A WIN in our first match of the season means Kidderminster Harriers can go to Darlington on Saturday with the pressure off.

And that's a nice position to be in thanks to our 1-0 home victory over Scunthorpe.

It's always good to get the first game out of the way. We finished last season very inconsistently and there hadn't been a lot to cheer about, so I think it was important to get back and win.

To get those first three points on the board is a satisfying feeling, but it certainly wasn't an easy game for us.

There was a great relief in the dressing room afterwards because the players realised it had been a tough opening game.

I think a lot of people had overlooked what a good team Scunthorpe are and we saw that on Saturday. They are an excellent outfit.

A few of our players said in the first-half that they were edgy and nervy, but they did better in the second. They were a lot more competitive and got in among the Scunthorpe players a lot more.

But everybody agrees we can play better. We know we can.

We are a passing side, but on Saturday we didn't do that particularly well. But credit has to go to Scunthorpe for some of that because they worked very hard to deny us time and space.

In the last ten minutes we saw a lot of things we failed to do last season. This time, though, we dealt well with aerial balls into the area.

Scunthorpe must have had five or six corners and three or four long throw-ins, so there was a lot to deal with and we did it well.

From the minute we scored, though, I always felt there would be another goal and that it was going to be from us. We had the best chances and some good breakaways, but what pleased me was once the game opened up we looked the better team.

While I'm on the subject of Saturday's match I must mention our two new boys who found themselves in the starting line-up -- Sam Shilton and Mark Blake.

Although Shilton was kept quiet by Nathan Stanton, who is an excellent footballer at right-back, he got an awful lot of work in. He didn't get the ball as much as he would have liked, but that will come.

Blake, I thought, was excellent. He kept us together in the middle of the park. He's very, very vocal, he never lets anyone rest and he's always on the other players backs.

I thought he and Ben Davies, once we got the first half hour over, did what I call all the horrible jobs like closing people down, getting their tackles in and winning headers.

Anyway, that's enough about the Scunthorpe game. We've got the three points we wanted and we've now got to prepare ourselves for Saturday's long trip to Darlington.

And that certainly won't be easy - particularly as they'll be determined to bounce back from their 1-0 opening day defeat at Southend.