Monday, January 3, 2000

ARCH rivals Kidderminster Harriers and Hereford United both had a player sent off before they finally shared the spoils in a incident-packed 1-1 Nationwide Conference draw at Aggborough yesterday.

Hereford took the lead through former Harriers striker Leroy May in the fourth minute before manager Jan Molby's title-chasers equalised when ex-Bulls front-runner Ian Foster struck in the 65th minute.

First to get his marching orders was United's former Aggborough defender Matt Clarke in the 57th minute followed ten minutes later by Harriers midfielder Mike Marsh. Both were for two bookable offences.

For Kidderminster the deadlock ended their run of six home league wins on the trot and was their first draw at Aggborough this season.

It left them in fourth spot in the table, three points behind leaders Rushden & Diamonds.

Molby, whose men drew 1-1 at Edgar Street the previous Monday, said he was "a little bit disappointed" at yesterday's outcome.

"After all, we were at home. I thought that when they went down to ten men it would give us a little bit of a lift, but unfortunately we didn't manage to get a winning goal.

"But to be fair to Hereford they came here to defend and they did well. They got people behind the ball as quickly as they could and they tried to stop us playing. On the day we just didn't have that little bit extra."

Molby felt that the two sendings off did not have any major bearing on the result, but believed both dismissals were harsh.

"When referees start to lose it they just pull out cards whether they are yellow or red. It was a tough game, but it was never a dirty match."

For Hereford marksman May, however, it was a happy return to his old hunting ground.

He said afterwards: "I knew I would get stick from the fans. I was getting it early doors and the first opportunity we had I struck it away. I was glad it was me who did it.

"In the end, though, I thought it was a fair result. When we lost Matt Clarke early in the second half I thought we did well to hang on because they got on top of us. Then they got a goal, but we came back into it when Marsh was sent off.

"I reckon if we had carried on with 11 men and no sending off we would have taken all three points."

Watched by the biggest Aggborough crowd of the season -- 4,606 -- May gave Hereford an ideal start when indecision in Harriers' defence led to him slotting the ball past keeper Tim Clarke from a tight angle.

Paul Fewings was then denied by an excellent save by Clarke before Foster went agonisingly close with a cross shot which Stewart Hadley just failed to add the final touch.

After 33 minutes the Bulls suffered an injury setback when Paul Sturgess limped off to be replaced by John Shirley.

After the interval the match began to boil up and it was not long before Clarke was dismissed for a second bookable foul which almost led to Harriers snatching an equaliser when Scott Stamps' deflected free kick rebounded off the woodwork.

Kidderminster, however, finally drew level when Bulls keeper Mark Jones was only able to half stop a shot from Dean Bennett and Foster was on hand to finish off the job.

Within a couple of minutes Harriers were also down to ten men when Marsh was sent off. The former Liverpool man been a surprise selection having overcome a thigh injury far quicker than had been originally expected.

With five minutes to go Bennett almost scored with a remarkable effort which afterwards drew high praise from his manager.

"If he had scored it would have been as good as anything you'd see in Britain never mind the Conference," said Molby.

Bennett, however, was just unable to get the ball into the net after going on a dazzling run which saw him leave three Hereford players in his wake.

As well as the sendings off there were also bookings for Bennett and Hereford's man-of-the-match Ian Wright.

Kidderminster: Clarke 7, Clarkson 6, Stamps 7, Petersen 5 (Webb, 65, 6), Hinton 7, Smith 7, Bennett 8, Skovbjerg 7, Hadley 6, Foster 7 (Taylor 86), Marsh 6. Subs (not used): Hines, Brock, Druce.

Hereford: Jones 6, Lane 7, Sturgess 6 (Shirley 33, 6), Snape 7, Wright 8, Clarke 7, Rogerson 7, Taylor 7, May 7 (Elmes, 79), Williams 7, Fewings 6 (Wall, 59, 6). Subs (not used): Rudall, Hanson.

Kidderminster star man: Dean Bennett.

Hereford star man: Ian Wright.

Attendance: 4,606.

Referee: A. Penn (Kingswinford).