Kidderminster Harriers 5 Atherston Town 0 - Report

Joe Ironside and substitute Kane Richards also got on the scoresheet in a victory which earned Harriers £9,000 in prize-money.

It was a fully deserved win for manager Neil MacFarlane’s men who had to overcome a spirited defensive performance by their hard working Midland League Division One visitors.

Kidderminster made four changes from the starting line-up which featured in the previous Tuesday night’s 3-1 loss at Chester - their first National League North defeat of the season after a nine-match unbeaten run.

Wing back Sam Austin came in for Joel Taylor while Ryan Johnson was back in defence in place of Kennedy Digie.

In attack Bradley took over from Ashley Chambers with James Baxendale replacing Billy Daniels in midfield.

Harriers were quickly on the front foot and a neat build up involving Ed Williams and Lee Vaughan led to Bradley firing in a shot which was well saved by goalkeeper Carl O'Neill.

Soon after Ironside had a goalbound shot blocked before Williams tried his luck from distance with a drive which flew high over the bar.

The Adders’ defence was being given a severe examination and had cause for concern on a couple of occasions around the quarter of an hour mark when Bradley had a shot bounce just wide before Ironside went close with a powerful effort.

The visitors were then grateful to O’Neill for pulling off a good low save to deny Bradley before a curling angled shot from Baxendale dropped just over the bar.

Harriers’ pressure and patience finally paid off in the 34th minute when O’Neill pushed out a Declan Weeks shot straight to Bradley who fired into the net from ten yards.

A couple of minutes later Bradley had a hooked shot rebound off the bar with the ball falling to Ironside who saw his effort well pushed away by O’Neill in a goalmouth scramble.

The one-way traffic continued during the closing stages of the first period when Williams had a shot deflect off the busy O’Neill for an unproductive corner.

Harriers continued to push forward after the interval and stretched their lead in the 53rd minute when Ironside scored from the penalty spot after he had been fouled by Adam Bilic.

Three minutes later it was 3-0 when Weeks and Ironside combined to set up the chance for man-of-the-match Bradley to notch his second goal.

He calmly completed his well taken hat-trick in the 68th minute when he finished off a pass from Weeks.

Kidderminster’s goalkeeper Brandon Hall was finally called into serious action in the 74th minute when he pushed over a well struck free kick by substitute Josh Ruff.

Harriers completed their tally when Richards converted a cross from Vaughan in the 87th minute.

Teams

Kidderminster: Hall; O’Connor, Horsfall, Johnson; Vaughan, Baxendale, Weeks, Williams (Stratford, 76), Austin; Ironside (Richards, 67), Bradley (Tayor-Randle, 81). Subs not used: Palmer, Chambers, Digie, Cummins.

Atherstone: O’Neill; Goodby (Harris, 81), Haines, Dance, Bilic; Quinn, Williams (Ruff, 58), Baxter, Gould; Naughton (Obi, 69), Kirton. Subs not used: Beeson, Elkes, Eggleton, Mullings.

Referee: Lewis Smith (Lancs).

Attendance: 1,212 (179 away fans).