AFC Telford United 0(0) v (1)2 Kidderminster Harriers

A goal in each half ensured that Harriers maintained their unbeaten pre-season form, defeating Telford in a lively, fiercly contested, local derby.

Harriers introduced one new trialist: centre-half Rob Pacey, a 22 year-old formerly with Doncaster Rovers, who partnered Jon Munday at the back with both Mark Creighton and Stuart Whitehead sat in the stand injured.  Despite it being a friendly the game was played with full committment from both sides and the Telford players in particular were throwing themselves wholeheartedly into tackles, on three occasions in the opening 20 minutes the referee had to take a United player to one side to administer a warning.

The deadlock was broken after half an hour; Jonny Harkness' corner from the left was headed back across goal by Munday at the far post and stabbed in from close range by Pacey.  Telford's best chance came from a set-piece, Chris Cornes' free-kick was hit straight at Dean Coleman in the Harriers goal.  Harkness went close with a free-kick himself, his shot from the right was tipped away from the far post by Ryan Young.

After the break Amar Boukhalfa tried his luck with a snap shot from the edge of the penalty area that went narrowly wide of the far post as Harriers continued to have the best of the game.  Matthew Barnes-Homer slipped the ball  through the inside-right channel for James Constable who pulled it back into the goalmouth for Michael McGrath who was just beaten to it by Young.

At the other end a clever back-heel by Gary Birch, one of 7 ex-Harriers in the Telford squad, set up Justin Marsden but he shot weakly straight at Coleman.  Harriers wrapped up the game shorlty afterwards; Constable found himself in space on the right wing and whipped a dangerous cross into the centre of the penalty area where Barnes-Homer was able to voilley it into the net.