Worcester City Reserves 1(1) v (3)5 Kidderminster Harriers Reserves

Jesper Christiansen led a young Harriers side to a comfortable and deserved victory over Worcester's second string at St George's Lane with the Dane hitting a hattrick.

Senior players Micky Mellon, back after suspension, and Ian Foster joined Christiansen in the side that included fringe players and the complete back four from the Youth Team.  Mellon made his presence felt early on with a curling shot from just outside the penalty area that only just failed to bend back inside the post.  At the other end Daniel Lewis made a good double save to deny first James Smith and then Tom Warmer.

Harriers took the lead after 18 minutes when a deep left wing cross from Richard Evans found Simon Russell on the opposite flank and he rolled the ball back into the path of Christiansen who swept it into the bottom corner.  City drew level just after the half hour mark, a corner from the left was met by Carl Heeley but his header was beaten away by Lewis, the young keeper was powerless to keep out Shabir Khan's follow up, however.  Harriers were quick to restore their lead, Foster got to the byline on the right and crossed for Christiansen to head in from close range.

Christiansen could have completed his hat-trick shortly before the break; City didn't deal very well with a corner and the ball was played back in by Foster and Christiansen's attempted overhead kick was tipped over the bar by Lewis Skyers for another corner.  Warmer went close to an equaliser with a blistering shot from the edge of the penalty area that only just missed the target.  Mellon carried the ball forward into acres of space to create the third goal, he had options to pass to on either side and chose Daniel Ludlow on the left, he cut inside and tucked his shot under the keeper.

Christiansen needed just one minute after the break to complete his hat-trick, receiving the ball from the left wing he controlled it well and clipped it over the advancing keeper.  A fifth goal came midway through the half, Skyers got himself into trouble trying to dribble the ball to safety and was dispossessed by Harriers substitute Stephen Thompson and fouled him trying to get it back.  The referee pointed to the spot immediately and Russell stepped forward to send the keeper the wrong way with the penalty.

With the game won Harriers eased off the pressure a little and allowed City more possession but they didn't muster a shot that tested Lewis at all in the second half, their best efforts long range shots from Tom Hobbs and Liam McDonald.