Doug Shulman's introduction to Kidderminster Harriers.
Saturday sees Kidderminster Harriers travel to The Abbey hoping to extend their 48-year hoodoo over United, with the Worcestershire club last tasting defeat against The U's in September 1959.
However, despite the visitors' 4-0 thumping of Crawley on Thursday evening breaking a four-month winless away streak, Jimmy Quinn will look to stretch a strong home record this season and hope that the pendulum of fortune finally swings United's way.
The Harriers were promoted to The Football League under the stewardship of Jan Molby in 2000, and subsequently managed a sixteenth place finish in their first season. The Danish master resigned in 2002, leaving the club to swim in mid-table seas until the 2004/05 season when they were caught in a relegation battle with our own U's. Molby had returned briefly midway through the season, but swiftly departed to leave Stuart Watkiss with an unenviable task. Unfortunately, an overhaul of the squad proved fruitless so Kiddy, along with United, duly fell through the Conference trapdoor.
Poor Home Record
Before the 2005/06 campaign commenced Watkiss completely reworked his squad, with no fewer than sixteen players waving goodbye to the delights of Aggborough. One defeat in their opening six games boded well, but form after this began to fluctuate.
By early December just three more wins had been added, so Watkiss was handed his P45, with Martin O'Connor taking over temporarily until current supremo Mark Yates was installed. The former QPR midfielder steered the Harriers to relatively safe waters and, a final position of fifteenth was secured, despite a poor home record of just eight wins from twenty-one games.
With a hefty 60 goals conceded during the previous season Yates decided to release goalkeepers John Danby and Daniel Lewis, along with defender Daryl Burgess.
Golden-toothed former United midfielder Terry Fleming also departed, along with not-very-free-scoring striker Gareth Sheldon.
Amongst the arrivals was experience in the shape of ex-Derby forward Dean Sturridge, former Blackburn stalwart Jeff Kenna, Shrewsbury defender Stuart Whitehead, who joined as club captain, and MK Dons goalkeeper Scott Bevan.
Wembley Visit
Nevertheless, in spite of high optimism the season opener against St Albans ended in a 3-1 home defeat, with Kiddy's 1-0 triumph at Northwich proving their only win in the next nine games. A victory at Aggborough finally arrived thanks to a 2-0 success over Southport, but form continued to disillusion and left Harriers in nineteenth place by the end of November.
However, a remarkable turnaround during December, January and early February resulted in eleven victories and two draws from thirteen games, propelling Kiddy into seventh place and also securing them an FA Trophy Quarter-Final berth. Unbelievably, though, just four more Conference wins were served up and, despite the March arrival of United loanee Jon Brady, Kiddy finished a disappointing eleventh. Their was minor solace in the FA Trophy thanks to Yates' men reaching the first ever domestic Cup Final at the new Wembley, but Stevenage broke Worcestershire hearts by coming from 2-0 down to record a historic 3-2 win.
This season
Top scorer last season was Iyseden Christie with eight goals but, as just one of these came in the final five months of the campaign, Yates moved for Peterborough striker Justin Richards to accompany both him and James Constable. A defence that leaked 50 League goals was shored up with the capture of Crewe full-back Paul Bignot, whilst central midfield was boosted by the arrival of Andy Ferrell from Hereford. Joining Ferrell in the engine room was Dean Bennett, who opted for a season-long loan from Chester.
A shocking tally of eleven home defeats last season was unfortunately extended into the current campaign when Aldershot drove away from Aggborough with a 2-1 win in the opening game. Furthermore, a 5-1 hammering at Grays contributed to three defeats in the first four games, before the morale-boosting 1-0 away win at Rushden was followed by overdue joy for the Aggborough faithful as they witnessed a handsome 4-0 battering of Exeter, thanks to a James Constable hatrick.
Nevertheless, further home defeats to Weymouth, (2-0) Oxford, (2-0) and Torquay, (5-2) dampened spirits somewhat before Xmas. Thankfully, though, away form was proving successful and, Kiddy managed to lose just two League games on their travels between mid-September and the end of the calendar year, (including an amazing 5-4 loss at Ebbsfleet) leaving them comfortable in twelfth place.
January Departures
January proved an inconsistent month, with home wins over Forest Green and Farsley counterbalanced by losses at relegation strugglers Altrincham and Droylsden, whilst defeat at Aggborough against Weymouth put paid to FA Trophy hopes.
Shrewsbury then swooped for the highly-rated Constable and his talented goalkeeping team-mate Scott Bevan, meaning Yates (right) had to trawl the market for replacements.
Luckily, though, the Shrews were kind enough to allow goalkeeper Chris MacKenzie and defender Luke Jones to join Kiddy on permanent and temporary deals respectively. Moreover, loan deals were struck for defender Alex Jeannin from Oxford, and former U's forward Daryl Knights. Also passing them on the way out was Justin Richards, who decided on a loan move to Oxford.
February was a poor month and, with the new arrivals settling in, Harriers were shorn of victory as well as suffering further home reverses to Salisbury and Rushden. Knights has now settled, though, and two goals in six starts have contributed to three wins for Kiddy in March. His first came in the barnstorming 6-0 triumph over Stafford, his second being the decisive strike in a 1-0 win over Grays. However, notable for U's fans is the fact that Kiddy have lost three of their last four on the road. Admittedly, those three losses were at our promotion rivals Aldershot, Exeter and Stevenage but, nevertheless, the U's will feel confident of finally ending their poor record against the Harriers on Saturday.
Previous Meetings
The paths of United and Kidderminster have crossed on thirteen occasions. We have an appalling record against the Worcestershire club, as a solitary victory is imbalanced by seven wins for Saturday's today's visitors, whilst the remaining matches have ended in shared spoils.
A Southern League clash at Aggborough on 22 September 1959 marked the first encounter, with the U's running out 2-1 victors to record our sole victory against Kiddy. The return match on 6 February 1960 produced a 2-2 draw and, also marked the last game between us for 33 years.
We convened in October 2002 and a Division Three match in Worcestershire. The United line-up included Terry Fleming, who later signed for Kiddy. JJ Melligan opened the scoring for Kiddy, but Dave Kitson made it 1-1, prior to Melligan hitting the Harriers winner [report].
Later that season Ian Britton's men arrived at The Abbey looking to close in on the Play-Offs, and their 2-0 win marked the first of three overall wins in Cambridgeshire. The 2003/04 season saw United attempt to gain revenge, and a 0-0 draw at The Abbey and 2-2 scoreline at Aggborough marked something of an improvement. 2004/05 saw both clubs relegated from the Football League. A 1-1 October draw at Aggborough saw current U's man Wayne Hatswell nod Kiddy in front, before Kingsley Mbome equalised. The Abbey return in late January saw Harriers rubber-stamp a 3-1 away win.
Relegation meant our relationship continued in the Conference in 2005/06, although, the hoodoo remained. Our Worcestershire cousins bagged a 2-0 Abbey win on 29 August, whilst the double was completed over United with a 1-0 home win. The 2006/07 campaign saw Harriers claim a 1-1 draw from their trip to Cambridgeshire in September, and the game at Aggborough on New Years Day 2007 resulted in a 1-0 away loss for Jimmy Quinn's men.
United escaped relegation on the last day of the campaign, so pleasantries resumed on December 6th of this season in Worcestershire. Kiddy were forced into their own half for the entirety of the match but, in traditional style, The U's emerged pointless thanks to Iyseden Christie's goal securing a 1-0 win for Harriers; his second-half strike arriving against the backdrop of a Man of the Match performance from home keeper Scott Bevan [report].
To read my full Previous Meetings article please buy Saturday's Matchday Programme.
Doug Shulman
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