Harriers 1 Southend 3

UNLESS Harriers cut out this annoying habit of taking one step forward and two steps back, they're going nowhere fast.

After undermining their victory over Rochdale last month with defeats to Cheltenham and Swansea they have gone and done the same thing again.

Harriers fans were buzzing after their first away win of the season at Oxford but their team have taken the gloss off that result with defeats to Leyton Orient and now Southend.

In their present predicament, Harriers need a victory in every other game. Continuing in this vein and winning one and losing the next two simply will not be sufficient for survival.

Anybody attending Kidder-minster's last two home games could be forgiven for experiencing a sense of de ja vu in the way each result panned out.

Just as they had done against Swansea, Harriers started slowly and fell behind early before dragging themselves level with 10 minutes or so remaining.

Once again the stage was set for a barnstorming finish - but once again it was the away side who provided it. Southend "did a Swansea" and hit hapless Harriers with a late burst of goals.

This time it was two in the last seven minutes rather than the three in two mi-nutes on Boxing Day, but it was an equally bitter pill for boss Stu-art Watkiss to swallow.

For a team finally off the bottom and entering the New Year with rene-wed hope, Kidd-erminster should have come out with all guns blazing. But they started slowly, allowing Steve Tilson's promotion-chasers to dictate the pace of the game, and never really got going all afternoon.

A needless free kick given away by Tom Bennett for a foul on Adam Barrett gave Southend a 10th minute free kick.

And Freddy Eastwood rifled the Shrimps in front with a 20 yard strike which seemed to completely by-pass the poorly positioned defensive wall.

In a tedious first half Harriers failed to create a single chance worthy of the name, although the ever-willing Simon Russell did drag a couple of shots vaguely towards the Southend goal and Blair Sturrock looped a header on to the top of the net.

With the shaven-headed figures of Spencer Prior and Barrett commanding at the back the visitors pushed forward with confidence and could have been several goals to the good before the break.

Mark Bentley wasted a good chance when Nic Nicolau's mis-hit strike arrived too quickly at his feet, while Nicolau drew a great save by John Danby with a fierce left foot drive on the stroke of half time.

The Kidderminster keeper continued where he had left off after the break by advancing off his line quickly to snuff out a chance for Wayne Gray and Danby produced another fine save with his feet after Tes Bramble put Eastwood in on goal.

Up until the 79th minute Harriers had failed to fashion a decent scoring opportunity and there was an element of fortune about their equaliser when Chris Beardsley turned in Jamie Gleeson's volley through a crowded box from a Dean Keates corner.

From then on with the Aggborough crowd roused and Harriers in the ascendancy, there was only going to be one winner, wasn't there? Yes, Southend.

Although Harriers looked more dangerous in the subsequent two minutes than they had done all game with Keates and Beardsley almost walking the ball in and Sturrock heading just wide, they forgot to lock the back door.

Having got the lifeline of a leveller, Kidder-minster should have kept calm and kept it tight at the back.

But they did exactly the opposite as first Lawrie Dudfield squared for Nicolau to fire Southend back in front on 83 minutes and then Eastwood easily headed his second and his side's third from Carl Pettefer's cross two minutes later.

HARRIERS: Danby, Jenkins, Beswetherick, Weaver, Mullins, Russell (Beardsley 46), Foster (Gleeson 46), Bennett, Keates, Birch, Sturrock. Subs not used: Lewis, Burton, Burns.

SOUTHEND: Gremink, Nicolau, Hunt, Maher, Bentley (Bramble 41, Dudfield 78), Pettefer, Gray, Prior, Wilson, Eastwood (Edwards 90), Barrett. Subs not used: Flahavan, Lawson.

REFEREE: Andy Hall (West Midlands).

ATTENDANCE: 2,755 (away fans 463).