Saturday, January 22, 2000

KIDDERMINSTER Harriers moved four points clear at the top of the Nationwide Conference table following Craig Hinton's spectacular winner in Saturday's 1-0 triumph over lowly Sutton United at Aggborough.

Manager Jan Molby's promotion-chasers, however, had a lucky escape in the 88th minute when Sutton's Jimmy Dack missed a penalty.

The narrow win enabled Kidderminster to stretch their unbeaten league run to ten matches, although they had to battle every inch of the way against a determined Sutton side who defended in dep-th.

With Rushden & Diamonds losing 1-0 at second-from-bottom Forest Green Rovers, Dover and Yeovil are now Harriers nearest rivals.

They are both four points behind with Dover, who won 2-0 at Nuneaton, having a match in hand on Harriers who have played the same number of games as Yeovil after they stepped up their title bid with a 2-1 home win over Telford.

After Saturday's priceless victory skipper Paul Webb, who was celebrating his 250th first team appearance for the Aggborough outfit, said: "We made hard work of it. We could have finished the game off a lot earlier, but we are just delighted to have got the three points.

"It wasn't the best of games to be fair, but we knew it was going to be a bit of a battle. We knew we weren't going to be able to get it down and play especially with the wind and the kind of team that Sutton are."

Webb admitted, however, that he thought Kidderminster had thrown victory away when they conceded a last-gasp spot kick.

"The penalty miss was a relief. I thought we had blown it, but obviously we were delighted to see it hit the bar.

"We had some good chances in the second half, but are four points clear and it's in our own hands now."

The first half, however, was a miserable affair with the troublesome wind making conditions difficult.

Both goalkeepers were forced to make saves, but on-target efforts were few and far between.

After the break, however, it was a different story with Kidderminster producing a far more positive display.

Indeed, in the opening minute of the second period, keeper Gareth Howells did well to save an Ian Foster shot before Hinton struck with what proved to be the winner.

He was positioned some 30 yards out in the 53rd minute when he unleashed a rasping shot which entered the net after hitting the inside of a post.

It was his second goal of the season and only his third for the club.

After that Kidderminster began to create an increasing number of chances.

Firstly, striker Stewart Had-ley had a deflected shot headed off the line by Andy Riley before leading scorer Foster and Webb both had efforts slam against the woodwork.

Foster's powerful drive in the 75th minute hit the un-derside of the bar which then denied Webb from scoring with a header eight minutes later.

Kidderminster fans, however, had their hearts in the mouths when Sutton were awarded a penalty when keeper Tim Clarke brought down substitute Nko Ekoku as he raced towards goal.

After Clarke was booked for the offence by Kingswinford referee Andy Penn, Dack stepped up to take the penalty which he hammered again-st the bar.

The huge sigh of relief by the Aggborough supporters was soon followed by the final whistle with Kidderminster having secured their tenth home league victory of the season.