Saturday, March 13, 2004

A DULL encounter erupted into life as Kidderminster Harriers secured a vital Division Three point in their battle at the bottom.

Referee Steve Tanner handed out eight yellow cards and two reds in a bad tempered second half which also saw two efforts disallowed and Mark Yates' crucial penalty equaliser nine minutes from time.

Harriers had claims for another spot-kick turned down and director of football Jan Molby was less than impressed with the man in the middle.

The visitors' Dean Keates and Orient's David Hunt both walked on 55 minutes after a skirmish sparked by Mark Yates' robust challenge on keeper Glenn Morris.

Midfielder Adam Murray put the loose ball in the net but referee Tanner blew for the foul and booked Yates as well as dishing out the double red.

Molby, who lost full-back Matt Gadsby with a badly cut leg after a fierce tackle from Hunt that went unpunished, may appeal against any ban for Keates when he checks the video evidence.

He fumed: "Two sending-offs and eight bookings makes it sound like it was a dirty game. It was a competitive game but all the problems were kick-started by the referee not being in charge.

"He will be suffering when he has to write all the reports for the bookings. Half of them wouldn't have been bookings in netball, never mind a game of football."

Yet it could have been three red cards as Morris firstly got away with fouling Sean Parrish but then tripped John Williams who was about to walk the ball into the net.

Only a yellow was the result but Yates tucked the penalty home to cancel out Gary Alexander's 24th-minute opener.

It ensured Harriers are unbeaten at Brisbane Road in four visits since promotion to the Football League.

Molby added: "How the keeper has not been asked to walk I don't know. John was about to put the ball into an empty net.

"I regard that as two points lost. We didn't play particularly well in the first half but the second half was as one-sided as you will ever see.

"We had chances and Parrish should have had a penalty when the keeper brought him down. I was delighted with the discipline of my players as they didn't react to that challenge on Gadsby."

The Harriers defender was stretchered off on 19 minutes and is expected to miss tomorrow night's trip to Scunthorpe.

As Molby's men adapted to the defensive switch, they were caught out by Tom Newey's quick free-kick which Donny Barnard hooked back across goal for Alexander to nod in.

Harriers missed a good chance to equalise just before the interval when Williams headed over from a move involving Craig Hinton and Keates.

With both teams down to 10 men, Orient had the ball in the net again on 58 minutes but Jabo Ibehre's scrambled effort was ruled out for a foul.

Sub Jesper Christiansen fell over as he was set to race clear and then Parrish was denied a penalty as Harriers piled on the pressure.

Their reward was Yates' spot-kick after sublime skill from Williams baffled Orient's defenders.

and ultimately the home keeper.