HIT-AND-miss Harriers paid the penalty for their failure to kill off Conference also-rans Altrincham in a Boxing Day tale of two spot-kicks at Aggborough.

A decent crowd of 2,206 would have been better off staying in watching repeats on the telly as Harriers and their mid-table visitors served up an unappetising turkey of a match.

Besides the two harshly awarded penalties from Iyseden Christie and Stephen Aspinall there was little in the way of goalmouth action during a bitterly cold afternoon as two mid-table teams cancelled each other out.

Robins keeper Stuart Coburn didn't have a single save to make as Martin O'Connor's men failed to capitalise on their possession and add to Christie's 23rd minute opener.

Indeed, the Kidderminste top scorer's 13th goal of the season was unlucky for Altrincham because it was debatable whether Mark Maddox deliberately handled the ball.

His scuffed clearance saw Simon Heslop return the ball with interest and although the Alty skipper seemed to lean his shoulder into the line of fire he was somewhat surprised to see referee Robert Shoebridge point to the spot.

Christie, peculiarly taking his first penalty for Harriers despite regularly winning them, made no mistake with a deft kick straight down the middle of the goal after sending Coburn diving out of the way.

The Kidderminster cup kings that stuffed Scarborough and embarrassed Bradford would have gone on to rout the Robins, but this was the Jeckyll and Hyde Harriers that cost Stuart Watkiss his job.

Had Lee Thompson been a couple of inches taller and a few seconds sharper he would have latched onto Dan Lewis's long punt forward before the goal, while the diminutive striker lashed another half chance well over after the ball struck Christie's heel.

But while the former Boston man had forgotten to unwrap his shooting boots at least he gave his all in a display that deservedly won him the sponsors' man- of-the-match award.

Christie threatened on another couple of occasions, denied by a timely tackle from Christian Adams in the first half and seeing a late effort scrambled off the line, while Johnny Mullins should have buried a headed chance from Terry Fleming's free kick.

But too many Harriers were content to go through the motions and they paid the ultimate price when Graham Heathcote's men grabbed an equaliser on 79 minutes.

So poor were Altrincham before the break that they could only get better in the second half and it was inevitable they would enjoy a purple patch and just as likely that they would equalise.

Like the Harriers' penalty, the visitors' spot-kick came in dubious circumstances, when the match official evened things up by penalising skipper Mark Jackson for an apparently innocuous body-check on Kieran Lugsden.

Aspinall stepped up to calmly tuck the spot-kick beyond the dive of Lewis who was also tested by a Colin Little header and Rod Thornley's shot as Alty upped the ante.

Ultimately, a draw which does little for either team's below-average league position, was the fair result.