Saturday, January 24, 2004

THE winning mentality is still missing but Kidderminster Harriers earned a vital point in their Division Three relegation fight at Bury.

Harriers dominated possession by defying a poor pitch to play neat passing football that director of football Jan Molby declared was some of their best of the season.

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.

Molby, searching for his first league victory of 2004, admitted: "Like all teams near the bottom we still don't have that winning mentality in the dressing room and that only comes with winning games.

"But in terms of overall football I think that is as good as we have played all season. For 70 minutes, I think you can safely say we were the better team by a long way.

"We need the points like everyone else and if we can take three against Cheltenham on Tuesday then everyone will be pleased with four points from two difficult games."

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.

Graham Ward, found by Scott Stamps' excellent cross, earlier failed to get enough purchase on a header and keeper Glyn Garner was able to make a scrambled save by his post.

John Williams was also guilty of taking too much time when found by Murray's flick-on, allowing Garner to smother his effort.

In a scrappy second period, Stamps' low swerving 30-yarder caused most problems for the Bury goalkeeper who recovered after fumbling the ball.

With his side nine points away from the relegation zone, Molby is still looking to rediscover the buzz of the Wolves FA Cup tie by adding strong characters to his squad.

He added: "We had immense excitement leading up to the first Wolves game because of the results against Yeovil and Bristol Rovers and then, like a little kid after Christmas, it has all gone a bit flat.

"We wanted to get something from Bury and start another run of results to make sure we don't get into March or April looking over our shoulders.

"By that time we should be relatively safe and be able to play some more free-flowing football.

"However, it's imperative that the players leave their dancing shoes off and rest up as those who have played against Cheltenham before know that it is going to be physical."