Tuesday, December 12, 2000

SUPERSUB Tony Bird swooped to score a 100th minute golden goal to earn Kidderminster Harriers a 2-1 victory in last night's controversial LDV Vans Trophy first round clash with Carlisle United at rain-sodden Aggborough.

A torrential downpour shortly before kick-off made conditions atrocious in a match which Harriers' boss Jan Molby felt Doncaster referee Roger Furnandiz should have called off.

He said: "I thought it was a shocking decision to let the game go ahead. Last week when the match was called off it was better than what it was tonight.

"It's inconsistency isn't it? He called the game off last week when we had two puddles, but this time there was surface water all over the pitch.

"I think you have to give credit to both sets of players. They made the most of what were incredibly difficult conditions.

"Where you could play the pitch was like an ice rink, but at times I thought we played some excellent stuff. The only thing missing was goals.

"We probably had 85 per cent of the play, but their goal was one out of a million. He'll never score a goal like that again," said Molby.

Kidderminster, who like Carlisle made a number of changes from the sides which faced each other on Saturday in the FA Cup, dominated the first-half in which the ball constantly had a life of its own in the splish-splash conditions.

Harriers' only reward for their efforts, however, was a 45th minute effort from defender turned midfielder Adie Smith whose deflected shot made him his side's joint leading scorer with six goals so far this season.

It was fashioned by Neil Mackenzie who, like Parfait Medou-Otye and Ben Davies, were making their full debuts.

Midfielder Mackenzie, in particular, was a constant threat to Carlisle and produced a man-of-the-match performance which impressed Molby.

He said: "Mackenzie was outstanding in difficult conditions. He's given us a real taste of what he's capable of and I still think there's a lot more to come from him."

For all their dominance, however, Harriers let the Cumbrians get back into the game during the second half in which they equalised in the 86th minute through Steve Soley.

He netted with an expertly struck first time shot from 20 yards after being drafted on six minutes earlier as a substitute for Paul Anthony.

His impressive strike took the match into extra time which was just ten minutes old when Bird, who had replaced Ian Foster in the 67th minute, netted Harriers golden goal winner with a left-footed shot which went under keeper Matt Glennan.

It was enough to earn Kidderminster some revenge for this season's FA Cup and Division Three defeats against the Cumbrians.

Kidderminster: Clarke 6, Smith 6, Stamps 5 (Bogie, 59, 6), Hinton 7, Shail 6, Horne 6, Mackenzie 8, Medou-Otye 7, Davies 6, Hadley 6, Foster 6 (Bird, 67, 6). Subs (not used): Murphy, Ducros, Durnin. Referee: R.D. Furnandiz (Doncaster). Attendance: 777.

* Harriers' Third Division match at Shrewsbury on Saturday was called off today -- the Gay Meadow ground is flooded. No new date has yet been fixed.