7th May 2023
King's Lynn Town vs Kidderminster Harriers @ The Walks - King's Lynn
National League North - Play Off Semi-Final (Step 2)
12:30 KO
£17 entry
Attendance - 3,002 (approx. 1,000 away)
Half-time score: King's Lynn Town 1-1 Kidderminster Harriers
Goals:
Kidderminster Harriers: Hemmings - 23'
King's Lynn Town: Stephens - 26'
Kidderminster Harriers: Morgan-Smith - 54'
Kidderminster Harriers: Byrne - 61'
Kidderminster Harriers: Brown - 71'
Final Score: King's Lynn Town 1-4 Kidderminster Harriers
I've closely followed the fortunes of Norfolk's second biggest football for the last few seasons, but never actually been to the ground. High prices and fixture clashes have put me off, but today I had no excuse, so made the short hop up A134, past the wonderful Mundford ground where they were removing the goal-posts, to go and finally break this duck! I parked up in the St. James multi-storey, gave the wife and kids some money to go shopping, then walked the other way towards the ground, with my ticket already purchased and on my phone. The walk to the ground must rank as one of the most picturesque in the country, walking through the aptly named park, The Walks, the same name as the King's Lynn Town ground, a beautiful tree lined half-mile or so walk, passing through one of the ancient gates of the medieval defences.
Once at the ground, I picked up a programme for £3.50, and arrived as three coaches full to the brim of Harriers fans had arrived, was an impressive attendance considering the early kick-off and long journey.
The ground reminded me of a grander Bury Town in some respects, a large main stand down one side of the pitch, with terraces around the other three sides. I went to the club shop and managed to pick-up a pin badge, before queuing for food at the 'Hungry Linnets' food hut. I queued for 30mins, and although the burgers looked good, I gave up and took my place in the terraces, in what was turning out to be a gloriously sunny day, so the coat swiftly came off!
This was a big game for The Linnets, they had a fantastic season, going toe-to-toe with AFC Fylde until the final game, but they could not reign the Lancashire team in, finishing the season with a huge 93 point total, 24 more than what Kidderminster Harriers had achieved, so they went into the game as clear favourites.
Under the high noon sun, both teams came out in their home shirts, King's Lynn Town in blue with yellow accents, and Kidderminster Harriers in a half-red, half-white shirt. Despite being the away team, the Harriers fans were in fine voice, outsinging the home fans, they were fantastic on the day, fair play.
KEY MOMENTS
KLT = King's Lynn Town
KH = Kidderminster Harriers
1' - KH - Coulson's pass bounces off Widdrington and falls to Morgan-Smith to unleash a counter-attack, he charges down the left wing, whips in a cross to the far-post for the open Zak Brown, but his volley is mishit and flies wide of the post.
12' - KH - A hospital pass gifts the ball to the Kidderminster attackers, but the resultant shot flies over the bar.
13' - KH - PENALTY - Another hospital pass puts keeper Dixon-Hodge under severe pressure and he brings down a Kidderminster player in the box to concede a penalty, and perhaps lucky to have only received a yellow card. He makes amends as he gets down well to his right to save Hemmings penalty, talk about getting off the hook!
20' - KH - A slick and quick move from Kidderminster sees them move up the pitch swiftly, and they find Hemmings coming in from the left, he shoots across the keeper, but Dixon-Hodge gets a hand on the ball to push it beyond the far-post for a corner.
23' - KH - GOAL (0-1) - Another wayward pass seemingly ricochets off captain Clunan, putting Hemmings through on goal, defender Crowther tries his best to deny the shooting opportunity, but Hemmings squeezes the ball just beyond the reach of Dixon-Hodge and into the net to put Kidderminster 1-0 up, can't say it wasn't coming!
26' - KLT - GOAL (1-1) - An immediate reply from King's Lynn, ex-Reading player Barrett whips the ball into the box, and it is headed home by Stephens, what a response!
33' - KLT - King's Lynn, buoyed by the goal, start to apply some pressure, Clunan finds Barrett in a central location and he has the space to hit the ball from 20 yards out, it is swerving and forces keeper Dibble to bat the ball to the ground, just beyond the reach of the onrushing Stephens.
40' - KH - A blistering turn of pace from Hemmings sees him skin Crowther, he cuts into the box and shoots across the keeper, the feintest of touches pushing the ball out for a corner, another fine save to keep King's Lynn Town in the game.
44' - KLT - King's Lynn win a free-kick in a dangerous position. Captain Clunan curls a dangerous ball into the box, Callan-McFadden gets his head on the ball, but steers it wide of the post - huge moment!
45' - KH - Winger Foulkes recycles the ball, hitting it back into the box, striker Morgan-Smith climbs the highest, his effort looping into the top right hand corner of the goal, but Dixon-Hodge leaps like a salmon to push the ball round the post, what a save!
45' + 1' - KH - From the resultant corner, veteran Leesley curls the ball into the near post, it is heading in, but is blocked on the line by Dixon-Hodge.
45' + 2' - KH - Going for a late stoppage time goal, Hemmings causes carnage down the left wing, he shoots at the near-post, it is saved and falls to Richards, he prods the ball, but again Dixon-Hodge is equal to the effort.
49' - KLT - A ball is met by Stephens, whose volleyed effort flies just over the bar.
54' - KH - GOAL (1-2) - Disaster for King's Lynn, Kidderminster pressurise the King's Lynn box, Zak Brown sees the run of Richards and feeds him through, he squares the ball back to find Morgan-Smith who slots the ball in from close range, a well worked goal indeed.
61' - KH - GOAL (1-3) - A sucker punch for King's Lynn, a short corner to Zak Brown, he whips the ball into the box and a flicked header from captain Byrne steers it beyond Dixon-Hodge.
71' - KH - GOAL (1-4) - Game over, and the King's Lynn fans begin to leave in droves. As King's Lynn pressure the goal, the ball is cleared forwards, it bounces over substitute Hargreaves to release Zak Brown, and he makes no mistake to slot the ball beyond Dixon-Hodge, and put Kidderminster through to the final.
Absolute heart-break for King's Lynn Town, but it has to be said that they were second best all game, Kidderminster Harriers looked dangerous from the offset and the defence absolutely bossed the King's Lynn front line, good chances were few and far between. Based on that performance, you would have thought that Kidderminster were the team that finished 24 points ahead of King's Lynn Town, but from what I could hear, that was the worst King's Lynn performance of the season, and Kidderminster's best. All things said, the Kidderminster players looked the most up for the game and left everything on the line, it was an impressive performance, and the away fans were magnificent. I enjoyed heading up to The Walks, but truth be told it is pricey at £17, including a programme it is the same price as Col U (as the programme is complimentary), and this is too much for the facilities on offer and ground in my opinion. Nevertheless, I hope King's Lynn can lick their wounds and go again next season, it's always a good thing for local football when local teams do well. As for the play-offs, Kidderminster Harriers will face Brackley Town, two unlikely teams going into this, the lottery of the play-offs!
Line-Ups:
KING'S LYNN TOWN: Tommy Dixon-Hodge, Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adam Crowther, Josh Coulson, Kyle Callan-McFadden, Aaron Jones, Theo Widdrington, Michael Clunan (C), Josh Barrett, Ben Stephens, Gold Omotayo. SUBS: Paul Jones, Tyler Denton, Jordan Ponticelli, Tommy Hughes, Cameron Hargreaves.
KIDDERMINSTER HARRIERS: Christian Dibble, Alex Penny, Caleb Richards, Krystian Pearce, Shane Byrne (C), Joe Foulkes, Joe Leesley, Kyle Morrison, Amari Morgan-Smith, Ashley Hemmings, Zak Brown. SUBS: Tom Palmer, Nathaniel Knight-Percival, Kai Lissimore, Jack Bearne, Kobe Hall.
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