THE brakes on the Gravesend team bus might have failed en-route to Aggborough - but the Kent men still brought Mark Yates's Conference bandwagon to a shuddering halt.

Harriers' four-game run proved all too fleeting as they suffered a breakdown of their own on the field of play.

A problem with the coach's brakes eight miles from the ground got Gravesend's adrenaline going and the players were similarly unstoppable after kick-off.

The defensive discipline which has served Kidderminster so well during the early days of the new boss's reign gave way to uncertainty at the back on Saturday.

Onome Sodje opened the scoring for the Fleet on 18 minutes and the only surprise was that he hadn't scored sooner.

Harriers - and in particular home debutant Jake Sedgemore filling in at right back - struggled to get to grips with the speedy striker.

Several times Sodje escaped behind the back of the home rearguard, including one occasion when he latched onto a weak Sedgemore header and another when he was denied by a fine John Danby save at the near post.

The opening goal was another case of dozy defending from a Harriers point of view with the on-loan Charlton teenager allowed to scramble in a close range finish after the hosts made a mess of clearing Jimmy Jackson's corner.

The latest member of the soccer's Sodje family dynasty could have grabbed another on the stroke of half-time, but his snapshot from Andy White's poor clearance whistled just over.

And Harriers had another let-off when Andrew Drury drew an acrobatic save from Danby with a rasping half volley.

Yates's men, meanwhile, looked out of sorts with the defence, midfield and attack working as distinct, disjointed departments rather than a cohesive team unit.

The experiment of using Simon Russell as a makeshift central midfielder did not pay off - even though `Scholesy' had their best chance of the first half with a volley which Craig Holloway fisted away.

The Gravesend goalie had earlier gathered at the second attempt from White's spin and shot and was also equal to a deflected effort from Terry Fleming.

Despite Harriers' goal drought extending to 180 minutes following the departure of top scorer Iyseden Christie, Yates was not overly concerned by his side's lack of fire power.

The manager repeated his mantra that as long as his players are still creating chances and getting in positions to miss them, the goals will come.

Harriers did have several second half opportunities to salvage something from the game but it was not until they were 2-0 down that they really started to threaten.

By then it was too little too late as Drury's deflected free kick had completely wrong-footed Danby to put Gravesend comfortably in control following Sedgemore's foul on Mark Rawle on 74 minutes.

Kidderminster responded by throwing everything at their opponents and it was no coincidence that their bright late spell was sparked by the arrival of much-maligned midfielder Laurie Wilson who brought balance to the centre of the park.

Johnny Mullins toe-poked against the post from a cross by Lee Thompson who lashed a vicious volley wide from a good position, while White forced a smart stop from Holloway.

As Kidderminster chased the game, however, Gravesend could have ran away with it - had substitute striker Luke Moore lived up to his freescoring Aston Villa namesake.

Ex-Harriers marksman Mark Rawle was in great form, laying two chances on a plate for Moore.

The first one saw the substitute race onto Rawle's through-ball and appeal for a non-existent penalty when he tripped himself up under pressure from Jonny Harkness.

And Moore should have done better when he downward header bounced over after a teasing left wing cross from Rawle.