Kidderminster Harriers 2(1) v (1)2 Cheltenham Town

After a break from action of ten days Harriers finally played their first pre-season game at Aggborough and were held to a draw by League One opposition in old foes Cheltenham Town.

Despite their lack of recent match action Harriers were bright in the opening stages with a starting line-up that included just two trialists - former QPR defender Jon Munday who impressed throughout and one-time Wycombe striker Matthew Barnes-Homer - and had a number of good goalscoring chances in the first few minutes.  Both Michael McGrath and Brian Smikle going close.

Against the run of play Cheltenham opened the scoring in the 12th minute; awarded a free-kick in the inside-left channel 25 yardsfrom goal Ben Gill beat the wall with a low shot that nestled in the net inside Scott Bevan's right-hand post.  Harriers were knocked out of their stride for a spell but gradually got themselves back into the game; just before the half-hour mark a crossfield pass by Barnes-Homer set new-signing Justin Richards clear on goal but he dragged his shot narrowly wide of the far post.  The equalising goal came six minutes before the break, again from a free-kick; Andy Ferrell was fouled by Michael Townsend 35 yards out, Jonny Harkness stroked the ball over the wall and into the top corner giving Scott Brown no chance.

A batch of half-time substitutions took the flow out of the game in the second half but another trialist - former Cheltenham reserve Shane Paul - did his chances no harm by setting up Harriers' second goal after 62 minutes.  Picking up the ball from Munday's headed clearance his pass split the visiting defence wide open for James Constable who bided his time before slotting it past Brown from the edge of the penalty area.  The lead did not last long, however, as Craig Reid got to the byline and lofted the ball over Dean Coleman who had made a rash rush out.

Harriers had other chances to win the game; another Harkness free-kick beat the wall but also went over the bar and Munday could only direct his header straight at Brown from a corner.  Overall the draw was a fair result, Harriers more than matched their opponents from two leagues higher up the pyramid; Justin Richards looked lively and should prove to be quite a handful for Conference defences this season.