Harriers 2 Accrington 0 - Mat Kendrick reports from Aggborough

MARK Yates's men signed off in style by toppling title-winners Accrington - but it was too little, too late for half of the Harriers squad.

Of the 11 who started Saturday's match, only five will be at Aggborough as Harriers bid to mount their own championship challenge next term.

Despite most of his players saving their best to last against the champions, the manager did not allow this final hurrah to cloud his judgement.

Yates has a vision of the kind of competitors he wants on board as Kidderminster attempt to `do an Accrington' next season.

And it is players who can produce the goods over 42 games, not just a handful of fixtures when the pressure's off.

Yates has spoken about using Stanley as a model for next season's promotion push and with his closely cropped haircut and sharp suit, he looked like a younger, trimmer version of their boss John Coleman on Saturday.

But the Aggborough gaffer will know that the division's best team were a pale reflection of their real selves on the last day of the season after returning from a celebratory jolly-up in Portugal.

While Accrington clearly still had one foot in the Algarve, however, Harriers produced a focused display which gave fans reasons for optimism over the summer break.

After dominating the first half, the home side got their just reward on 48 minutes when Lee Thompson opened the scoring with a farewell goal.

Had the diminutive frontman been in the right place at the right time a little more often during his year at the club, the former Boston man might have been worth an extended stay.

But the clinicalness with which he turned in Michael McGrath's right wing cross at the near post early in the second half has been conspicuous by its absence, even though his approach play has improved tenfold in recent weeks.

For his strike partner Luke Reynolds, however, the story could not be more different. He has shown an exciting knack of finding the net during his trial period at Aggborough and remarkably finished the season as Harriers' top scorer.

It is not just his goalscoring prowess but his refreshing desire to succeed which has set him aside from many of his team-mates since making the step up from Market Drayton Town and AFC Telford.

And it was his perseverance that led to Harriers second goal - and his fourth in red and white - on 56 minutes.

This time Thompson turned provider as Kidderminster capitalised upon confusion in the Accrington defence, but despite seeing his first effort strike the post Reynolds showed the presence of mind to calmly turn in the rebound.

Other than a couple of opportunities from Gary Roberts (Michael Blackwood and Simon Russell take note, this is a winger who can produce the goods on a regular basis) Stanley played like a team who were going through the motions.

Harriers, in stark contrast had no fewer than 10 sights of goal throughout a game they dominated.

But as the departing contingent of Dan Lewis, John Danby, Daryl Burgess, Terry Fleming, Wayne Graves, Gareth Sheldon and Thompson will tell you, rather than dwelling on missed chances, you have to move on.