Ebbsfleet United 5(3) v (0)4 Kidderminster Harriers

Football Conference National - Stonebridge Road - 15 September 2007

Attendance: 812

Individual Stats
Ebbsfleet
Shots
Fouls
Off.
v Kidderminster
Shots
Fouls
Off.
 
On
Off
For
Ag
     
On
Off
For
Ag
 
Lance Cronin 5 0(2) 0 0 0 0 0 [1/13] Dean Coleman 4 0(3) 0 0 0 0
Peter Hawkins 5 0 0 0 0 0 [2/18] Paul Bignot 5 0 0 2 2 0
Sacha Opinel 6 0 0 1 1 0 [3] Jonny Harkness 5 0 0 0 1 0
Warren Goodhind 4 0 0 1 1 0 [26/2] Jeff Kenna 6 0 0 0 1 0
Paul McCarthy 5 0 0 1 0 0 [6/5] Mark Creighton 5 2(2w) 0 0 0 0
Michael Bostwick 5 0 1 0 0 0 [25/17] Andy Ferrell 5 0 0 1 0 0
Chris McPhee 5 0 1 0 0 0 [12/10] Russ Penn 5 0 1 0 2 0
Danny Slatter 5 0 0 0 0 0 [7/19] Dean Bennett 6 0 0 0 0 0
Raphael Nade 6 0 2 2 3(1h) 2 [9/8] James Constable 8 4(1w) 0 1 2 3
Chukki Eribenne 8 3(1) 2 2 3(1h) 2 [10/9] Justin Richards 7 2(2) 0 1 1 2
Stacy Long 7 1(1) 1 1 0 1 [8/11] Michael Blackwood 5 0 1 0 0 0
Mark de Bolla 7 3(1) 0 1 1 0 [11/4] Gavin Hurren 5 0 0 2 1 0
Liam Coleman 5 0 0 0 0 1 [16/14] Brian Smikle          
George Purcell           [17/15] Michael McGrath 5 0 1 0 0 0
Luke Coleman 6 1 0 0 0 1 [24/16] Jon Munday          
Sam Mott           [21] Matt Barnes-Homer 5 0 0 0 0 0
Team Stats
  Fouls Conceded Offside Corners Shots On Shots off
Ebbsfleet 9 7 5 8 7
Kidderminster 10 5 7 8 3
GOALS
Ebbsfleet Kidderminster
4 Chukki Eribenne   58 Warren Goodhind Own Goal
12 Mark de Bolla   67 James Constable  
45 Chukki Eribenne   72 James Constable  
61 Mark de Bolla   90+ James Constable  
86 Luke Coleman        
Formations
Ebbsfleet
    Cronin    
Hawkins Goodhind   McCarthy Opinel
         
McPhee Slatter   Bostwick Long
         
  Nade   Eribenne  
Kidderminster
    Coleman    
Bignot Kenna   Creighton Harkness
         
Penn Bennett   Ferrell Blackwood
         
  Constable   Richards  
SUBSTITUTIONS
Ebbsfleet Kidderminster
6 de Bolla Slatter de Bolla to right central midfield. 34 Hurren Harkness Hurren to right central defender, Kenna to right back, Bignot to left back.
71 Liam Coleman Goodhind Liam Coleman to right midfield, McPhee to right back, Hawkins to right central defender. 66 McGrath Ferrell McGrath to left central midfield, Penn to right central midfield, Bennett to right midfield.
78 Luke Coleman Eribenne Luke Coleman to striker. 84 Barnes-Homer Bignot Barnes-Homer to striker, Hurren to central defender, Kenna to right central defender.  Now 3-4-3.
BOOKINGS
Ebbsfleet Kidderminster
Bostwick 71 Dissent
Hawkins 83 Time Wasting
     
Referee: Andy Halliday (London)
Match Report by St@tto

Terrible defending from Harriers once again cost them dearly as they found themselves three goals down at the interval before staging a comeback that almost saw them get something from the game.

Their preparations were thrown into disarray before the game; Scott Bevan was declared unfit due to an injury picked up in the game against York the previous weekend, handing a debut to Dean Coleman in goal, Iyseden Christie also had to sit out the game as a result of an injury picked up in a midweek friendly.  On top of that the team was held up in traffic on the way to the game and did not arrive at Stonebridge Road until 3pm, forcing the game to start almost 30 minutes late.

Ebbsfleet needed just three minutes to take the lead as the Harriers defence went AWOL, Stacy Long's free kick from the wing found an unmarked Chukki Eribenne at the near post who rose unchallenged to head in.  Things went from bad to worse for Harriers just eight minutes later when they found themselves two down; the ball was played over from the right to Long on the opposite flank, the Harriers defence stood still waiting for an offside flag that never came, Long saw his shot saved by Coleman but Mark de Bolla was on hand to tap in the rebound.

Harriers were in danger of total collapse and could have been further behind after a quarter of an hour; Eribenne jinked his way into the penalty area and pulled the ball back to de Bolla who fired straight at Coleman.  Finally Harriers woke up and a short-corner routine led to Jonny Harkness crossing for Mark Creighton who headed against the bar.  At the other end Long's corner found Michael Bostwick for another unchallenged header that flew over the bar.  Right at the end of the half United looked to have the game sewn up when Eribenne outpaced the Harriers defence, holding off Gavin Hurren, before lashing the ball into the roof of the net.

After the break Harriers came out with more purpose and got a consolation goal shortly before the hour when Warren Goodhind sliced Russ Penn's cross against the bar and down onto the goalline, the linesman signaling that the ball had in fact crossed the line.  The deficit was restored to three a couple of minutes later, however, when de Bolla was allowed to waltz through the Harriers defence before rifling in a low 20-yard shot.

Harriers kept plugging away, though, and could have scored again when they hit the frame of the goal again, twice in as many minutes - first James Constable headed Dean Bennett's cross against the bar and then Creighton headed Jeff Kenna's free-kick against the bar.  The pressure paid off after 66 minutes when Justin Richards ran through the home defence before rolling the ball into the path of Constable who lashed it into the unguarded net.  Four minutes later the game was brought back to life when Constable picked up Richards' flick on and drilled an angled shot past Lance Cronin.

As the game entered the closing stages Harriers were flying; with ten minutes left Constable flicked on Coleman's long kick for Richards on the right flank who cut inside and shot straight at Cronin.  Next, Kenna's free-kick from deep on the right was flicked on to Michael Blackwood beyond the far post who had a great chance to level the scores but instead fired into the side netting.

Moments later the home team counter-attacked and with the Harriers defence again appealing for offside Rafael Nade was able to get clear on the right before setting up Luke Coleman to fire in the fifth.  Deep into stoppage time Harriers pulled another goal back when Kenna's corner from the left was kept in at the far post by Bennett and Constable was on hand to fire it into the net to complete his second hat-trick in four games but by now it was too late for Harriers to get anything out of the game.