Kidderminster Harriers Supporters Team

It was back to business for the Harriers Supporters team at the weekend as AFC Telford fans made the short journey to Worcestershire for the first derby of the season. AFC Telford arrived in good form having won all of their opening 4 matches, with Kiddy themselves also coming off the back of just 1 defeat in 4.

The game started in a cagey fashion with both teams taking their time to find their feet. For Kiddy, centre forwards Thomas and Taylor were making life difficult for the visitor defence while at the other end the tried and tested centre half combo of Sewell and Danby snuffed out any threat from a potent Telford strike force.

The opening goal came on 15mins and went to the home side when Steve `Blobby' Thomas found himself with a run on goal, after beating the defence his original shot was saved by the on rushing keeper but the rebound fell nicely for Thomas to take his seasons goal tally to 5 goals in 3 matches. The game then started to open up with chances at both ends; Telford came close with a good move down the right hand side when the Telford winger made mincemeat of full back Richard Millington only for the resulting shot to flash past the post while the other end, pint sized Jon `Gervais' Taylor saw his rip snorter of a volley to crash off the crossbar. Just before half time Telford got their equaliser when the attacker hit a thunderous volley from 30 yards out that flew in to the top
corner of the Kiddy goal to spark celebrations from the Telford bench.

Into the second half now and Telford started to apply the pressure. The first 15 minutes saw Telford dominate possession with the home side struggling to keep hold of the ball whilst giving their opponents too much time and space. Telford almost went a goal up when the impressive centre forward got the better of the home defence only for Mad Dog Caulfield between the sticks to save superbly. The introductions of 5 in midfield for Kiddy and the extra impetus from substitute Chris Lacey seemed to give Kiddy a lift but just as the Home side were starting to get on top, Telford seized on some sloppy defending with the aforementioned Telford front man coolly slotting home from 12 yards.

The Harriers could have easily dropped their heads but instead went straight up the other end and levelled proceedings; Dave Pountney beat the offside trap and saw his shot saved by the keeper only for Taylor to prod into an empty net despite claims of offside by the Telford defenders. With 10 minutes left on the clock both teams looked to grab the winner with half chances at both ends but neither side ever looked like snatching all 3 points and the game ended in a fair and well contested draw.

Scorers - Steve Thomas and Jon Taylor.

Man of the match - Steve Thomas

Team : Brett Caufield, Richard Millington, Andy Morgan, Mark Connolly, Steve Thomas, Pete Lewis, Jon Taylor, Steve Bird, David Pountney, Dave Ackerley, Chris Lacey, Marc Stones, Jake Marsh, Nathan Fox, Craig Martin, Ian Danby, Ryan Cooper, John Wenham and Ollie Sewell.