JOHN Eustace praised the character and spirit of his Harriers after they came from two goals down to draw with Stockport in the FA Trophy.

Kidderminster earned a replay after defender Fraser Horsfall, who later saw red for a second booking, and sub Mani Sonupe cancelled out Jason Oswell's header and Darren Stephenson's strike.

The action-packed 2-2 draw also saw Sonupe miss a penalty early in the second half and the hosts pass up late chances to snatch the win.

Eustace said: "To go 2-0 down quite early, the lads showed great spirit, great togetherness and I'm happy they got a draw in the end.

"It's been a really tough week with two tough away games but the lads were magnificent. The work-rate and everything they did was very good, so to see the boys in the last 15 minutes still pushing and pushing, I was very proud of them.

"To come back shows great character, great togetherness and it shows the group are getting stronger and stronger.

On Sonupe spurning a big chance from the spot despite striker Joe Ironside being on the field, the boss added: "Joe should have taken the penalty. He took the last one and we've had some words but Mani is a confident lad, he scored his last penalty so I'm not going to be too harsh on him. But Joe is the penalty taker so he'll be taking the next one and Mani will learn from that.

"But he scored the equaliser and again that's great character to miss the penalty and pop up for the equaliser."

The contest also saw Lee Vaughan and Dan Bradley continue their recovery from long-term injuries.

"It's more vital minutes for them," said Eustace. "they worked their socks off on Tuesday and I was a little bit worried about starting them again but they both came through it very well and they're getting fitter."

The draw does mean Harriers extended their unbeaten run to 14 games ahead of Tuesday night's second round reply.