THE GAFFER

Ross Jenkins

Three games in and we have picked up a win, a draw and a defeat from what looked on paper to be a very tricky start. We were unlucky at Fylde, were good value for the win here against Macclesfield and then deserved at least a point on Tuesday night from a tough away game at Kidderminster.

 I think we have played very well in every game so far and the players deserve massive credit for that. You can’t read too much into things so early in the season but there have been some very encouraging signs and I truly believe there is more to come from this group. Some of them have been playing their way towards full fitness, some are new and learning how we do things as a club and  there are little partnerships developing all over the pitch. We have probably got better with each 90 minutes and now we have to continue that today against Spennymoor.

 They started the season well and won their first two games and will come here determined to make up for a first defeat on Tuesday night at home to King’s Lynn, a result that I am sure will have hurt. Trust me, that result will have fired them up for today and made our task even more difficult.

 Having said that, we are in good spirits ourselves and I wanted to thank the fans for the support you have given us. The atmosphere for the first home game was really positive. I popped in to the new hospitality area and that is going to make a big difference on matchdays and with a DJ in another area and a live band by the away bar there was plenty going on. We are, of course, focussed on what happens in the game itself but credit to everyone making good things happen off the pitch as well.

 It feels like we are in a good place so the message to the players will be simple. Let’s take another step forward, let’s keep making progress, and let’s make sure that  our fans leave here smiling and able to enjoy their Bank Holiday that little bit more.

 Enjoy the game

 ROSS

NO KIDDING

Chris Williams follows City on the Road to Aggborough

Over the years I have watched football at well over 300 grounds and yet, when asked which one I like the most I usually surprise people by replying Aggborough, home of Kidderminster Harriers.  It’s not the biggest, not the best, it’s not the most local, not the most vocal, but there is something about its perfectly mismatched stands that draws me back each season.

 

Tonight I travel with photographer Simon Godfrey. It’s a pleasant 90 minute journey and Simon is good company. We natter about the Two Fs, football and photography, and at 5.45pm we are on Hoo Road and parking in the car park outside the Harriers Social Club. Inside the ground I catch up with old friends: media man Matt Paddock, Director of Football Dean Holdsworth and Harriers Manager Adam Murray.

 

I go back a long way with Adam and we’ve stayed in touch while his career has taken him from Boston to West Brom, Turkey and Eastbourne. One day I will write Muz’s biography with him because there are so many amazing stories to tell about one of football’s good men. But tonight, after a hug, we are on opposite sides.

 

The rest of the City media team appear and we head for the food hut to find sustenance. The cottage pie is amazing, as ever, and we are just about ready for action. Andy Gate wanders round to chat to the away fans and comes back with a steaming cup of bovril. “Taste that” he orders. “It’s like triple strength. You could stand a spoon up in it”. I am not sure if he is saying that is a good thing or bad but I’m not drinking it. “Oh, and the refreshment hut on that side is on fire” he adds. I look across and there are indeed several worried stewards rushing towards the plume of grey smoke that’s gusting towards the Severn Steam Railway behind the ground.

 

Luckily the situation is dealt with swiftly and the game kicks off with City featuring a new pantomime villain. The Kiddy fans remember Josh Parker for a foul from last season and boo his every touch. Josh, of course, loves that and uses it as motivation on the left of an exciting four man forward line that terrorise the home defence in the first half.  Zac McEachran and Man of the Match Isaac Westendorf go close, Josh Ashby hits the bar with a free kick and then Tom Scott sends Jack Bearne scurrying into the area and City are 1-0 up. Bearne refuses to celebrate against his former side but Parker’s huge grin annoys the locals even more.

 

At half time the mood is good in the City camp. The team are playing well and deservedly in the lead, but we know that Harriers will come at us after the break. Ashby goes close early on but then the pressure builds up. That happens off the pitch as well where Gatey has gone white as a sheet. “I’ve got Bovril poisoning” he says as he is forced away from the action and wobbles uncertainly towards the toilet. Too much warm salty protein; will he ever learn?

 

By the time he returns there are ten minutes left and we are in the middle of a string of Kidderminster corners. City have soaked up the pressure in this second half but with nine minutes left the ball is cleared only as far as Alex Penny who volleys past the helpless Sam Lewis and three points have become one.

 

It’s probably a fair scoreline but  is very frustrating after leading for so long. Still, as we chat to Ross and the players after the final whistle, there are plenty of positives: a point on the road against a highly-fancied side and things look good three games into the new season.

 

We wave goodbye to our hosts, a friendly welcoming club to all bar Josh Parker, and head for home. OF COURSE the road is closed and we have to detour. It’s a Tuesday night away game, what did you expect? I get home at Iron Maiden Time (two minutes to midnight) and lie awake for hours because I can never sleep after a night game. For games like tonight, it’s well worth it…