Thanks again to Rory Sheehan who will be providing match reports and feature articles
Wrexham 0 Kidderminster 1
A sloppily conceded goal with just seconds to go cruelly denied the Dragons a point they more than deserved. The goal boosted Kidderminster’s play-off prospects while severely damaging Wrexham’s.
Changes saw Neil Taylor replace John Curtis at right-back, Sam Aiston come in for Jon Brown and Andy Fleming for Nathan Fairhurst. The boldest move made by Dean Saunders was the first full start handed to 17 year-old YTS striker Obi Anoruo.
The changes paid immediate dividends as the Dragons made an excellent start, penning the visitors back in the early stages aided by a strong swirling wind. Kidderminster offered nothing going forward while Wrexham put together strings of passes in eye-catching attacking moves.
Once or twice Harriers goalkeeper Adam Bartlett had to be on top of his game to shut Wrexham out, and on half an hour a golden opportunity came the way of Anoruo. The youngster made an incisive run to put himself through on goal but unfortunately couldn’t supply the finish, Bartlett being equal to his shot.
It was only towards the end of the half that Kidderminster threatened with a series of corners but they were dealt with well by the Wrexham defence. The Dragons went into half-time clearly on top and looking forward to the second-half.
They continued where they’d left off after the break with Anoruo and Aiston both going close. Aurelien Collin headed over the bar but frustratingly Kidderminster were resolute at the back and repelled all that was thrown at them.
Jon Brown replaced Ryan Flynn for the last quarter of an hour but by now ‘Kiddy’ had weathered the storm and Wrexham were running out of ideas. With minutes to go Saunders replaced Aiston with Michael Proctor in the hope of snatching the winner.
The Dragons appeared to have done enough to earn at least a point, probably feeling they should have had more. However deep into injury time, Ashley Westwood perhaps unnecessarily got his head to a ball forward by Kidderminster and, assisted by the wind, the ball carried out for a corner.
The first corner was cleared leading to another and from that, Chris McPhee glanced a header into the back of the net. It was the 93rd minute, there was barely time to re-start, and the Racecourse emptied.
To lose a game that late on after clearly being the better team is hard to take, but that the goal came again from a standard set-piece rubs salt in the wounds.
Though this was a much-improved performance, the result is a massive blow to Wrexham’s play-off hopes.
A similar performance but positive result against Histon on Saturday would go some way to ensuring a roller-coaster season does not taper off into anti-climax.
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