Kidderminster Harriers vs West Ham United. The FA Cup Fourth Round.
AggboroughAttendance5,327.
Match report as Russell Penn's Kidderminster Harriers fall just short of beating West Ham, who were saved by substitute Declan Rice and Jarrod Bowen; David Moyes: "We were fortunate to get through and they were really unfortunate not to take it to penalties at least."
Saturday 5 February 2022 19:34, UK
Jarrod Bowen saved West Ham from FA Cup humiliation against Kidderminster with manager David Moyes admitting they were "fortunate" to go through at the expense of their non-league opponents.
Bowen struck with virtually the last kick of extra-time as the Hammers, wretched for most of the game, sealed a barely deserved 2-1 win.
They had needed Declan Rice's injury-time leveller to force the match into extra-time, just as it looked like National League North side Kidderminster would pull off an almighty fourth-round shock.
Alex Penny had given the heroic hosts a first-half lead after terrible Hammers defending. Harriers, 113 places below the Premier League visitors, deserved so much more after nearly writing themselves into FA Cup folklore with one of its biggest upsets.
West Ham's Ben Johnson drilled over after six minutes and that was as good as it got before Sam Austin, one of the scorers in Kidderminster's third-round win over Reading, shot too close to Alphonse Areola from the edge of the box.
It proved the hosts would find openings and Ashley Hemmings was the next to try, although his tame effort was easily gathered by Areola.
The Hammers were unnerved, though, and lost rhythm - meaning it was less of a surprise when Harriers grabbed a 19th-minute lead. It was all down to a catalogue of West Ham mistakes, starting when a dawdling Issa Diop took down Amari Morgan-Smith on the right. Areola and Diop made a mess of dealing with Sterling's free-kick and the defender's weak header fell to Penny to fire in from eight yards.
Said Benrahma shot wildly off target just before the break but goalkeeper Luke Simpson had been a bystander in the hosts' goal and the Hammers needed to change.
Moyes replaced the dreadful Diop and Alex Kral with Craig Dawson and Rice to shore up the rickety visitors and, while they improved, it was barely enough.
Mark Carrington blocked Benrahma's close-range effort before Bowen's low shot was well saved by Simpson.
Finally, West Ham began to exert some pressure but the hosts remained firm with Simpson turning Benrahma's drive wide just after the hour.
Yet there was no expected onslaught and the belief Harriers would hold on grew around Aggborough.
Andriy Yarmolenko's terrible dive in the area highlighted West Ham's desperation but they were rescued in the first minute of injury time by Rice.
Pablo Fornals slipped the midfielder through and he cut across Preston before lashing into the roof of the net from six yards.
It sent the tie to extra-time and, with penalties looming, Bowen shattered Kidderminster when he tapped in with seconds to go after Aaron Creswell sent the ball back across goal.
West Ham boss David Moyes said: "All credit to Kidderminster, they played really well. We gave them a chance to get a goal in front which made things a wee bit difficult and we had to chase it.
"They deserve all the credit, we were fortunate to get through and they were really unfortunate not to take it to penalties at least.
"I thought we weren't going to get through (as the game went into injury time). We hadn't tried well with many things but what we had done hadn't come off.
"We have got a long way to go if we think we're going to get into finals. We have a lot of work to do and improve greatly.
"Declan made a difference which he has been doing. It was there for everyone to see and at the time in the game it looked like probably no one else would be able to get the goal. It took a special player to get the goal."
Kidderminster manager Russ Penn, meanwhile, could not hide his disappointment.
He said: "It is the magic of the cup, isn't it? With two minutes to go I was believing it and then a minute later. Things like this don't happen in other countries. It is something special.
"I thought there would be another chance but to score from that chance was heartbreaking. I thought we'd get blown away in extra time but we didn't.
"I'm gutted for the lads. They're crawling around in the dressing room. They were piling the pressure on but it was just unfortunate they scored from the last phase of the game.
"It has been fantastic. To take a Premier League team to that close to the fifth round - fifth round from the National League North?
"It is a huge honour for me to be managing across from David Moyes. He said some lovely words. He said: 'Well done, we didn't deserve it'."
The FA Cup fifth-round draw is on Sunday, February 6.
It will take place before Liverpool's home clash with Cardiff at around 11.30am and you can follow it live on the Sky Sports app and website.
