SOUTHPORT 1 HARRIERS 4

MARK JACKSON and Iyseden Christie signed off in style by helping Harriers to their most convincing Conference victory of the season at sorry Southport.

Harriers have shown encouraging signs of resoluteness during the new era of Mark Yates with Jackson as their defensive lynchpin.

And on Saturday they showed that they can also be an attacking force to be reckoned with with Christie causing all sorts of problems for the Southport backline.

The quandary now for boss Yates is how to replicate the promising performances his squad have been putting in - without their two main players.

While the departures of the skipper and the top scorer may have bolstered the bank balance, they have left Harriers with two massive gaps to fill.

At least there were signs at Haig Avenue that Kidderminster have a short-term solution to who will lead their line because Francino Francis was a breath of fresh air.

Replacing Jackson - who has been arguably the division's best defender all season - could be a harder task, unless assistant boss Neil Howarth can roll back the years to fill the breach or one of the deadline day arrivals makes an instant impact.

If the new manager's Conference record so far is anything to go by however, Yates should be trusted to come up with the answers.

This victory was his third successive league win on the trot since inheriting the Harriers hotseat from Stuart Watkiss and Martin O'Connor.

And although it was only Southport, who are rooted to the bottom and surely destined for the drop, teams can only beat the opponents in front of them.

More than the result, it was the positive football and the refreshing feeling that Harriers would score every time they broke forward which excited the travelling Harriers fans.

From the first minute it was clear that an open, end-to-end game was in store and by then it was equally evident that Francis has all the ingredients to frighten Conference defenders to death.

How the Watford work-experience striker failed to open his Kidderminster account was a mystery.

But one thing is for certain; if Harriers were looking for a big, strong, quick centre forward with quick feet and a sure touch to replace Christie, they've got one - albeit on a temporary basis.

Granted, the 20-year-old is not the finished product, as his faulty finishing from no less than five decent chances demonstrated, but he has got plenty of raw potential and he will get goals.

His first chance after 30 seconds was well saved by Southport stopper Steve Dickinson, who went on to thwart him several more times, while he was also snuffed out on a couple of occasions by desperate defending from Earl Davis.

The Sandgrounders defence could not cope with Kidderminster's fluent football, however, and even threw in a few mistakes of their own to give Harriers a helping hand.

Dickinson might have had the sun in his eyes for the equaliser on 15 minutes, but he still should have done better with Jonny Harkness's cross which sailed over him and onto the head of the unmarked Jackson.

The Southport stopper was also rooted to the spot for Harriers' next goal - a 25-yard dead-ball beauty which was destined for the top corner the minute it left Harkness's left boot.

Christie made it three with his 14th goal of the season and last goal of his Harriers career, making up for missing an earlier sitter by clinically sidefooting a 35th minute finish past Dickinson.

Simon Russell completed the scoring on 57 minutes when he casually tucked home the rebound after Francis was denied by Dickinson.

Considering Harriers had gone 1-0 down on five minutes when Neil Robinson's header beat a dawdling John Danby, it was a performance to be proud of and one that gives the Aggborough men renewed hope, even without their two talismen.