ROVERS FANZ VIEW COLUMN
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As ever, Kidderminster Harriers proved to be a tough proposition last week as Rovers clinched a late win to send us back into the top five. It was a real war of attrition with Ray Graydon's wingless wonders grinding down an equally adventurous Kiddy midfield, which possessed only one incisive threat in the form of Lloyd Dyer. While the visitors left their most creative player from last season, Sam Shilton, on the subs' bench, Graydon consigned ours to the stand, as Wayne Carlisle only set foot on the turf to perform the half-time draw. Junior Agogo was doing his best to break the deadlock in a display that showed ominous signs that his first goal is just around the corner - one shot fizzed through keeper Stuart Brock's hands and smacked the crossbar. But otherwise the match had nil-nil written all over it, and it was crying out for some added invention until Lee Hodges stripped off his tracksuit to come on. Everyone knows what he is capable of, and the excited applause that marked his entry onto the field showed that the fans believed he could change this game. And so it proved just seven minutes later. After picking up the ball on the edge of the Kidderminster box, he took it inside and slammed it into the top corner for a brilliant goal. His celebration comprised an adrenalin-pumped run past the home bench, but in a scene reminiscent of the seconds after Wayne Carlisle's free-kick against Scunthorpe last season, his manager barely moved a muscle in appreciation. We are not expecting Graydon to jump around like a madman or instigate a full-scale hug with his goalscorer but he could have patted Hodges on the back or at least raised a congratulatory thumb as he hared past. You would have thought that the boss would want to milk his decision to bring on a match-winning super-sub, but we are growing used to Ray's stony-faced indifference in the dugout - win or lose. He deserves credit for sending on the right man to win the game, but if you look closely, our three wins to date have all been decided by those wingers that he has banished to the bench recently - Hodges and Carlisle. Hodges scored the late winners up at Scunthorpe and last week against Kidderminster, while Wayne got the goals to beat Carlisle. Should they be in the team to start with then? I would always say yes. Carlisle's crossing has left a bit to be desired this season, but he seems to have been working on the glitch during his enforced sabbatical from the first team, helping the reserves to thrash Oxford 5-1 with two goals in the week. Our striker shortage may soon be remedied, if not by the hat-trick hero Lewis Haldane, but by his well-known strike partner on Wednesday night, Nigel Jemson. Whilst I was elsewhere, watching Wales scrape into the Euro 2004 play-offs with a 1-1 draw against Finland, reports from Cossham Street concluded that Jemson had a helping hand in four of Rovers' five strikes. It is always good to hear your team linked with a player you have heard of, as opposed to yet another untried teenager from a higher level that invariably provokes the reaction of "who?" when his name is announced. Jemson hit 17 goals in all competitions last year for Shrewsbury and links up the play very well, plus he takes a mean free-kick as Everton will testify. An extra bit of experience can make a world of difference as we saw when Andy Rammell joined the club in our relegation battle. So if the Board can agree terms with Jemson, I would be intrigued to see him in a quartered shirt.
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