Rochdale 1 Kidderminster Harriers 1

THERE'S only 11 games to go but Kidderminster Harriers have built up a resilience to suggest they will not give up on Coca-Cola League status without a fight.

It cannot be denied that Harriers have been beaten too easily in some games this season but, like waiting for a bus, along come two draws at once.

Unfortunately, Cambridge United and Rushden and Diamonds are also picking up points which cast Stuart Watkiss' men back to the bottom of League Two at the weekend.

But Harriers have now gone unbeaten for two games and, when that hasn't happened since the start of the season, Saturday's 1-1 draw at Rochdale is a massive result for the Aggborough club.

They will have been desperate to hang onto the win following Chris Beardsley's 18th-minute opener so Ricky Lambert's headed first-half equaliser came as a massive disappointment.

Harriers, though, at least kept a point in the bag and now need to turn the draws into victories from some winable games, especially against Rushden on March 19, as they look to make up the eight-point survival gap.

Watkiss was delighted to see his team put in more of a 90-minute display following a strong half-hour in the 4-2 defeat to Shrewsbury and an impressive first-half when drawing 1-1 with Bristol Rovers.

He admitted at Spotland: "I've said to the lads that if they produce that performance in the last 11 games of the season then we won't go down.

"We should have won the game. We had more chances than them, we out-battled them and out-fought them.

"With Cambridge winning, we've gone back to the bottom of the league but we didn't play like a bottom-of-the-league team."

And Watkiss took a pop at perceived negative press reports about his relegation battlers, insisting: "We're certainly not giving up the ghost.

"But if the players read some of the stuff that's being said about them who could blame them if they did.

"I certainly don't think you can question the commitment and effort. Ultimately, if they are not good enough, they are not good enough but it won't be for the lack of trying."

The draw at Spotland, a happy hunting ground for Harriers in recent seasons, could indeed have been better as Blair Sturrock, in particular, missed several good chances.

Sturrock, certainly one of Watkiss' best signings with five goals since his Boxing Day debut, could only direct a dangerous cross from new signing Mark Rawle, on as substitute, over the bar in the late stages.

And a header from another recent addition, centre-half Mark Jackson, bounced just wide following Dean Keates' corner.

But Watkiss said: "I'm not going to be critical of the players because I've always promised that as long as they give their best they wouldn't get any grief from me."

Indeed, Harriers showed plenty of hard work and determination for the entire game with Rochdale, sitting comfortably in mid-table, often second best.

Grant Holt buried an early header for the hosts but it was rightly ruled out for a foul on Kidderminster's young 'keeper John Danby.

There was nothing wrong with Beardsley's strike on 18 minutes though as he planted a fine header past a helpless Matthew Gilks from Wayne Hatswell's excellent cross.

But an unlucky Tom Bennett slip five minutes before half-time let in Gary Jones and though Danby saved well, Lambert nodded home the loose ball.

Harriers were again the better side in the first-half with Jackson and Sturrock both going close with headers before their late misses.

Danby's stop from sub Alan Goodhall's first touch was about all Rochdale had to offer but news of Cambridge's late winner at home to Oxford United left a sombre trip home yet again for Harriers fans.

Harriers: Danby 7; Jenkins 7, Mullins 7, Jackson 6, Hatswell 7; Cozic 6, Bennett 6, Keates 6, McGrath 6; Sturrock 7, *Beardsley 8 (Rawle 72). Subs not used: Lewis, Russell, Jones, Weaver.

Attendance: 2,385.