Southend United 1–3 Kidderminster Harriers: a lead we let get away

A first half that promised so much

The opening was lively. Ryan Colclough chased a ball in behind the Kidderminster defence and goalkeeper Jack Wint got there first. It looked like we were determined to make a fast start, and the goal soon followed.

Kyle McAdam and Colclough combined down the left in the tenth minute. McAdam’s delivery reached Chambers-Parillon, who did well to turn it into the bottom corner. An early lead, a good crowd behind the team and an opposition side already having to chase the match. What more could we ask for?

Well, a second goal for a start.

Sahid Kamara found space inside the area and forced Wint to make a good save. Harry Cardwell was also involved in a promising move but couldn’t adjust quickly enough to finish. Colclough tried his luck from distance, and Chambers-Parillon nearly added another as the attack continued to create opportunities.

Credit to Kidderminster for surviving that pressure. Wint made the saves asked of him, defenders got blocks in and Paul Wotton’s side made sure they were still in touch at the interval. We have seen how one goal can leave a match open, even when you’re the better team. Scunthorpe was a warning, and unfortunately we were about to see why.

The visitors had their moments before half-time. Cameron Hargreaves caught a volley that Joe Duncan held well, and a tricky delivery from Callum Dolan also demanded the goalkeeper’s attention. They weren’t simply waiting to be beaten, but Southend had the momentum and should have made more of it.

Oli Coker lifted a late first-half effort over the bar. At the break it was 1–0, and I was pleased with much of what we’d done. But that single-goal cushion was bothering me. A team with our attacking options ought to make a strong first half count.

Wotton changes it, and the match changes with him

Kidderminster manager Paul Wotton made a change at the interval, sending on Max Brogan, then introduced Ben Crompton and Callum Stewart early in the second half. Those decisions mattered. The visitors looked more willing to get forward and began asking difficult questions of a Southend side that had been reasonably comfortable.

We still had the chance to put it to bed. Darren Oldaker picked out Colclough with an excellent cross-field pass, and the winger’s first touch beat his marker. Wint was equal to the shot. Another chance, another save and still no second goal.

Then came the moment that changed the scoreboard. Southend couldn’t get a corner properly clear and Crompton hit a shot from outside the area. It took a deflection in a crowded penalty area and went in. The goal was credited as a Darren Oldaker own goal, though Kidderminster’s account credited the deflection to Lewis Walker. Either way, the ball ended up in Duncan’s net after an untidy defensive passage.

It was bad luck, but we had made ourselves vulnerable to it. Give a side enough set pieces and second balls to attack while they’re only one goal behind, and sooner or later something can go wrong.

What troubled me more was our reaction. There were still thirty minutes to play. We weren’t a goal down; we were level at home. It was an opportunity to regroup and show the resilience that had helped us at Altrincham and Solihull. Instead, Kidderminster looked the side with fresh energy.

Walker puts the visitors ahead

Stewart made an immediate nuisance of himself and forced Duncan into an important close-range stop. Wint continued to earn his keep at the other end too, getting to a free-kick and denying substitute Josh Popoola after Southend worked the ball back into the area.

That is what makes the result particularly annoying. We hadn’t stopped creating entirely. We were still capable of getting at their defence. But while we kept missing our moments, Kidderminster made theirs count.

In the 73rd minute, a free-kick was delivered into our penalty area. David Davis won the initial header and Walker was there to finish from close range. Southend 1–2 Kidderminster. A match we had controlled for much of the first half had now slipped away.

I can accept a team having a good spell against us. Nobody dominates ninety minutes every week. What I find harder to accept is how little composure we showed when the momentum turned. We needed someone to slow things down, win a challenge, make a sensible pass and pull us back into the game.

Dyer sent on Lewys Twamley, Popoola and then Kendall as he looked for a response. There were efforts blocked, balls into the box and moments when we thought something might happen. Cardwell was denied by Wint as the goalkeeper came off his line. Still the equaliser would not come.

Stoppage time completes a miserable turnaround

With Southend pushing forward, Kidderminster found room to break. Stewart ran onto a ball in behind, held off the challenge and kept his composure to finish beyond Duncan in the second minute of added time.

That made it 3–1 and ended whatever hope remained of rescuing the evening. It was a well-taken goal by Stewart, and fair play to the visitors for the way they turned the match around. Their substitutions changed the contest, their goalkeeper was excellent and they took their chances when the game opened up.

From our point of view, the final score felt brutal. We had started so brightly and shown enough to make me think there was a comfortable home win available. Instead we were left with a lesson in what happens when you allow a team to stay close and then lose control of the middle of the game.