Kidderminster Harriers Reserves 3(1) v (0)2 Stafford Rangers Reserves

Four goals in eight second half minutes brought a dour game to life and gave Harriers, who lead from a first-half Jeff Kenna free kick a narrow victory that stretches their unbeaten start to the season to six games.

Kenna and Bob Taylor both continued the comebacks from injury by getting a full 90 minutes each under their belts and they were joined in  the side by several trialists.  Although there were other first team players - Luke Reynolds, Brian Smikle, Michael McGrath - in the team their performance, in the first half in particular, was not as dominating as might have been hoped and the game was quite dull.

Harriers led at the end of a dour first half thanks to Kenna's 25-yard free-kick which was the only incident of real note in the opening period apart from a weak header from Reynolds in the last minute of the half after good work on the right by Tom Brady and Smikle.

The second half was an improvement; Steve Taylor in the Harriers goal did well to tip a vicious, dipping, shot from Andre Francis over the bar for a corner from which Jemiah Richards headed wide.  The game came to life after 52 minutes when Harriers went further ahead; McGrath fed the ball out to Reynolds on the left who broke into the penalty area and pulled the ball back from the byline to the far post where Smikle arrived late to force it over the line.

The two-goal advantage lasted just four minutes as a long ball over the top was flicked on by Steve Thompson to Francis who nipped in quickly to beat Taylor to the ball and steer it into the bottom corner.  Harriers reacted quickly and soon had restored their two goal advantage when Bob Taylor headed in McGrath's right-wing corner.  Stafford were not going to lie down and give up, however, and a crazy eight-minute spell ended with another goal for the visitors when Richard Miller was left in acres of space at the far post to lash the ball past Taylor to make it 3-2.

Harriers stayed on top for the rest of the game although they were unable to breach the visitors' defences again; giant defender Richards mopped up nearly everything that Harriers threw forwards and the best chance they had fell to substitute Dan McGhee who jinked his way into the penalty area before shooting weakly wide of the target.  At the other end Rangers' best chance of an equaliser came to the lively Francis who shot straight at Taylor.