Harriers suffer shock to the system (From Worcester News)

Harriers suffer shock to the system

10:16am Thursday 18th March 2010 in

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Harriers 1
Stevenage Borough 5

THE lesson was harsh but Harriers were taught the old adage that quality is permanent and form fleeting, after their chances of reaching the FA Trophy final were all but ended by ruthless Stevenage on Saturday.

For a chance of booking a trip to Wembley they must score four goals and not concede any against a side that has not lost in nearly two years at Broadhall Way in Saturday’s semi-final second leg, a situation so unlikely that pigs might as well start taking flying lessons.

Then there is the psychological damage of this result, a chastening lesson in finishing from the Blue Square Premier’s most in-form team.

Manager Steve Burr was taught in the harshest way possible what is needed to build a team capable of making it out of the Football Conference.

It wasn’t as though Harriers were totally played off the pitch, although the scoreline suggests that, it was just that where it matters Graham Westley’s men were head and shoulders better than them.

Where Boro were clinical in their finishing, Harriers were wayward and while Stevenage were watertight, the home defence had more leeks than the hull of the Titanic.

At least three of Stevenage's strikes were gifted to the Hertfordshire outfit, who didn’t need any encouragement on the goal-scoring front after scoring 12 in the three previous matches.

After the match, Harriers’ affable boss lamented the errors which handed the advantage to Boro and made the second leg all but meaningless, barring a remarkable turn around and also inflicted his first defeat since taking over as manager.

“It doesn’t matter what level of football you’re playing at, if you concede the goals that we did today then you’re going to lose matches,” he commented.

“I’m bitterly disappointed because if you take the three mistakes out I didn’t think we played that badly to be honest.

“Since I’ve been here we’ve defended set-pieces well but we took our eye off the ball and as a team we were short on what we had been doing.”

The irony was that before the away side opened the scoring, Harriers had been the better side.

With 2,120 home fans coming out for this game, this was their chance to impress and they did so pushing Stevenage, who seemed happy to bide their time, back.

But all the good work was wasted in the 29th minute when the home defence failed to pick up David Bridges, who cleanly met Michael Bostwick’s excellent right wing cross with a well-placed header which beat keeper Ross Atkins.

Harriers responded and levelled the scores thanks to centre back Gavin Caines.

A corner fell to him on the edge of the box and the big defender did well to get the ball out of his feet and unleash a thundering effort into keeper Chris Day’s bottom right hand corner.

But that was as good as it got for Harriers, who were carved open all too easily moments later as Stevenage restored their advantage.

It was simple for Mitchell Cole to waltz into the box, deftly control a searching high ball and evade Martin Riley’s clumsy challenge before squaring the ball for a sliding Yemi Odubade to bundle over the line.

The hosts were caught napping again when Joel Byrom’s well-taken corner was met by the Bridges’ fine header to give Stevenage a 3-1 lead just before half-time.

Harriers tried to respond in the second half but their opponents were too well-drilled to worry, even with the inclusion of Robbie Matthews for the tiring Adam Boyes on the hour mark.

In contrast, former Harriers striker Chris Beardsley demonstrated his own improvement since moving on from the club with a brace that effectively killed off the semi-final.

The striker, who had given Caines and Riley a torrid time throughout, was on hand to stoop and head the ball into the back of the net, after Boro substitute Andy Drury’s shot crashed off the upright in the 71st minute.

The rout was complete in the 85th minute, when the effervescent Beardsley escaped Riley’s ineffectual attentions, cut in from the right wing and curled a fine effort past Atkins.

The goal wasn’t the stroke that killed off the game, more like the final vicious blow to put Harriers’ final hopes out of their misery.

Harriers: Atkins 5; Courtney 5; Baker 6; Caines 4; Riley 3; McPhee 5; Bennett 5; Knights 6; Smikle 5; Bignot 5 (Lawrie, 73); Boyes 5 (Matthews, 6). Unused substitutes: Singh; Hayward; Sharpe.

Stevenage: Day; Laird; Ashton; Odubade; Byrom (Drury, 63); Roberts; Bridges (Vincenti, 84); Beardsley; Cole (Albrighton, 46); Bostwick; Henry. Unused substitutes: Bayes; Sills.

Referee: Andy Woolmer. Attendance: 2,433 (317)