YORK 1 HARRIERS 0

THE first season in the Football League ended with a whimper as Kidderminster Harriers slipped to another 1-0 defeat.

Although Harriers' report card will certainly read "Could have done better", they have to be happy with a comfortable mid-table position.

Many more experienced clubs have struggled this season and Kidderminster have shown enough potential to stand a good chance of improving their position.

However, much will depend on the summer comings and goings at Aggborough with boss Jan Molby putting an emphasis on younger players.

The aim for next May will be the play-offs but the reality may be different with a host of strong clubs, including Rushden and Diamonds, in the picture.

However, the close season is all about dreams and it is only when Christmas nears and the schedule intensifies that the truth emerges.

Harriers were certainly caught out at that stage in 2000 after the high generated from their Conference championship success had given them a very impressive start.

And as it turned out, that beginning proved to be crucial with a run of miserable form this year.

Saturday's final match proved to be a stale end-of-season affair which was sad considering a fine Harriers' turn-out of 400-plus fans.

The match was instantly forgettable but could be used as another tribute to the emergence of a very solid looking back-four.

With Craig Hinton and Adie Smith as solid as ever, Scott Stamps showed signs he was getting back towards his best.

French full-back Parfait Medou-Otye, keeping out club skipper Ian Clarkson, is settling in well and launched a few swashbuckling right-wing raids in the final 45 minutes.

But for keeper Tim Clarke's last game for Harriers on his return to a former club, it will not be a memory he will cherish.

Seventy-seven minutes had gone when Clarke fumbled Darren Edmondson's free-kick, awarded for Scott Stamps' alleged foul on Chris Brass.

It was a refereeing decision Molby was to criticise but only after the ball had eventually fallen for Colin Alcide to hook smartly over his shoulder and into the net.

Alcide had not looked like scoring after missing several chances but, as in the last game at home to Hartlepool, the opportunity was very much put on a plate.

Harriers did not score and could rarely claim to have deserved to.

Perhaps one of their best chances arrived a minute after the only goal when John Durnin lifted the ball into the path of Stewart Hadley, one of three substitutes on 63 minutes.

But the ball did not drop quickly enough and defender Mark Bower was in swiftly to block Hadley's eventual effort.

Daire Doyle also had a shot deflected around the post but Harriers left their spell of pressure too late and it proved rather toothless.

They had earlier spent much of the first half on the defensive but stubborn rearguard action, allied to a misfiring York, kept the home side out.

An error cost Harriers in the end but too many of those have left them 16th in the table.

Though they have no right to finish higher, that position will have surprised many around the club and you can bet it is lower than most predicted.

However, unlike the unfortunate Barnet, they will not be making a return to the Conference. The Football League dream is still very much alive.

SHOTS ON TARGET

York 4 Harriers 2

CORNERS

York 9 Harriers 7

BOOKINGS

York 2 (Basham, Brass)

Harriers 0

ATTENDANCE: 3,185

LINE-UPS

YORK (3-5-2): Fettis 7; Brass 7, Basham 7, Bower 8; Edmondson 6, Cooper 6, Agnew 6, Richardson 7, Potter 7; Alcide 7, McNiven 6. Subs: Howarth, Hocking, Emmerson (McNiven 46) 6, Wood, Stamp (Agnew 46) 6.

HARRIERS (4-4-2): Clarke 5; Medou-Otye 7, SMITH 8, Hinton 7, Stamps 7; Skovbjerg 6, Davies 6, MacKenzie 6, Doyle 6; Durnin 6, Corbett 6. Subs: Brock, Bennett (Skovbjerg 63) 6, Bird (Corbett 63) 6, Ducros, Hadley (Davies 63) 6.

SHUTTLE STAR MAN

ADIE SMITH

There could be few complaints about the back-four who defended superbly throughout. Smith was one of the stars with a series of timely interceptions, tackles and clearances.