"WAS it just a false dawn?" we ask ourselves after Kidderminster Harriers slipped back into frustrating habits at Southend United.

The thrashing of York City in midweek had given genuine hope that Harriers may be able to string some kind of winning run together.

But one slip of concentration and a backlog of wasted possession later, Jan Molby's men slipped to another Division Three defeat.

Although the first half-hour threatened otherwise, this turned out to be another low-scoring, ultimately disappointing encounter.

The crisp attacking football of the previous Tuesday night was in short supply as Harriers struggled to break down a tough defence despite retaining their 4-3-3 formation.

There was no shortage of crosses flying into the box but the visitors lacked a lot in invention which led to just one serious shot on target.

It was a Drewe Broughton header and keeper Darryl Flahavan was not sweating too much with that one.

But, in the lively opening, on-loan Colin Larkin could have put Harriers on the score-sheet only to miskick with just Flahavan to beat after racing onto Ian Foster's through-ball.

And when the goals are hard to come by, they can ill afford to concede either as early or as easily as in the second minute.

Abdou Sall proved quite an obstacle in defence but unfortunately not at this early stage.

The pacey Mark Rawle beat Sall on the left wing and pulled the ball back for Tesfaye Bramble.

Though Bramble missed the ball, it fell perfectly for midfielder Carl Hutchings - a Harriers target in the summer - to blast home from 12 yards.

Normally, a defeat would have been on the cards but the visitors showed spirit in their comeback.

At the same time, they were looking vulnerable in defence as Southend's strike-force launched some quick breakaways.

Despite Larkin's miss and a Dean Bennett 20-yard drive inching wide, the home side should have been on the scoresheet again.

Rawle twice missed good chances, first hooking Bramble's cross over with keeper Stuart Brock stranded.

Then on 23 minutes, Bramble homed in on the left, Brock pushed away his shot and the ball rolled across for Rawle to prod onto the outside of the post from an acute angle.

Harriers, with Ian Clarkson in particular keen to get forward, pushed on but just could not turn possession into worthwhile chances.

It led to a rather turgid second half with one of the few highlights being a Hutchings 25-yarder that shaved the post.

Amazingly, Molby's men forced 12 corners but very rarely did they look like capitalising despite the aerial ability of Broughton, Sall and skipper Mark Blake.

Harriers had again fallen to a narrow loss on paper but even if they did enjoy a lot more of the ball, the margin of defeat could and maybe should have been greater.

It is a familiar story from past games that punchless Harriers have controlled large spells of play but still lost.

A fit and on-form Andy Ducros, Harriers' record signing, would surely be one answer to that problem.

Ducros has the ability to open up defences but Molby would have to forego a bit of midfield steel to accommodate him.

At the moment, Harriers would be lacking consistency if they actually had any.

It is impossible to predict what will happen from one game to the next and Harriers may continue to struggle away from Aggborough.

Saturday's visit of Bristol Rovers is another chance for the players to prove the attacking brilliance of the York game was not a one-off.

SOUTHEND: Flahavan; McSweeney, Cort, Whelan, Searle; Belgrave (Beard 76), Hutchings, Johnson (Thurgood 89), Kerrigan; Bramble (Richards 82), Rawle. Subs not used: Gay, Broad.

HARRIERS: Brock 6; Clarkson 7, SALL 8, Hinton 7, Stamps 7; Bennett 6, Williams 6 (Shilton 76), Blake 6; Larkin 6 (Bird 78), Broughton 6, Foster 6 (Hadley 59, 6). Subs not used: Murphy, Shail.

ATTENDANCE: 3,990.

SHOTS ON: Southend 5, Harriers 1

SHOTS OFF: Southend 5, Harriers 5

CORNERS: Southend 2, Harriers 12

YELLOW CARDS: Southend 0, Harriers 2 (Williams, Broughton)

SHUTTLE STAR MAN: Abdou Sall.

Despite his early mistake that led to Southend's goal, Sall is looking a very promising if raw player. At just 20 and 6ft 3ins, his size and power has a major impact. He was very solid after the second minute.