HARRIERS 1 LINCOLN 1

THE positives and negatives were pretty clear from Kidderminster Harriers' first Division Three match of the season.

Harriers' second-half team can be challenging for the top seven - but the side we saw in the first half would be worried about the bottom two.

Though Lincoln harried and chased well in the opening 45 minutes, Ian Britton's men were simply dire.

But a half-time rocket did the trick though only after they had narrowly avoided falling two goals behind.

Harriers could have been out of this match by the time Bo Henriksen equalised in the 59th minute.

Lincoln, tipped to be among the strugglers but certainly not lacking guts, missed opportunities that should have hit the back of the net.

But an entertaining contest ended with the visitors being reduced to 10 men and Harriers failing to hit the net with a late penalty.

If they had taken all three points, it would have been harsh on the Imps but at least the home side gave some idea what they are capable of.

Harriers saw Henriksen and Drewe Broughton continue a promising partnership up front.

Broughton ghosted in for Sean Flynn's chipped free-kick on eight minutes but just failed to make contact.

But Harriers' confidence seemed to take a nosedive almost immediately when keeper Stuart Brock drove a clearance to an opponent.

Lincoln's Dene Cropper should have done better than poking the ball back at Brock from the edge of the area.

But on 11 minutes Harriers old failings cost them dearly.

Centre-back Richard Logan was allowed to head back Paul Smith's left-wing corner at the back post and Simon Weaver got the decisive touch with his chest.

Harriers were struggling to string passes together and panicked every time the ball neared their penalty area.

Within two minutes of the restart, Smith raced onto Simon Yeo's pass but instead of securing the points he was denied by a good Brock save.

It was another kick up the proverbial for Harriers who then went about righting their wrongs.

Scott Stamps' sweet 30-yard drive was brilliantly tipped over by keeper Alan Marriott a minute later.

They equalised just before the hour when Sean Parrish's free-kick from the right was spectacularly headed home by Henriksen.

Flustered Lincoln had Marriott and striker Yeo booked for handball and violent conduct respectively.

While Marriott's yellow card was a fair decision as his momentum slid him out of the box, Yeo seemed lucky to escape for kicking Dean Bennett.

But Harriers defence was caught napping again on 79 minutes when Weaver nipped in to head Logan's long set-piece narrowly wide.

The play switched to the other end as Parrish fed Bennett but the midfielder fired wide from just inside the area.

Referee Phil Crossley's yellow-card feast caught up with him on 83 minutes when Cropper was dismissed for a second bookable offence after a late challenge on Abdou Sall.

And 10-men Lincoln were indebted to keeper Marriott five minutes from time when he plunged to his right to save Broughton's penalty.

Broughton's cushioned header had set up Henriksen only for the Dane to be felled by Stuart Bimson.

But Lincoln knew from the Cheltenham friendly where the striker would put the spot-kick and Harriers had to settle for a point.

HARRIERS: Brock 5; A Smith 6, Sall 5, Hinton 5, Stamps 7; Bennett 5, Williams 7, Flynn 6, Parrish 6; HENRIKSEN 8, Broughton 7. Subs: Danby, Ducros, Doyle, Ayres, Joy.

LINCOLN: Marriott; Bailey, Weaver, Morgan, Logan, Bimson; P Smith, Willis, Gain; Cropper, Yeo (Sedgemore 87). Subs: Pettinger, Mayo, Buckley, Black.

ATTENDANCE: 2,687.