Yates' praise for 'unplayable' duo
Kidderminster Harriers manager Mark Yates hailed his 'unplayable' strike duo after Robbie Matthews and Matthew Barnes-Homer secured a 3-1 win over league leaders Oxford.
Matthews scored twice with Barnes-Homer netting a super 30-yard thunderbolt as United were swept aside 3-1 in only their second league defeat of the season at Aggborough on Saturday.
The big forward could have even had a hat-trick, had Matthews not missed a penalty in the second-half. In the end, it didn't matter, such was the verve and tempo the two had displayed all afternoon.
A working relationship between Barnes-Homer, who netted 21 goals last season, and his strike partner, brought in from Salisbury in August, has taken time to blossom but Saturday's display indicates what the front runners can do in tandem.
Yates was today still gushing with praise at his duo's super show.
He said: "My front two were unplayable on Saturday, that was the best game that they have had together. I thought Matthew was excellent with his pace and awareness of people - we've been working on that and it told for us.
"Robbie has had his problems with injury and other things that can happen when you move to a new club, but those 90 minutes for me on Saturday just showed what he is all about. He is big and strong, but he has got pace as well - he's a quality player."
Barnes-Homer left yesterday to join up with the England C squad making the trip to Poland and will be hoping for his first cap in tomorrow night's game.
Matthews will be back home training with the focus soon to switch to Saturday's game at Kettering, who have appointed goalkeeper Lee Harper as manager to take over from Yates' old friend and new Peterborough boss Mark Cooper.
But today the Harriers chief is happy to revel in the glory of Saturday's result.
He said: "It was a good result and a great performance, which will give the lads plenty of confidence to take into our next game. To beat Oxford in the way that we did just shows what we can do to the best teams in this division on our day.
"It wasn't just about the strikers, it was a team performance and we were at it right from the first whistle. We were the better team and got what we deserved."
