Cheltenham 2 Kidderminister Harriers 1

Last updated : 25 August 2003 By Jon Palmer

Cheltenham Town left it late but finally gave their supporters something to cheer about with a local derby win over Kidderminster Harriers.

Bobby Gould's team were way below par for much of the game against a committed Harriers side, who looked to have all three points in the bag thanks to a stunning 51st minute strike from midfielder Danny Williams.

The former Liverpool reserve team player crashed a 30-yard free-kick into the top left-hand corner of goalkeeper Shane Higgs' net and at that point the visitors looked good value for their lead.

They worked hard to nullify everything Cheltenham tried to do and created some opportunities on the break with Danish striker Bo Henriksen always a threat.

There were few chances during a disappointing first half with Cheltenham's Grant McCann going close from the edge of the box and Henriksen being blocked out at close range by defender Kevin Amankwaah.

Once Kidderminster had got in front the home side found it hard to create anything of note going forward and their supporters grew more and more frustrated as the game wore on.

Bobby Gould sent on last season's player of the year Martin Devaney and veteran striker Bob Taylor for the last half hour but it was not until the final 15 minutes that the tide turned.

Jamie Victory hooked in from close range after a corner-kick had fallen to him 11 minutes from time, and two minutes later McCann blasted a free-kick through a poorly constructed wall to claim the winner.

To compound the visitors' woes defender Adam Willis was sent off three minutes from time for bringing down Devaney as he burst through into the penalty area.

"The first 75 minutes were purgatory," said Gould after the match.

"Kidderminster had obviously done their homework on us and they worked very hard to make if difficult.

"In that situation you have to know how to change things and I think some of our more experienced players provided that for us." Harriers manager Ian Britton added: "We never passed it at all in the second half. The ball was in the air all the time and they were better at it than us.

"If you give away free-kicks against this lot they will score and we got what we deserved."