Kidderminster Preview

After the disappointment of losing against Ebbsfleet United on Tuesday night, Boro are back in action this weekend when Kidderminster Harriers are the visitors to Broadhall Way. Stevenage will be looking to bounce back with a win after a woeful second half performance at Stonebridge Road saw Graham Westley’s side lose their first league game since August. The night didn’t get any better for Boro when leaders Oxford beat Crawley 2-1 thanks to a 95th minute James Constable strike. It leaves us 5 points behind the U’s in the table, having played a game more.

Yemi Odubade is expected to recover in time from the knock he got against Ebbsfleet which forced him to be replaced by Mitchell Cole at half time. GW will be praying that Yemi is available for the game because the striker has just been getting into form for us. Another bonus if Yemi does get passed fit is that Cole will probably miss out. Michael Bostwick does miss the game due to picking up his 5th yellow card of the season on Tuesday night. I’d expect GW to bring back John Ashton into defence and play Murphy, Bridges and Byrom in midfield.

Kidderminster lie in 9th place at the moment after a run of 3 games without a win, but have pulled of some credible results so far this season, beating Oxford, Kettering and Mansfield. Consistency remains to be the problem for Mark Yates and his squad. After beating Oxford and Kettering, Kiddy scraped a draw against Wrexham before being beaten at home by AFC Wimbledon. That was followed up by a 0-0 draw at Aggborough on Tuesday night against Tamworth. Scoring goals seems to be a bit of a problem at Kidderminster and that hasn’t been helped with the departure of ‘star’ striker Matt Barnes-Homer recently. Barnes-Homer has joined Luton Town until January and has left a big hole for Yates to fill.

Last season saw both sides compete with each other for the last remaining play-off spot in the Blue Square Premier. Kidderminster looked to have the upper hand after beating Boro 4-2 at Aggborough in a game that was determined by Darren Murphy’s stupid sending off. Although Boro looked like they had blown their chance of a play-off place with that defeat, they made up for it a little over two weeks later when they beat Kiddy 3-1 at Broadhall Way with goals coming from Steve Morison and Lee Boylan (2). Boro generally have a good record at home against Kidderminster, losing only 2 of the last 7 at Broadhall Way.

Saturday’s game will not be an easy one. Kidderminster have some very good players with the likes of Daryl Knights, Damien Spencer and Chris McPhee in their squad. They’re not as strong this season as they have been in previous years and they do miss both Matthew Barnes-Homer and Justin Richards, but they’re still a side that can beat anyone in this division on their day so Boro will have to be wary. However, I think we’ll carry on our good home form and put Tuesday’s performance behind us with a good win. The Ebbsfleet game was a blip and if we can bounce back on Saturday then there is no reason why we still can’t challenge Oxford for the top spot in the Conference.

Stevenage Squad

Ashley Bayes, Chris Day, Scott Laird, Ronnie Henry, Jon Ashton, Mark Roberts, Mark Albrighton, Eddie Odhiambo, Michael Bostwick, Darren Murphy, Stacy Long, David Bridges, Andy Drury, Joel Byrom, Mitchell Cole, Yemi Odubade, Lee Boylan, Charlie Griffin, Chris Beardsley, Peter Vincenti

Prediction: Boro 2-1 Kidderminster