HARRIERS 0 BOSTON 0

THEY may be a success on the pools coupons but Kidderminster Harriers' draw fetish is becoming a worry.

Harriers' fifth stalemate of the season, watched by a crowd of just 2,222, was easily the most disappointing of them all so far.

Conference champions Boston were clearly there for the taking and Ian Britton's men failed to despatch them.

Harriers still have just the one Division Three victory under their belts, a 4-3 home win over Exeter City.

Sooner or later, the draws will turn into victories or defeats and it is still unclear which direction the season will take.

Based on Saturday's game with Boston and the previous two fixtures, Harriers are sorting out their defensive problems.

But they lacked a cutting edge up-front and are finding goals difficult to come by.

Even the inventive Andy Ducros behind two strikers has not sparked the goal rush the Exeter victory may have hinted at.

Drewe Broughton returned from suspension to give Harriers physical presence in attack.

Despite another hard-working display, he is yet to score this season and was starved of chances at the weekend.

Harriers were just not clinical enough when they did get the chance to test Boston keeper Paul Bastock.

There was nothing wrong with Bo Henriksen's stinging low drive, set up by Ducros and Danny Williams, on nine minutes but Bastock saved well.

But three minutes later Henriksen harried the keeper into presenting Sean Flynn with a potential gift 25 yards out.

With time on his side, the Harriers captain chipped wide of an empty net protected only by a couple of defenders scurrying back.

Flynn's curling effort forced Bastock into a good parry soon after but Ducros' follow-up was deflected harmlessly into the keeper's hands.

As the game slowly died in the second half, Ducros should have handed Harriers the points.

The diminutive forward did well to break into the box on 50 minutes but shot tamely at Bastock.

And on 68 minutes he again found space in the penalty area from a Scott Stamps pass only to fire too close to the keeper once again.

Boston's main threat was new signing Stuart Douglas who forced the under-worked Stuart Brock into a very rare save.

Brock's biggest test was to tip over Neil Redfearn's free-kick two minutes from half-time.

Harriers need three points from these type of games if the season is not to peter out into a bottom 10 struggle.

HARRIERS: Brock 6; SMITH 7, Ayres 6, Hinton 6, Stamps 6; Flynn 6, Williams 6, Parrish 6; Ducros 6 (Foster 80); Broughton 7, Henriksen 6. Subs: Danby, Shilton, Doyle, Joy.

BOSTON: Bastock; Hocking, Greaves, Warburton, Gould; Rusk (Clifford 82), Redfearn, Weatherstone, Angel; Ellender, Douglas (Cook 89). Subs: Conroy, Burton, Thompson.

SHOTS ON: Harriers 4, Boston 2.

SHOTS OFF: Harriers 8, Boston 7.

CORNERS: Harriers 3, Boston 5.

YELLOW CARDS: Harriers 2 (Broughton, Flynn), Boston 2 (Hocking, Warburton).

SHUTTLE STAR MAN: Adie Smith. On an uninspiring day, Smith kept up his fine defensive form, looking particularly good in the first half. He has filled the right-back role capably so far.