Saturday, August 20, 2005

THERE have not been many times in recent seasons that Kidderminster Harriers can claim to have deserved a big interval lead.

But some fine football on Saturday at Scarborough should have really been crowned by more than just Mark Jackson's header on 31 minutes.

And Harriers were made to pay for their first-half misses as the hosts gradually forced a way back into the match, ending in a last-gasp equaliser.

Boss Stuart Watkiss saw both sides of his team, delighting in the football of the first 45 minutes but then accusing some players of vanishing acts later in the game.

Harriers look capable of playing their way into a top-five place this season so far but, like putting away their chances on the pitch at the moment, the end finish may be an altogether different story.

Scarborough were vulnerable opponents after losing their first two games without scoring and they should really have been seen off with ease.

Watkiss admitted: "I thought we were magnificent in the first-half and we should have gone in at half-time at least 5-0 up.

"Naturally, I'm disappointed with the defending for their equaliser but, as has been the case in the other two games so far, the back four were outstanding for the rest of the day -- and we should have been out of sight when that goal went in.

"I have to say I expected more from some of the players, perhaps more so the front three, than what they gave in that second-half.

"We were 1-0 up away from home and Scarborough were slowly getting themselves into the game. It was a test for those lads to see how they would respond and I think some of the players went missing a little bit."

Despite Martin O'Connor being passed fit before kick-off, Harriers were hit by the loss of his midfield partner Terry Fleming and injured forwards Michael Blackwood and Iyseden Christie.

While Christie is having antibiotics for a worrying foot infection and Blackwood will miss several weeks with a hamstring problem, Fleming raced away to be with his son who is ill in hospital. Defender Daryl Burgess picked up a foot injury inside the first 20 minutes on Saturday and had to be replaced by Steve Burton.

So Harriers' debatable squad strength was tested for the first time and, apart from the scoreline, the results were fairly positive for Watkiss.

Both Simon Russell and Lee Thompson had peppered the goal with shots of varying accuracy before Jackson's first chance on 21 minutes.

Like Russell earlier, the centre-half should have given the visitors the lead but directed his close-range header wide from a Gareth Sheldon corner.

But Jackson was not about to make the same mistake twice and grabbed his first goal for the club 10 minutes later from a similar position.

Although Ashley Lyth and Mark Quayle had forced John Danby into saves, Harriers' fluent football deserved a bigger half-time lead. In a scrappier second period Russell was only denied a second goal by an excellent Leigh Walker save.

But Scarborough sub Paul Foot had no mercy, rising to head home a routine free-kick as the game went into injury-time to deny Harriers.

HARRIERS: Danby; Evans, Jackson, Burgess (Burton 19), Hatswell; Wilson, O'Connor (Hurren 86), Thompson; Sheldon (Graves 72), Atieno, Russell. Subs not used: Lewis, Penn. ATTENDANCE: 1,401.