Harriers head to Southport in National League North….
By Matty Paddock - 21/04/2023
Posted 3 years ago
HARRIERS venture to their final away trek of the 2022-23 season on Saturday at Southport.
The curtain is almost ready to fall on this season’s division, but there remains plenty still to be decided.
King’s Lynn and AFC Fylde are still neck-and-neck in the race to be crowned champions and take the one automatic spot up to Step 1.
At the foot of the standings, any number of sides are still facing peril – including Saturday’s hosts at Haig Avenue.
Thanks to a strong first portion of the season, Liam Watson’s charges are well placed with enough points on the board to likely achieve survival.
They nonetheless may feel the need to claim another victory to make sure of this, with the Kettering, Blyth, Farsley and Leamington all clipping at their heels.
The play-offs offers up similar madness. No less than six sides who are currently outside of the top seven still have a chance of breaking into those coveted spaces, while the likes of Alfreton and Gloucester are desperate to cement spots in sixth and seventh respectively.
Harriers are among the outfits still with an outside sniff of the play-offs, thanks to a promising run of four successive victories.
It seems that nothing less than a victory will do for the Reds at Southport if Harriers are to take their quest to the final day next weekend.
Looking ahead, a reflective Russ Penn said: “We’re still in it and that’s the main thing, there’s something to play for on Saturday and hopefully the Saturday after.
“That’s all we can try for. It is one defeat in ten, albeit a lot of draws but four wins on the bounce is great form.
“I’d rather win four games on the bounce now than lose four games.
“I said about two months ago that we’ve got to build some optimism going into next year and we’re certainly doing that now.
“This group seems to be managing itself a lot better than it was before Christmas.
“They’re looking forward to next season as well, but we have two massive games and six points up for grabs – if we do that, we might have a chance.”
Penn is wisely not fooled by Southport’s recent run, which continued with a midweek defeat to Spennymoor that the boss was on hand to see.
He knows that experienced Manager Liam Watson will be doing all he can to get his troops fired up for this weekend.
Penn added: “They’re on a poor run of form so we have to make sure we look after ourselves.
“I like Liam and I respect what he’s doing. He’s had a few injury crises himself, like we have this season.
“We know it is a tough game and a tough place to go to. I can’t remember the last time we won there… we’ll respect them a lot, but it is about us again, it has to be.”
Penn reported a few knocks and niggles from within the Harriers camp this week, but aside from Ethan Freemantle as a long-term absentee, there are no players known to be ruled out for the journey to Southport.
Kick off at Haig Avenue on Saturday is at 3:00pm.
Harriers fans are reminded that tickets can be purchased for the game in advance to help save time and congestions on the day.
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