Worcester City 0(0) v (1)2 Kidderminster Harriers

Harriers' pre-season programme ended in farce as an "off-field" incident caused Mark Yates to call his players off the pitch with 20 minutes remaining and Harriers 2-0 up.

Reports suggested that an altercation had taken place between Mark Creighton and a member of the Worcester management team after Creighton was substituted, possibly as retribution for a challenge from him on City striker Adam Webster that had caused  the City man to be stretchered off.  That incident had taken place in the third minute and there had been no suggestion that it had been anything other than accidental, at the time no City player had made any sort of appeal to the referee who didn't even award a foul.

Harriers started the game with what was close to the team that will start the Conference campaign next weekend and performed better than they usually do in friendlies against Worcester.  They had clearly learned from their midweek defeat at the hands of Coventry City and were knocking the ball around well, leaving City chasing shadows in the same way that The Sky Blues had done to them.  Captain for the day Russ Penn could have given Harriers the lead after 13 minutes but Jonny Harkness' deep cross from the left was too high for him to control and it was put out for a corner at the far post.  Shortly afterwards a Brian Smikle run opened up the home defence but they recovered to tackle Luke Reynolds as he was about to shoot and the ball ran to Andy White who was thwarted by Danny McDonnell in the Worcester goal who pushed the ball away for a corner.  From the corner Harkness' cross found Creighton at the far post and his downward header just crossed the line before being hacked away, fortunately the linesman had seen it and the goal was given.

At the other end Scott Bevan kept Harriers ahead pushing Jai Stanley's shot away for a corner after his defence had failed to clear a left wing cross properly.  From the corner Chris Smith rose well at the far post only to see Bevan tip his header over the bar.

Early in the second half Luke Reynolds went close to doubling the advantage with sharply taken shot after a good turn on the edge of the penalty area that McDonnell did well to push over.  Bevan came to Harriers' rescue again shortly afterwards; Nick Colley was played in on the left but Bevan stretched out an arm to to deflect his shot away from the far post.

Harriers took the lead on 63 minutes; a quickly taken free kick saw Jamie McClen chip the ball into the penalty area to Michael Blackwood who had arrived at the far post unnoticed and he volleyed in from close range.  Eight minutes later Yates appeared to be ready to bring on another substitute, having recently replaced Creighton, when all of a sudden the Harriers team were trooping off the field and the game was abandoned.