Aggborough plays host to a local clash to see in the second gameweek of the 2022/23 Vanarama National League North season as Kidderminster Harriers welcome Leamington to Worcestershire.

Top after one game, Paul Holleran's Brakes will be hoping to draw inspiration from the last time they played Kiddy in April and to continue their goalscoring up from Saturday's emphatic victory over Farsley Celtic

This Saturday's hosts didn't have the luxury of having a home fixture to introduce the campaign and instead made their longest journey of the season, beating Blyth Spartans 1-0 away from home. Ash Hemmings got the Harriers off to a winning start in Northumberland.

  • Team news

Kidderminster Harriers

In Northumberland at the weekend, Russ Penn gave debuts to six new summer signings with many set to feature again this weekend. Harriers will have been hit by key losses with Sam Austin, Geraldo Bajrami and Omari Sterling-James all departing in the summer.

Both Amari Morgan-Smith and Alex Penny missed out on the opening fixture, and it is unknown as to whether two of Harriers' FA Cup heroes from last season will be available on Saturday. 

Leamington

New signing Lewis Hall will be available at Aggborough with Leamington receiving international clearance following the left back joining from Newport County. He missed their opening day clash with Farsley Celtic, Dan Meredith having to cover at right back. 

Coach Chris Knott confirmed last weekend that Steph Morley is starting to return to training following a calf strain, but Knott emphasised that they were not going to rush the well-travelled veteran back into action. Theo Streete also missed out the Farsley game due to injury.

  • Likely lineups

Kidderminster Harriers

Palmer, Richards, Knight-Percival, Pearce, Owen-Evans, Lowe, Hemmings, Ceesay, Foulkes, Brown, Byrne

Leamington

Hawkins, Meredith, Hall, Maye, Mace, Lane, Kelly-Evans, Walker, Turner, Edwards, Cook

  • Key players

Shane Byrne

It is not often a new signing is thrown straight into the deep end and appointed captain of his new side, however this has happened to Shane Byrne who joined from Boston United in the summer, having defeated Harriers with the Pilgrims in the play-offs last season. 

The former Ireland youth international started out at Leicester City but didn't make any appearances for the Foxes. Since then, Byrne has largely spent time at the likes of local non-league sides such as Nuneaton Borough and Brackley Town alongside spells at Bury and Bray Wanderers

He captained his new Harriers side on Saturday for the first time as they came away from Blyth with a win

Dan Turner

Leamington fans have been yearning for an out-and-out goalscorer this season and if the opening day fixture was any signal of how the campaign would go, Dan's the man to score goals.

Former Port Vale striker Turner signed for Leamington in January 2021 and scored his first Leamington goal only a matter minutes of his debut, scoring the winner at Chorley on a cold Tuesday January night, however his first campaign at Your Co-op Community Stadium was cut short due to the curtailment of the season. 

The attacker was Leamington's top scorer with 18 goals last season, despite not playing as striker for most of the season and will be filling in the void left by injured striker Kelsey Mooney up top for the 2022/23 season. Turner scored twice against the Celt Army but is yet to open his account against Kiddy

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  • Match Details

Where is the game being played?

Kidderminster Harriers' home of Aggborough will play host to this National League North game. A ground steeped in history, Aggborough was opened in 1890 and has been Harriers' home since then.

A former Football League ground back in the early 2000s, last season's FA Cup run culminating in a home tie against West Ham United brought back that feel last season.

What time is kick off?

Kick off will be at 15:00, in line with all other Vanarama National League North fixtures on gameweek 2. 

How can I watch?

There will be no television broadcast for this game, but live commentary is available on BrakesLiveFM from 14:50, with Shaun Cashmore and Craig Barnes keeping everyone updated.