Harriers 1 Lincoln 3

ANYONE hoping for a positive reaction after Blackpool will have been left very disappointed on Tuesday night.

Harriers have now lost three in a row but a more worrying statistic is the 12 goals shipped in those games.

And the nature of the last two defeats have sent shockwaves through the club, both for fans and for the management.

Boss Jan Molby admitted it is the lowest point of his football career and surely he now faces the most stringent test of his management credentials.

The fact confidence-hit Harriers have just two wins from 14 fixtures in 2001 would seem to suggest they really have lost the plot.

As they currently struggle all over the pitch, Molby will have a job on his hands to halt their current slide down the Division Three table. Against Lincoln in wet and windy conditions and in-front of a lowest league crowd of the season, Harriers were second best to a struggling team inspired by new boss Alan Buckley.

There were few reasons for cheer though Danish winger Thomas Skovbjerg's long-awaited Football League debut lit up the Aggborough night.

The substitute whipped a collection of dangerous crosses into the penalty area, not all were accurate but even the poorer ones took some clearing.

Striker Stewart Hadley did his chances of a recall no harm at all with a super goal after returning from hamstring and Achilles problems.

Molby made three changes but two, the transfer-listed Ian Bogie and Tony Bird for Andy Ducros and John Durnin, were dragged off nine minutes into the second half.

Left-back Scott Stamps' return lasted just one half although he was hit by a stomach bug rather than any repeat of his hamstring problem.

Harriers opened quite well and the visitors' Chris Perkins was well positioned on the post to kick away a close-range effort from Drewe Broughton on seven minutes.

However, Lincoln worked their way back into the game and took the lead with a goal that Molby admitted involved at least eight mistakes from his men.

John Finnigan's low left-wing cross on 22 minutes was allowed to travel all the way to the far post where Paul Smith was on hand to tap home with little sign of marking.

The second goal five minutes from half-time saw Harriers struggling to clear a corner in another comedy of errors and Peter Gain blasted home a superb 20-yard shot.

Despite Skovbjerg's efforts, it was depressing fare until Hadley struck a wonderful goal on 73 minutes.

Chasing skipper Ian Clarkson's clearance, the striker took the ball to the edge of the area and curled a superb right-foot drive inside Chris Day's near post.

It was Hadley's eighth goal of the season, making him joint top scorer with Durnin.

But any hopes of an equaliser were quickly dashed five minutes later when more confusion from a Lincoln corner allowed robust centre-back James Dudgeon to tap home from close in.

Harriers' response was too little too late though two Skovbjerg corners led to Day saving well from Paul Webb's bullet header and Mark Shail's volley.

Skovbjerg is not about to be rushed back into the first 11 but he has certainly been badly missed on this evidence.