York City 0 Kidderminster Harriers 3 report and match stats

That weekend woe has encompassed 11 matches with a paltry five points taken from 33 in the regionalised sixth tier of the game.

Not since March 10, when Ben Middleton’s own goal secured a 1-0 triumph over Boston, have City fans been able to truly enjoy their footballing weekend.

It was little wonder, therefore, that the latest disappointment – a comprehensive 3-0 loss to undefeated Kidderminster Harriers– prompted a familiar chorus of boos at the final whistle.

The result represented a first significant setback for caretaker chief Sam Collins during his four-match temporary tenure, even if the Saturday statistics confirm that City’s problems firmly pre-date his stint at the helm. Collins boldly claimed his players were better than those at Kidderminster’s disposal prior to this contest, but that assertion lost its credence during a difficult 90 minutes.

With just eight goals scored this term, only bottom-of-the-table Nuneaton, on six, have netted fewer times than City in National League North, suggesting that previous boss Martin Gray fell short in his close-season priority to end the team’s over-reliance on 19-stone, veteran forward Jon Parkin.

During the club’s last 15 games, in which Parkin has started just three and not featured at all in five, the Minstermen have only managed to score in one match without him on the pitch.

Parkin has been in and out of the starting XI under Collins and, by the time he was hailed off the bench following the interval during this contest, the hosts were trailing 2-0 following Ed Williams’ first-half brace.

The Barnsley-born behemoth went on to force Harriers keeper Brandon Hall into his first save of the afternoon within seconds of the restart, but City’s dependency on the 36-year-old is looking all the more imprudent another season on and he could not inspire a comeback, with Joe Ironside’s 55th-minute effort settling matters despite there still being a big chunk of the second period still to play.

Earlier, City forwards Macaulay Langstaff and Jake Wright had made no inroads whatsoever in the first half and attacks repeatedly broke down in the final third of the pitch, while teenage home debutant Fergus McAughtrie was often a peripheral figure on the right flank.

It meant the hosts struggled to find a cutting edge to the patient passing game Collins preaches, after right-back Kallum Griffiths brushed the sidenetting from the edge of the box during the opening exchanges.

Instead, it was Kidderminster, who carried a greater purpose with their ball retention, that forged ahead on 12 minutes after forcing one of their 14 corners of the afternoon.

Wright subsequently headed clear Declan Weeks’ delivery from the right, but Williams unleashed a 20-yard thunderbolt that rocketed into Adam Bartlett’s top-left corner.

At the other end, Simon Heslop’s shot looked goal-bound before an offside Joe Tait diverted the ball wide, while former City favourite Ashley Chambers peeled off David Ferguson to meet Williams’ left-wing cross but steered his far-post header off target.

Joel Taylor, meanwhile, sidefooted wide of an inviting goal after fellow wing-back Lee Vaughan had reached the right byline, before an offside Wright touched Josh Law’s header into the net for City and Simon Heslop volleyed a dropping ball over from 15 yards.

The Minstermen went on to fall further behind, though, on 45 minutes when Kidderminster broke down the right after Heslop had won a tackle close to the halfway line.

Williams ran at Law before cutting inside and trying his luck with a weak shot that Bartlett would have surely gathered before Tait slid in to deflect the ball into the City keeper’s bottom-right corner.

After the break, Parkin went on to test Hall with a powerful 30-yard strike and Griffiths rattled the away keeper’s left-hand upright from a similar distance after being teed up by Heslop.

But it was the Harriers who grabbed the all-important next goal to wrap up matters on 55 minutes as Weeks fed a charging Ironside, who sidestepped Tait’s challenge and calmly rolled the ball beyond Bartlett into the home keeper’s bottom-left corner from 12 yards.

Ironside might have gone on to score a second just past the hour mark, when he worked his way past Tait far too easily again, only for his low shot to be pushed behind by Bartlett.

For City, sub Wes York’s edge-of-the-box attempt lacked the conviction to extend Hall and away boss Neil MacFarlane even enjoyed the luxury of resting first-choice, front-two Ironside and Chambers for the final 16 minutes, with the latter receiving the biggest round of applause of the afternoon from the home fans in recognition of his 2012 double-Wembley winning heroics.

Sub Kane Richards immediately set about making his presence felt, though, firing across the face of goal after cutting in from the right and seeing a second opportunity diverted off target by Tait.

Fellow replacement Dan Bradley also called Bartlett into action from 35 yards, before Fraser Horsfall headed wide from a Weeks corner.

Kiddy continued to press forward and a Billy Daniels shot was sliced over his own crossbar by Tait, while the hosts were denied a consolation when Hall brilliantly tipped over a thumping 15-yard Heslop drive on 87 minutes.

Heslop also fired wide from just outside the box and an ambitious Parkin free kick was comfortably gathered by Hall in stoppage time.

The margin of defeat was City’s heaviest at home in sixth-tier football, while not only were Kidderminster’s players better than their hosts in this match, they have now been for some time, with this result making it seven matches unbeaten for the Midlanders in this fixture.

City ratings

Adam Bartlett 6

Kallum Griffiths 6

Joe Tait 4

Hamza Bencherif 5

David Ferguson 5

Josh Law 4

Simon Heslop 6

Adriano Moke 5

Jake Wright 4

Macaulay Langstaff 4

Fergus McAughtrie 5

Substitutes: Jon Parkin 5 (for Wright, 46), Sean Newton 5 (for McAughtrie, 46), Wes York 5 (for Moke, 64).

Subs not used: Ryan Whitley, Jordan Burrow.

Star man: Heslop – tried to get team passing ball around in manner his manager demands

Kidderminster: Brandon Hall, Lee Vaughan, Fraser Horsfall, Jimmy O’Connor, Kennedy Digie, Joel Taylor, Declan Weeks, Billy Daniels, Ed Williams (James Baxendale, 81), Joe Ironside (Dan Bradley, 74), Ashley Chambers (Kane Richards, 74). Subs not used: Kane Richards, Dan Bradley, Sam Austin, Ryan Johnson.

Kidderminster star man: Williams – made things happen in first half, while City strikers lacked incision

Referee: Adam Williamson: 8/10 – hard to find fault with much of his work

Booked: None

Sent off: None

Attendance: 2,404 (116 from Kidderminster)

Shots on target: City 5, Kidderminster 5 

Shots off target: City 3, Kidderminster 9 

Corners: City 7, Kidderminster 14 

Fouls conceded: City 9, Kidderminster 6 

Offside: City 2, Kidderminster 4