CHRISTIAN Dibble saved two penalties in the shootout as Kidderminster Harriers beat AFC Fylde to reach the next round of the FA Trophy.
After Harriers surrendered a two-goal lead in regulation time, Dibble proved the hero in the shootout as Kidderminster triumphed 3-0 on spot kicks at Mill Farm.
And Kidderminster boss Phil Brown praised his side’s mindset after seeing off higher division opponents to reach the fourth round of the competition.
Brown said: “I’m delighted at the approach the players had in their mindset, we were under threat of losing this game when Storm Darragh decided to crank it up a bit.
“Blackpool’s game was cancelled, Liverpool versus Everton was cancelled, Aintree was cancelled, how this game survived is nothing short of genius by the people of Fylde.
“When I’ve got Christian Dibble in goal in a penalty shootout, I’m having him all day long so when it goes to a penalty shootout I was feeling quite positive about getting through.
“We were in a positive frame of mind, we came here with a gameplan, we thought we could upset the apple cart playing against a team from a higher division.
“It was important that we don’t lose the game because momentum is important, then it goes to penalties and we’ve got the proverbials, the gonads, which is great.”
Fylde play one level above Harriers in the National League while the game took place amidst Storm Darragh as strong winds and heavy rain swept across the country.
Kidderminster made the perfect start when Harriers won the ball high up the pitch and Amari Morgan-Smith cut in from the left and curled a shot into the bottom right corner after just five minutes.
And the visitors doubled their lead on 11 minutes as Maz Kouhyar picked out Ryley Reynolds who fired a shot into the bottom left corner from just outside the penalty area.
Fylde halved the deficit on 31 minutes when Charlie Jolley made his way into the penalty area and found the bottom left corner from just inside the box.
And the home side drew level five minutes after the break as substitute Nick Haughton lashed a shot into the bottom right corner from the edge of the penalty area.
However, neither side were able to find a winner in the remaining minutes as the game went to a penalty shootout.
After Morgan-Smith put Harriers ahead, Haughton blazed his penalty over the crossbar before Tope Obadeyi saw his penalty come back off the post.
However, Dibble saved Ethan Mitchell’s penalty before Paul Downing converted for Harriers and Dibble then denied Joe Riley to leave Kidderminster one kick from victory.
And Zak Brown stepped up to coolly send Harriers into the fourth round of the competition.
Kidderminster are next in action against Radcliffe on Saturday, December 14 with kick-off at 3pm at Neuven Stadium.
