Crawley 2, Harriers 0

POSSESSION might well be nine tenths of the law - but having nine tenths of the possession counts for very little in the Conference as Kidderminster found to their cost at Crawley, writes Mat Kendrick.

Despite dominating the match from the fourth minute to the 81st minute, Harriers left Broadfield Stadium empty-handed after succumbing to two sucker-punches from their Sussex hosts.

And just when the Aggborough men thought it couldn't get any worse, Terry Fleming went and got himself sent off for pointlessly arguing with the referee.

After just three minutes, boss Stuart Watkiss's instructions to keep it tight and not do anything silly had completely gone out of the window when Daryl Burgess inadvertently steered a nightmare cross past John Danby.

In fairness to the former Albion defender, the ball was zipped in with such pace that he needed to take decisive action with Red Devils dangerman Daryl Clare breathing down his neck.

But his early own goal, Crawley's only real chance of the first half, summed up how Harriers just aren't getting the rub of the green at the moment.

And to make matters worse for Burgess he was also involved in the confusion that led to Crawley killing the game off from their first meaningful counter attack of the second period.

Committing the cardinal sin of waiting for a non-existent whistle for a debatable handball, Burgess, Mark Jackson and Wayne Hatswell allowed Jamie Cade to steal in and slot a tame finish through the legs of Danby.

So from two forward raids, the Conference's bottom club gave yet more ammunition to the growing band of "Kidderminster in crisis" critics.

But that is only half the story, because for the rest of the game, Crawley hardly touched the ball as Harriers had the lion's share of the play, only to waste it in the final third.

"We've probably passed the ball better than we've done for a very long time, but we just need that cutting edge" said a frustrated Watkiss after the final whistle.

"We get into many good areas and situations in the attacking third and then our quality just lets us down.

"Whether it's a sloppy first touch or a mis-placed pass we've got to be a lot more penetrative.

"We've lost 2-0 and they've only created one chance in the game. If you come away from home, wherever that may be, and you only give the opposition one chance, then you've done something OK."

Once again the one shining light in what has been a cloudy few weeks for Kidderminster was the performance of young midfield dynamo Simon Heslop.

The on-loan Barnsley teenager's energy, endeavour and intelligent use of the ball would have put off-form Fleming to shame - had the experienced midfielder not already done that himself.

With Harriers' frustrations bubbling to the surface, Fleming's disappointment at his own below-par display caused him to not once, but twice, take issue with the referee.

Having being booked for his first half whining, returning for a second go late on in the game was as misplaced as most of his passes and he somewhat inevitably saw red.

Despite the sending-off compounding Harriers' midfield problems for Saturday's clash with Tamworth - Martin O'Connor and Wayne Graves are still being troubled by knee injuries - Watkiss was quick to defend Fleming.

"You would imagine Terry with his 400 or 500 league games behind him would know how to speak to an official," said the Harriers boss, confirming that Fleming will receive an automatic one-match band for Saturday.

"He's adamant he spoke in an appropriate manner."