| At 3pm, there were storm clouds over Spotland, and a constant drizzle lingered for most of the first half, onto a pitch which had already seen its fair share of water in the past three days. Parts of the pitch were very sandy and sodden with it. During the warm up, the ball was kicked in this area, and it just died, not bouncing at all.
A crowd of just over 2,500 turned up to watch this game, with just over 150 from Kidderminster, which must have disappointed the directors after shelling out £150,000 two days previous. However, given that our last two home matches had seen us lose to the league's bottom club, then have our record home defeat to one of their rivals, I suppose 2,500 wasn't too bad.
It was a funny sort of match in as far as Dale did have more about them than in similar matches to this both in this season and last, but when it came to out and out scoring chances, they were very few and far between. There wasn't a right lot to trouble Harriers keeper Tim Clarke, other than a couple of testing crosses which he seemed to deal with with ease.
There seemed to be a bit of an anti-climax feeling to the whole atmosphere. There was a subdued feeling on the terrace and in the stands, and nothing ever seemed to really get going.
There were occasions where it looked like it was going to start very soon, but with the exception of the two minutes before half time, and the first five minutes after Hadland came on, it all went according to plan for Kidderminster. Get bodies behind the ball at all time, and hope something happens for them on the break. Word has obviously got round the clubs in our division about the best way to play at Spotland, and it is becoming too predictable.
In a bid to get our first win in eight matches, Dale manager Steve Parkin made some changes from the side that almost beat Hartlepool on Tuesday, with one of them enforced. Dave Bayliss was forced to sit out this game, as it was the first of his two game suspension. There was also a debut for record signing Paul Connor, who took the place of Tuesday night's man of the match Kevin Townson. There were places on the bench for Clive Platt and Tony Ford, both on their way back from calf injuries.
The first half began with rain falling down onto the already wet Spotland pitch. Any hope that this would help the ball skim along the surface were misguided, as the ball bobbled on the turf and sand.
Chances were few and far between early on as both sides failed to really get to grip with the conditions. As expected, Harriers soon descended into a defensive role, and there was very little room in the penalty box when Dale were on the attack.
The first item of real note in the match came when Neil Edwards collected a bouncing ball inside his own box, and former Peterboro striker Drewe Broughton needlessly kicked out at Edwards, connecting with Edwards' midriff. Broughton then successfully feigned injury to avoid a yellow card. However, seconds later, Keith Hill redressed the balance by taking Broughton out with a late challenge. Unfortunately, it earned Hill a yellow card, making it five for the season, which will see him miss the trip to Hull City on 27th March.
The first real effort of the match came after about 25 minutes when Graham Lancashire performed an overhead kick in the penalty box, but he saw his effort go straight at keeper Clarke. Minutes later, Paul Connor had a decent effort saved by Clarke as he fired in from the right hand side of the penalty box with a powerful shot.
At the other end, Kidderminster offered very little. They had a shout for a penalty rightly turned down, when Coleman put the ball out for a corner, but their nearest effort came via a free kick from outside the box, which must have got 20 yards wide of the post.
There were three chances just before half time which saw Dale step up a gear. Paul Connor had an effort on the right hand side, which took a deflection before causing keeper Tim Clarke to get down low at his near post to ensure that it didn't go in.
Gary Jones had a couple of similar chances as well with time running out in the first half. Both were low powerdrives, with the first being well saved by Clarke, with the other going wide of the post.
Half time saw conditions get a bit dryer, but unfortunately the same could not be said about the pitch. There were no changes made, and there were no changes in how the second half panned out.
Again, Dale had plenty of possession, but failed to create any real clear cut chances with it. Dale played the neat passing football that we know that they can do, and they did so with patient build ups, but ultimately found it impossible to really create anything dangerous.
Dave Flitcroft, pushed out wide due to the inclusion of Michael Oliver in the middle, received the ball in plenty of space on the right hand side, but he lacked the pace to take advantage of these situations which happened on numerous occasions. With respect to Flicker who has never really played his best stuff out wide, but it did make any moves from Dale slightly pedestrian.
Dean Howells, who did not play as well as he did at Hartlepool, was withdrawn in favour of Phil Hadland who took his place on the left hand side, and this prompted a bit more urgency down the left hand side. It certainly gave more attacking options, and Hadland almost scored himself with minutes of coming on, when he curled a shot from the edge of the box, only to see it narrowily go wide.
There were further changes with Graham Lancashire being replaced by the fit again Clive Platt, and Platt and Connor looked to have the basis for a partnership. However, this failed to spark the necessary goal today.
With time running out, it almost went the same way as the York game, when the visitor's Dean Bennett broke through the Dale backline and had almost the whole half to himself. However, for the second game in succession Dale keeper Neil Edwards proved himself to be more than a match, and he comfortably saved at the feet of Bennett.
However, despite a late flourish by introducing Townson, Dale couldn't get the winner that they didn't really deserve, and after three minutes of injury time, Stockport referee Mathieson signalled the end of the game prompting a lot of disappointed faces on the way out.
IToday wasn't all doom and gloom. There were bright spots to come out of the match. Simon Coleman came into the defence, which played as a back four, and he did much better. Certainly much better than he did against Shrewsbury, and on this performance, he does indeed have a future at Spotland. Fair enough, he should still be behind Hill, Bayliss and Monington in the pecking order, and he didn't have the paciest of attackers to deal with today, but he proved a lot of people wrong (including me) with his display.
Coleman's inclusion also helped us achieve our first clean sheet in six matches. Fair enough, Kidderminster offered very little up front, with striker Drewe Broughton (wasn't he in ET?) looking one of the worst strikers in the division, but a clean sheet after a poor run can have a very positive effect on a team.
The debut of Paul Connor was also another plus. Given that he has yet to properly train with his new team mates, and hasn't played first team football in a month, he did well and promised much for the forthcoming weeks. He looks alert, lively, and possesses a powerful shot, as demonstrated twice in the first half.
Clive Platt's return from injury also gave rise to optimism. He came on for the last fifteen minutes of the match, and caused a bit of panic for the Kidderminster defence. Perhaps in future weeks, we will see whether it is Connor and Platt who will be seen as our first choice strikers.
The point also took us back into the play offs in seventh place, as the teams above also lost. We are 7th on goal difference above three other teams also on 51 points, with just four goals separating the lot of them. However, Dale do have games in hand on all three. With a trip to leaders Chesterfield next week without the suspended keeper Edwards and defender Dave Bayliss, we will have a hard task staying there in the short term.
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