Kidderminster Harriers 0(0) v (1)1 Northampton Town

Harriers slumped to their seventh defeat in a row despite what was probably their best 90 minutes under caretaker-manager Shaun Cunnington.  Results elsewhere, Shrewsbury and Cambridge both lost, meant that Harriers' position at the bottom of the table was not made any worse.

With the loss of Simon Brown, Jesper Christiansen and Youssou Diop Cunnington made a number of changes to the side; Pedro Matias came in for his first start on the left wing, James Keene returned from illness in attack and Simon Russell returned on the other flank.  An unsettled line-up is rarely a good thing, Harriers were still sorting themselves out when Northampton almost opened the scoring after just six minutes; the ball was played through the inside-left channel for Eric Sabin to run on to but Ryan Clarke was quick off his line to make a crucial block to concede a corner.  Harriers mustered their first attack soon after; a half-cleared free kick was played back into the area towards Abdou Sall who knocked it down to Darryn Stamp, his first shot was blocked and then he fired the rebound over the bar.

Harriers fell behind in typically sloppy fashion; Martin Smith played the ball over the centre of the Harriers back-line, Abdou Sall was caught out allowing it to drop to Scott McGleish who tucked his shot under the dive of Ryan Clarke.  For once Harriers' heads didn't drop at the setback and they began to get into the game quickly.  Within minutes they went agonisingly close to restoring parity when Tom Bennett's deep left-wing free kick was headed out to Dean Keates who saw his volley tipped over the bar for a corner by Lee Harper.  For the rest of the first half Harriers had most of the possession, The Cobblers offered little which would explain their erratic league form.  Keates was involved again shortly before the interval, his free kick found Stamp whose shot beat Harper but came back off the far post.

After the break Harriers continued to press and had a lot of possession and for a spell it seemed inevitable that they would draw level.  Russell's lofted pass forward was flicked on by Stamp but dropped just too far ahead of Keene; a Keates 25-yarder was deflected over for a corner; from a second corner the ball was half cleared and when it was played back in by Jon Beswetherick Keene's dive was narrowly too short to connect with the ball.  Another Harriers attack caused problems for the Town defence, Keates' free kick was aimed towards Keene but he was pulled up for a foul on the goalkeeper.

After such a frantic spell Harriers were unable to maintain their momentum and Northampton killed the game off with a goal against the run of play fifteen minutes from the end.  Lee Williamson was allowed to run at the Harriers defence through the inside-right channel charging past unchallenged, his shot hit beat Clarke but came back off the far post to substitute Julian Alsop who was left with an easy tap in.  Although they didn't collapse as such Harriers' challenge wilted at the two-goal deficit.  They lacked a creative spark to open up the visitors properly and neither striker looks really dangerous.  Without having been particularly good themselves Northampton found themselves heading for their first win in four games and could have gone further ahead moments after the second goal when Smith's free kick came back off the bar to Alsop who headed straight into the hands of Clarke.  For all of their possession early in the half, and the number of chances created, Harper wasn't called on to make a save until two minutes from the end when Keates' free kick curled over the wall, but without enough power, and was an easy pick-up for the keeper.