HARRIERS confirmed their place in the Fourth Qualifying Round of the FA Cup with a comfortable 2-0 replay win over Buxton at Aggborough.

Having made a sweeping six changes for Saturday’s initial 1-1 draw at the Tarmac Silverlands Stadium, boss Phil Brown made a further five for the replay, reverting to something more akin to a line-up familiar to fans from the rest of the campaign.

Back in came Joe Foulkes, Caleb Richards, Luke Summerfield and Amari Morgan-Smith, all of whom who’d featured extensively throughout the opening batch of league games, along with powerhouse Tope Obadeyi. Having missed the first game altogether, Ashley Hemmings was restored to the squad via the bench, while Maz Kouhyar missed out.

There was a good sight of goal at either end in the opening minutes – Obadeyi having a shot deflected wide and Buxton’s Ben Andreucci scooping over from six yards – before Harriers were dealt a major blow with the loss of Summerfield with less than ten on the clock. The midfielder came off worse having been challenged firmly by Callum Leigh, and was stretchered from the field while Leigh was cautioned by referee Oliver Noonan.

Harriers took the lead just before the half-hour, just moments after a clear opening for Buxton that saw Ben Sault through in the area only to be denied by the legs of Christian Dibble. A defensive slip at the other end was enough of an invite for Morgan-Smith who pounced on it, shooting and drawing a good save from True Grant. The shot stopper was only able to parry the ball into the path of Jack Lambert who tidied away the follow-up.

Grant would then thwart Morgan-Smith and Obadeyi once more, before the latter had him well and truly beaten in stoppage time at the end of the first half, a downward effort from distance bouncing just past the far post.

Harriers got the breathing space they needed just two minutes after the restart with their second goal. A ball up-field was nodded on to Morgan-Smith by Ibbitson, the Harriers number nine finishing powerfully and decisively past Grant.

The game carried a tense air after Summerfield’s injury, and when the two sides clashed soon after, the punishment meted out was a booking apiece.

Substitutions aplenty and further bookings left the second half decidedly disjointed, a Lambert free kick wide and a Sault effort blocked proving to be the sum of the attacking efforts for much of the period, until Joe Foulkes took aim from outside the area with a curling effort that fell just short of the target.

Through on goal in injury time, Obadeyi was denied the goal his performance deserved as Grant ran out to smother his attempt.