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Ruthless FC United cause upset at Kidderminster Harriers

Ruthless FC United cause upset at Kidderminster HarriersFC United caused an upset by winning 2-0 at fifth place Kidderminster Harriers on Saturday afternoon courtesy of an own goal and a Luke Ashworth header in front of 2,177 at the Aggborough Stadium.

The Reds were outplayed for the majority of the match, however, they scored two priceless goals, one in each half and both from set-pieces, to take all three points.

United took the lead midway through the first half with their first real chance when a George Thomson free-kick was misjudged by goalkeeper Sam Hornby and Harriers captain Keith Lowe deflected the ball into his own net.

The lead was doubled on 63 minutes when Thomson curled in a corner which was met superbly by Ashworth, who headed the ball home to seal the victory.

Karl Marginson’s side were 16th going into the game and had only managed one win from their last five outings in the Vanarama National League North. The Harriers were unbeaten at home since August. As such, even the most optimistic members of the Red Army can’t have been expecting a victory.

United were under the cosh for large parts of the game and had it not been for the heroics of goalkeeper David Carnell, the scoreline and result could have been very different.

But that’s football and saving shots is what Carnell is there to do. The Harriers may wonder how they didn’t win the match that they dominated in terms of possession but they couldn’t find a way past Carnell and they were punished by United.

The hosts should have been ahead on 12 minutes. Ashworth did enough to deflect an effort from James McQuilkin onto the post but the rebound fell kindly for the unmarked Tyrell Waite six yards out. The Harriers forward looked destined to score but Carnell saved with his feet to keep the scores level.

Another couple of more routine saves from Carnell followed before United had a rare foray towards the Kidderminster penalty area. It resulted in a free-kick which Thomson duly dispatched to create the opening goal.

United managed to take the lead into the halftime break and they were much brighter in the second half. Thomson could have doubled the lead less than 10 minutes in. He rounded Hornby but somehow sliced his effort wide. It didn’t matter though because moments later he made amends by providing the second for Ashworth.

With 20 minutes to go, FC United had the ball in the back of the net for a third time, once again from a Thomson corner. The ball was headed back from the far post and hung in the air for a second before Ashworth headed home again. However, referee Daniel Middleton felt Hornby had been obstructed and ruled out the goal.

Fears that the disallowed goal could have been the catalyst for a Kidderminster comeback were unfounded. Although Harriers pinned back FC United, Carnell was on hand to make a string of fantastic saves, most notably another block with his feet from a close range shot by fullback Tyrone Williams.

With Kidderminster throwing the kitchen sink at Carnell, United should have had a third on the break two minutes from time. A throughball was deflected through to substitute Jason Gilchrist, who wasn’t given offside and went through one-on-one with Hornby. The former Manchester City and Burnley trainee had all the time in the world to pick his spot but he tried and failed to round the goalkeeper, who got down to beat away the ball.

It would have been the icing on the cake of a real ’rope a dope’ style performance but in the end it did not matter as FC United took all three points back up the M6. Next up, it’s a trip to fourth placed Halifax Town on Tuesday night.

Website man of the match: David Carnell. There were some good performances across the park but Carnell has to take the award for the sheer amount of match winning saves.

Report by Matthew Haley


First Posted ~ 17:40 Sat 22 Oct 2016
News ID ~ 7109
Last Updated ~ 16:00 Fri 19 Feb 2021