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Southend began quite brightly and in the fifth minute Ian Selley saw a free kick headed over the crossbar by Craig Hinton.
United soon lost their momemtum however and only two minutes later Richie Appleby's shot slithered through the fingers of Shrimpers custodian Daniel Gay for the home sides first corner. The resulting Appleby flag kick however was nodded clear by Leon Johnson.
Ian Foster curled a shot just wide of Gay's right hand post from 15 yards before Leon Cort headed Thurgood's left wing cross over from a tight angle moments later.
Harriers' lanky striker Drewe Broughton headed an Adrian Smith centre wide on 19 minutes and seconds later Stephen Clark knocked the ball into the path of Thurgood who unleashed a shot over the crossbar.
Kidderminster's long haired Danish striker Bo Henriksen should have opened the home sides account in the 28th minute, somehow heading over the bar from a matter of yards following an Ian Foster flick-on.
As Harriers threatened to break through the Southend rearguard, Cort cut out Scott Stamps' dangerous low cross and then Broughton nodded over the crossbar following fine work by Stamps and Henriksen.
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It was the 37th minute the the hosts finally broke the deadlock, but it was, to say the least, a rather fortunate goal. Rotherham-based referee Howard Webb harshly awarded a free kick against Ian Selley for a foul on Danny Williams and the resulting free kick bounced off the chest of gangly defender Abdou Sall and deflected into the net off the knees of Henriksen from two yards.
As Kidderminster looked to extend their lead before the half time interval Broughton headed a Smith cross well wide before the first half finished with Stamps shooting wayward in injury time.
The home side began to attack Southend again after the break with Cort having to be on his toes to lump clear a Broughton cross, but in the 49th minute United had a valid penalty appeal turned turn. Referee Webb, the same Official who failed to spot a Shrewsbury defender punching the ball clear at Roots Hall last season, claimed the ball hit Hinton's chest after Rob Newman's shot clearly hit the defender's left hand. A minute later Harriers' loanee shot-stopper Gary Montgomery dropped the ball under pressure from Newman but Sall managed to bundle the ball clear.
Good work by Maher and Selley in the 53rd minute saw Maher eventually slip to ball to Clark who ignored the cries of the unmarked Thurgood and chipped a poor shot straight at Montgomery.
Both Foster and substitute Tony Bird lobbed efforts over Gay's crossbar before Southend created possibly their best chance of the match in the 58th minute. Thurgood did a great job to keep the ball from crossing the goalline for a goalkick and knocked the ball back to Damon Searle, in turn the Welshman fed the ball to Selley who'd found some space on the edge of the penalty area. The midfielder sent a fierce shot inches over the crossbar. Kevin Maher the shot over from 20 yards following work from Thurgood and Phil Whelan.
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Immediately after this goal saw a huge moment in the life of Shrimpers youth teamer Anthony Clark. The 17-year old midfielder hadn't even featured in the reserve team until two weeks ago and here he was finding himself drafted into first team action, replacing his namesake, Steven Clark.
As the match approached a climax Maher headed over the bar following a Cort flick on before Dean Bennett dragged a shot wide of the post for the home side. Gay then had no problems in stopping a poor effort from Foster and an acrobatic bicycle-kick from Broughton as Webb brought an end to proceddings following three minutes of stoppage time.
Mark Wallis
www.thelittlegazette.com