Ebbsfleet United 1(1) v (0)1 Kidderminster Harriers

Football Conference National - Stonebridge Road - 9 April 2009

Attendance: 979

Individual Stats
Ebbsfleet
Shots
Fouls
Off.
v Kidderminster
Shots
Fouls
Off.
 
On
Off
For
Ag
     
On
Off
For
Ag
 
Lance Cronin     [1]Adam Bartlett     
Jamie Stevens     [19/21]Keith Lowe     
Sacha Opinel     [3]Lee Baker     
Leon Crooks     [4/6]Luke Jones     
Darius Charles     [24/5]Mark Creighton     
Stacy Long     [8/20]Dean Bennett     
Michael West     [29/26]Chris McPhee     
Mark Ricketts     [15/8]Darryl Knights     
Ricky Shakes     [16/7]Stefan Moore     
Michael Gash     [9]Matt Barnes-Homer     
Danny Slatter     [7/25]Michael Carr     
George Purcell     [7/4]Andy Ferrell     
Dean Pooley     [12/10]Russ Penn     
Giuseppe Sole     [26/14]Brian Smikle     
Chris Henry     [31/15]Craig Armstrong     
Sam Mott     [21/16]Martin Brittain     
Team Stats
  Fouls Conceded Offside Corners Shots On Shots off
Ebbsfleet94567
Kidderminster141659
GOALS
Ebbsfleet Kidderminster
26Stacy LongPenalty83Matt Barnes-Homer 
Formations
Ebbsfleet
  Cronin  
StevensCrooks CharlesOpinel
     
WestRicketts LongSlatter
     
 Shakes Gash 
Kidderminster
  Bartlett  
LoweJones CreightonBaker
  Bennett  
McPhee   Carr
  Knights  
 Moore Barnes-Homer 
SUBSTITUTIONS
Ebbsfleet Kidderminster
42SoleSlatterSole to left midfield.56 BakerJones to left central defender, Creighton to central defender, Lowe to right central defender.  Now 3-3-1-2.
89PurcellOpinelPurcell to left midfield, Cole to left back.46PennKnightsPenn to attacking midfield.
    55SmikleBennettSmikle to left midfield, Carr to right midfield, McPhee to defensive midfield.
    61BrittainCarrBrittain to right midfield.
    84  Smikle to left back, Lowe to right back, Jones to right central defender, Creighton to left central defender, Moore to left midfield, Penn to left central midfield, McPhee to right central midfield.  Now 4-4-1.
BOOKINGS
Ebbsfleet Kidderminster
Crooks 81 Foul McPhee FoulBaker 26 Professional Foul
Referee: Paul Melin (Frimley)
Match Report by St@tto

Harriers strengthened their position in the play-off places with another hard-fought draw, coming back from an early setback with ten men.

With such a crowded schedule of games Mark Yates made a number of changes to the side that had drawn with Forest Green two days earlier.  Two of the changes were enforced, Luke Jones and Stefan Moore coming in for the suspended Martin Riley and Justin Richards while Michael Carr and Darryl Knights returned to the starting line-up.

Harriers had a couple of early escapes as the lively Ricky Shakes got in behind the defence but was let down by poor finishing.  A Stacy Long free-kick from the right found Michael Gash at the far post but he headed over as the home team dominated the early stages.  At the other end Matt Barnes-Homer's flick put Moore into a good position but his low shot was well saved by Lance Cronin.

On 26 minutes Shakes' pace caused Harriers more problems as he broke into the penalty area and was brought down by a clumsy challenge from behind by Lee Baker; referee Paul Melin had no hesitation in awarding the penalty and sending Baker off.  Long stepped up to take the penalty and sent Adam Bartlett the wrong way to open the scoring.  Despite the setback Harriers didn't change their approach to the game, leaving two men up in attack.  Before the break they could have leveled the scores, Knights' corner rom the left was met by Mark Creighton but his goal bound header was hacked away by the home defence.

After the break Ebbsfleet had a number of opportunities to wrap up the game but Bartlett kept them at bay several times.  Gash made a break through the middle of the park but Bartlett was quickly off his line to save at his feet.  Just past the hour mark Gash had his shot saved by Bartlett who then saved the follow-up and was then quickest to react when the loose ball was knocked back into the goalmouth.  Bartlett almost became the villain on 72 minutes when his clearance fell straight to Long but his 30-yard effort didn't have enough pace on it and Bartlett was able to get back into his goal to save.  Gash turned provider a few minutes later making a strong run on the right into the penalty area and pulled the ball back to the near post where Harriers managed to scramble it clear.

As the game wore on Harriers pressed forward and Creighton headed over from Martin Brittain's right-wing free-kick.  With seven minutes left Harriers grabbed their equaliser; the ball was hit forward from deep and flicked on by former Ebbsfleet midfielder Chris McPhee into the path of Barnes-Homer, it held up nicely for him allowing to pick his moment before lashing it past Cronin to record his 19th goal of the season.  In stoppage time Harriers could have snatched victory; Brittain got clear on the right and with two men waiting in the penalty area he over-hit the cross and the ball went out of play on the opposite flank.