BURY 0, HARRIERS 0

JAN Molby would probably have been hopping mad after a frustrating goal-less game like this three years ago.

But on taking charge of a struggling team last October, the Dane's expectations are much lower in his second spell at Kidderminster Harriers.

Molby still wants to win with a passion but his catalogue of experiences in Division Three are clearly making him more tolerant at this level.

Just remember Harriers' January 2001 visit to Bury, then a Division Two club, in the LDV Trophy.

An irate Molby slapped seven players on the transfer list after a 2-0 defeat as his team struggled to stay in touch with the play-off contenders.

A top-seven bid will be on the cards again next season if he does stay at Aggborough and signing players on 18-month contracts suggests the Liverpool legend does intend to stick around.

But from now until April Molby seems to be cutting his squad some slack, just as long as they earn enough points to stay above the dreaded drop zone.

In their latest game at Bury, Harriers produced some neat football on a poor pitch to often dominate possession.

But the killer touch is absent from Harriers' play and the visitors neither created enough nor made the most of the few chances they did have.

A point was never in doubt though against dour Bury who have also become embroiled in a fight for survival near the bottom of the table.

Yet it is frustrating to see Harriers struggling to win games that are clearly well within their reach. Confidence is a critical factor on a football pitch.

There were few memorable moments at Gigg Lane on Saturday as Harriers' defence and attack continued to frustrate, but for different reasons.

The back-four shackled Bury's forwards tightly as free second-half headers from Chris Porter and sub Joe O'Neill were rare openings which both missed the target.

Meanwhile, a goal for the forwards is proving elusive, though Harriers should have been on the scoresheet at least once in front of a noisy band of travelling fans.

But the best chance fell to defender Wayne Hatswell on 40 minutes and he nodded over the bar from Adam Murray's corner.

Hatswell had a shot deflected wide early on before alert keeper Stuart Brock rushed out of his goal on nine minutes to pinch the ball off the toes of on-rushing forward Jon Daly.

It was a rare moment of threat from Bury, though Daly's ambitious 25-yarder landed in the side netting on 15 minutes.

But Harriers' Graham Ward had a good chance before that when picked out by Scott Stamps' excellent cross only for his header to contain nowhere near enough power to beat keeper Glyn Garner.

The attacking frustration continued as John Williams failed to clinically finish off a Murray flick-on, allowing Garner to smother on 21 minutes.

Williams then blasted over the bar, while a header from Bury wing-back Matt Barrass failed to seriously trouble Brock whose handling was excellent.

Harriers' left-back Stamps was the main threat to the scoreboard in a drab second period, adding to several excellent crosses earlier in the match.

His low swerving 30-yarder on 54 minutes was fumbled by Garner who gathered at the second attempt.

Then Stamps drove inches over and Murray, who defied a flu bug to play, curled a useful effort into the arms of Garner.

Both Porter and O'Neill came close with the headers for Bury who pushed three up-front in a bid to trouble Harriers.

But the rearguard, expertly led by Craig Hinton and Hatswell, gave little away and Harriers picked up another vital point.

BURY: Garner; Swailes, Challinor, Woodthorpe; Barrass (O'Neill 63), Connell, Duxbury, Whelan, Kennedy; Daly, Porter (Seddon 74). Subs not used: Clegg, O'Shaughnessy, Solly.

HARRIERS: Brock 7; Gadsby 7, HINTON 8, Hatswell 7, Stamps 7; Ward 6 (Rickards 87), Murray 6, D Williams 7 (Parrish 81), Bennett 6; J Williams 6 (Henriksen 71), Christiansen 6. Subs not used: Danby, Betts.

ATTENDANCE: 2,526.

SHOTS ON: Bury 2, Harriers 4.

SHOTS OFF: Bury 5, Harriers 6.

CORNERS: Bury 2, Harriers 4.

GOALS: None.

YELLOW CARDS: Bury 2 (Duxbury, Woodthorpe), Harriers 0.

SHUTTLE STAR MAN: Craig Hinton. Read the game excellently to star at the back with several interceptions in particular saving Harriers' bacon. Helped keep their first clean sheet of 2004 and has formed a strong partnership with Wayne Hatswell.