Kidderminster Harriers opened their sixth round of National League fixtures with a comfortable 4:1 victory over Waldstone at Grosvenor Vale on Saturday afternoon. The visitors took advantage of a second-half red card to turn a tight contest into a convincing win, moving them up to eighth place in the table.
Waldstone struck first and here's the thing — L. Walker found the net in the third minute, giving the home side an unexpected lead. But the momentum shifted quickly. A. MacDonald saw red in the twenty-seventh minute, and by then Kidderminster had already begun to press. C. McAvoy equalised three minutes after the dismissal, and the visitors fancy their chances from that point forward.
The penalty in the forty-seventh minute settled any remaining doubt. C. Dolan converted from the spot after a foul in the box, and Kidderminster were ahead 2:1. C. Harries added a fourth in the fifty-sixth minute, completing a turnaround that looked inevitable once MacDonald was off the pitch. Waldstone pulled one back through Walker in the eighty-first minute, but the damage was done.
Both sides held fifty per cent of possession, yet the statistics tell a different story. Waldstone registered four shots on target against four for Kidderminster, but the visitors were twice as accurate, hitting fifty per cent of their attempts compared to thirty-one per cent for the hosts. Ten corners for Waldstone against none for Kidderminster suggests the home side dominated territory without creating clear-cut opportunities.
The result leaves Waldstone in twentieth place with five points from six matches, while Kidderminster sit eighth with eleven. The visitors have won three and drawn twice, showing more consistency than the home side, who have suffered three defeats. The draw brought them together in the standings earlier this season, but this performance separates them quite clearly.
