Tes Bramble 8, Steven Clark 6 (Neil Jenkins 82); Dominic Foley 3, Mark Rawle 5 (Daniel Marney 36, 7). Unused subs - Mark Beard, Daniel Gay.

TLG MAN OF THE MATCH: Tes Bramble.
Playing bizarrely on the right wing, despite Daniel Marney - a right winger himself - playing up front, Bramble, returning from suspension was still a constant threat. The strong, pacey striker, as ever, was not scared to run at the opposition and was always looking for a shot at goal. Bramble however must be played as a main striker.

Attendance: 2,006 (approx 185 away fans).
Referee: Eddie Evans (Lancashire) 6 out of 10.

Mark Wallis
www.thelittlegazette.com