RELIEVED Harriers bagged their first three points of the season in the Blue Square Premier by seeing off 10-man Altrincham at Aggborough.

The home side overcame a tricky fixture to get off the mark and take the pressure off manager Mark Yates and his troops.

Yates made five changes to the side that lost at Mansfield, bringing in Martin Brittain, David McDermott, Matthew Barnes-Homer, Lee Baker and new signing Keith Lowe in a 4-4-2 formation.

The inclusion of Brittain paid off immediately as he set up Mark Creighton for the opening goal in the eighth minute. The former Newcastle United youth-teamer had been fouled by Matt Doughty on the right wing and he delivered a great free-kick, which Creigton headed deftly into the net.

Despite the goal, Harriers were struggling to get to grips in midfield and the game descended into a scrappy affair.

The turning point came in the 33rd minute when Creighton’s goal-bound shot was handled on the line by defender Chris Lane, who was shown a straight red card.

Justin Richards converted the spot-kick to make it 2-0 and score his fourth goal in as many games.

As Altrincham battled back, the game became bad tempered but two quality strikes secured an emphatic victory.

Brittain crowned a fine individual performance with a 30-yard swerving effort which gave Coburn no chance in the 70th minute.

Substitute Brian Smikle then grabbed a fourth goal in the 83rd minute, when he raced onto Russ Penn’s well-executed pass on the right wing and chipped Coburn from 25-yards out.

Harriers: Bartlett, Baker, Ferrell, Creighton, Jones, Barnes-Homer (Knights), Penn, Richards, Brittain (Smikle, 70), McDermott (McGrath, 81); Lowe.

Referee: Jay Simpson (Lancashire).

Attendance: 1,335