USUALLY a trip to Kidderminster Harriers results in more discussion about the amazing catering than the football, but thanks to some poor Darlo defending and then some much-needed and newly-found fighting spirit, the action on the pitch was the equal to the tin foil tray bakes in the concourse.

The game could only be described as topsy-turvy. For periods in the first half, Darlo were on top. In fact, it was pretty much against the run of play when Kidderminster took the lead although the defensive frailties that have haunted us this season were laid bare for all to see once again. Poor marking, decision making and communication meant we found ourselves two down from almost nowhere as the home side showed the kind of ruthlessness in the final third that we have struggled to achieve for most of the season. For all of the possession we had, for all of the good positions we found ourselves in, there was always the sense that we wouldn’t get the goals our play deserved. As it was, one of the Kiddy defenders helped us out on the goalscoring front to bring us right back in to the game just before half time. Disappointingly, I felt we had edged the first half and yet like so often this season, there we were trailing.

With us having halved the deficit before the break, the hope was we would charge out of the blocks after the restart but what we saw was something closer to the pathetic performance from the week before against Brackley. We lost all purpose during our ever-decreasing periods of possession. Fair play to the home side, they were carving us apart as though our guys weren’t there. Weak in midfield and indecisive at the back, we huffed and puffed as our full-time opposition’s only thoughts were how they could fill their boots. Once they had a third goal, the only question was how many they would get. There was little consideration that we could get back in to the game. While you could argue Kidderminster should be fitter than us given their full-time status, it was concerning just how much fitter and quicker they looked. The differential shouldn’t have been that big. We looked like a lower division outfit in comparison.

That we looked so badly beaten made the comeback all the sweeter. Our second goal came from nowhere. We hadn’t been building up any real pressure and yet Terry Galbraith was able to head in with hardly a challenge on him. All of a sudden, the game swung in our favour. We started playing again. It was like someone had flicked a switch. Yes, Kiddy went down to ten men but I honestly don’t think they would have stopped us even if they had 11 on the pitch. Our tails were up and the equaliser was well deserved.

In terms of performances, Josh Heaton looked reasonable on his debut although he was part of a defence that was about as solid as a bowl of jelly at a kids’ birthday party. His added height was certainly useful and he dealt with the highly-rated Joe Ironside pretty well. Meanwhile, in periods, Joe Wheatley looked unplayable in midfield. When our tails were up, he was the driving force from the middle of the park carrying the ball with power and purpose. Finally, Harvey Saunders caused the home defence all sorts of problems all game. There are many rough edges to his game but they are mitigated by his pace, aggression and ceaseless energy. His performance will be food for thought for the new management team.