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| Kidderminster supporters pack the away end |
Behind the goals
Paul Dewey
Altrincham 0 Kidderminster Harriers 0
6 May 2000.
The club did there most to make Kidderminster feel at home with a big placard offering congratulations on winning the league and the players even clapping the opposition on to the pitch. Even the home fans joined in the applause as the Harriers took to the pitch. But in the end the draw wasn't enough to save us from relegation back to the UniBond.
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| Kidderminster supporters pack the away end |
The match started brightly enough with Altrincham for the first time fielding a forward line of Lovelock, Ellison and Russell that looked like they wanted to play together and gave the impression that they could even possibly score. Kidderminster appeared happy to play a neat passing game and await the openings.
I think Keith Russell has answered all his critics from early in the season with the performances he has put in over the last few weeks and even required an injection to play yesterday. Restored to the central strikers role, in my opinion his best position, although being caught offside a number of times he caused the Harriers back four problems with his speed and movement.
With Altrincham applying most of the pressure Kidderminster were playing on the counter attack and one such attack lead to Bennett striking the underside of the crossbar fortunately for us the ball bounced out again, was this to be the turning point of the match?
On 30 minutes Russell on another of his darting runs was brought down by Pope after he was clean through on goal. The referee's interpretation of the situation resulted in the red card being shown and for the second week in a row Altrincham found themselves playing against ten men. Kidderminster replied to the situation by reverting to a lone striker and relying on the midfield to support whenever they could.
The second half continued in much the same way with Alty having most of the possession but failing to create chances. With the realization that a draw was no good Chambers was brought on for Ellison, who is still obviously not fit and Morrell replaced Power. With 10 minutes remaining Landon replaced Russell.
For all the application of pressure Altrincham could still not create any clear cut chances with the best chance being a Morrell header that hit the post came out hit the keeper and then went for a corner. When thing like that happen you realize that it is not going to be your day. The final few minutes failed to produce the required goal.
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| Keith Russell and Gary Talbot who were made joint men of the match by Sponsors Jago Vending / Milner Boardman |
Looking back on the season if we had converted just one of our 19 draws into a victory we would have survived. Lets hope that the club can rebuild itself and reclaim promotion at the first attempt. The advantage we have this time is that many of the players we have got played in the UniBond. Obviously there will be changes at the club in the close season lets hope that the chairman and manager are brave enough to do what is required.
ALTRINCHAM: Key, Hodson, Adams, Timons (Capt) , Talbot, Hawes, Gallagher , Power, Lovelock , Russell, Ellison
Subs (not used) Landon, Maddox, Chambers, Morrell.
| HARRIERS AND ALTY BID FAREWELL TO CONFERENCE |
| Altrincham
0 - 0 Kidderminster Harriers Saturday 6th May 2000 - Nationwide Conference Attendance - 1,761 |
| A
scrappy end of season game saw Harriers bid farewell to their 17-year
life in the Conference but the result wasn't good enough for Altrincham
to preserve their Conference lives. A win for Forest Green against
Kettering Town forced the Robins back down into the UniBond
Premier Division.
Harriers, boosted by a travelling army of around 800 fans, kept the same side for the third successive game. Altrincham were the first side to muster a goal attempt when former Harriers skipper Simeon Hodson swung a fine right wing cross which was met by the shaven head of Kevin Ellison. However the midfielder, a transfer target of Molby's earlier in the season, failed to trouble Stuart Brock in the Harriers goal. Brock had to be alert again soon after when he had to catch Timons' header from underneath his own crossbar. Gary Barnett almost opened the scoring for the visitors at the other end of the field when he fired Stewart Hadley's pass just wide of the post. Hadley also failed to hit the target minutes later when he headed Craig Hinton's cross over the bar. Altrincham, fighting for their Conference lives, were handed a lifeline in the 31st minute when Harriers were reduced to ten men when Altrincham's Keith Russell was sent tumbling just outside the penalty area by Steve Pope . Referee Mr Clattenberg decreed Pope had denied Russell a clear goalscoring opportunity and had no hesitation in showing the Harriers defender the red card when other Referee's may have elected for a card of a different colour. Altrincham were visibly boosted by Pope's dismissal and Danny Adams fired in a left footed shot that flew just wide of Stuart Brock's post. At the other end Dean Bennett saw his thunderous shot crash against the underside of the cross-bar and away to safety. Altrincham took the field for the second half knowing they needed a win from this game with fellow Conference fighters Forest Green winning in their match against Kettering. Goal chances were still strangely at premium as the home side searched desperately for a goal that could preserve their Conference lives. Dean Bennett went close for Harriers with a header whilst at the other end Stuart Brock confirmed his re-emergence back in the first team with some confident handling under pressure. Brock was also forced to make save in the 66th minute when he dived full length to save Danny Adams' free-kick.Michael Morrell wasted a great opportunity for the home side as the game neared its conclusion when he unsuccessfully attempted to lob the ball over Stuart Brock. In the final few minutes Altrincham had Steve Hawes red carded for a second bookable offence whilst Harriers' substitute Steve Taylor narrowly failed to gift Harriers all three points when he latched onto a superb Marsh through ball but he dragged his shot just wide of the goal.As the referee's whistle signaled the end of the game, it also brought an end to Altrincham's stint in the Conference. At one end of the crowd, supporters shed tears of despair as their team looked towards another year back in the UniBond league whilst at the other end of pitch supporters dressed in the same colours sang joyously in anticipation of moving upwards and onwards into the promised land of the Football League. |
| Website
Man of the Match: Mike Marsh - The only real bright spark in a scrappy Harriers display. In his final game for the Harriers, he received a standing ovation from the Harriers faithful at the end of the game. |
Faulty Alty go down
By Mike Crockett
Altrincham 0 kidderminster Harriers 0
Attendance 1761
IF ALTRINCHAM manager Bernard Taylor, in his final days at the helm, is looking for reasons behind his side's disastrous relegation, he need look no further than their inability to beat ten men.
They have failed to kill off sides of reduced numbers on no less than three occasions this season, most importantly against Yeovil and Kidderminster.
Harriers defender Steve Pope was ordered off on 31 minutes after committing a professional foul on the already stumbling Keith Russell.
The numbers were leveled up in the 90th minute when Steve Hawse received his marching orders for a second bookable offence, but Alty had done nothing in the intervening hour to convince anyone that they held numerical superiority over the champions.
This is not to say they did not battle well - they did in much the same vein as in the game against the mobile Kingstonian but an uninformed observer would be hard-pushed to believe that the club's entire future was at stake.
Harriers boss Jan Molby said at the end of the match: "Probably the best thing to happen to the game was the sending-off. Altrincham weren't in until then, and even then failed to make it count.
"Its hard for clubs like Altrincham when they go down but it's not about the last day of the season, it's about 42 games over the course of nine months," added the jubilant Dane.
It took the home side a full 60 minutes to even test visiting keeper Stuart Brock, when treble player of the year winner Danny Adams stung his hands with a free-kick.
Second half substitute Mick Morrell struck the frame with a strong drive on 73 minutes as the home side tightened their belts for the final, door-die twenty minutes.
Sadly, for everyone involved, die is what they did and a clearly devastated Gerry German repeated his tearful and emotional `We'll be back' speech, after the final whistle. A lone call for his resignation during his address was treated with the contempt it deserved. Without Berman and his tireless devotion to the Altrincham cause, these people would not have a club to criticize.
The harsh reality is that UniBond football beckons once more, but at least the club knows what to expect in the regional game.
Another promotion would taste so much sweeter, anyway.
Altrincham: Key, Hodson, Adams, Timons, Talbot, Hawse, Gallagher, Power (Sub Morrell 65), Lovelock, Russell (Landon 82), Ellison (Chambers 58)