Saturday, April 24, 2004

KIDDERMINSTER Harriers will be performing in the Nationwide League Division Three again next season.

But a number of players who featured in Saturday's grim 1-0 home defeat against lowly Rochdale are unlikely to still be employed at Aggborough.

That was the view of Harriers director of football Jan Molby who was bitterly disappointed by his side's display on a day when results elsewhere meant they have finally won their battle to avoid relegation.

The former Liverpool star said: "The club is safe, but it's probably wrong to say that the players are safe. We are going to play in the Third Division again next season, but a lot of things must improve.

"The overall level of fitness, the general play has got to improve and more people must be prepared to take responsibilities.

"But we have to be careful of expectations because there is only a certain level that we can reach and to get back to the better times we had in the Football League is going to take a bit of time because we have got to start re-building again.

"We will have to bring in new players. But the one thing we would like to guarantee is some more entertainment and more excitement and a tempo to the game which we used to be all about."

Harriers, who won 1-0 at Spotland earlier in the season, were beaten by a 38th minute goal from New Zealander Leo Bertos, who made the most of a poor clearance attempt by central defender Wayne Hatswell.

It was Dale's first away league win since December 13 and their first victory at Aggborough in four attempts. It effectively ensured their survival with Harriers paying the price for a lack-lustre display by slumping to their ninth home league defeat of the season.

Molby said: "It was a poor game by two poor teams. It just about summed it up that they scored from a mistake that we made.

"We had a complete lack of energy which there has been in a few games of late which is disappointing. Seven players, who started the game, are out of contract at the end of the season and you expect them to run and chase as if their lives depended on it, but we failed to get that."

Molby said that such individual performances made his decision about which players to retain 'easier and easier as every week goes by'.

The Dane added: "As a whole we possibly have the wrong group of players together but at least we are in a position to do something about that."

Molby praised the efforts of on-loan striker Simon Brown, saying: "Every time we got him on the ball we looked like we could do something.

"He was the only one involved. We had a couple of sniffs when he was on the ball, but apart from that nobody offered anything."

During the first-half Adam Murray had a shot well pushed away one handed by diving Dale goalkeeper Neil Edwards.

After the break Harriers young goalkeeper John Danby kept the score down by making fine saves to thwart Neil Redfearn, Shaun Smith and substitute Rory Patterson.

Harriers now have two more matches left against Torquay United away on Saturday before rounding off the season with a home game with Boston United seven days later.