Tuesday, October 22, 2002

KIDDERMINSTER Harriers reached the second round of the LDV Vans Trophy with a comfortable 3-1 win at Dagenham and Redbridge last night.

A much-changed Daggers side, with Conference and FA Cup commitments in mind, were no match for Ian Britton's men who marched on into the next round.

The game was just 20 minutes old when Harriers first made their mark.

The impressive Sam Shilton's trickery sent through Wolves loanee John Melligan, whose left footed shot found the back of the net beyond Daggers 'keeper Paul Gothard.

Dagenham failed to find any impetus and were over-run as Harriers looked by far the better side.

Chasing the game, the home side fell further behind as six minutes before the break, Adie Smith flighted the ball into the path of the sprinting Shilton and in the end to a perfect move, he ran on to the ball and lobbed over Gothard from outside the area.

Just three minutes after he had been introduced for Smith at half-time, Dean Bennett also got his name on the scoresheet.

Shilton crossed the ball in for Bennett and as he snatched at the ball, his initial shot was parried out, but Gothard was not so lucky the second time around as the rebound found the back of the net.

Mark Janney managed to grab a consolation goal for the Daggers with 20 minutes of the game remaining, as substitute Yohance Lewis set up the winger to score.

But it was too little too late for the home side.

Harriers boss Ian Britton said afterwards: "I was pleased with the way we played for the first 55 minutes, but after that we let ourselves down a little.

"We tried to over-play, we tried to be too clever and we allowed them back into the game. That was disappointing.

"Dagenham are one of the better sides in the Conference so I'm glad we've come here and done a professional job.

"There was the temptation to field a slightly weakened side but I wanted to get the tie over and done with. I didn't want to risk extra time or penalties. I'm glad we won inside normal time."

Kidderminster: Brock 7, Williams 7 (Parrish 57, 6), Hinton 7, Smith 8 (Bennett 46, 7), Broughton 7, Shilton 9, Henriksen 7 (Foster 46, 6), Ayres 7, Flynn 8, Melligan 8, Coleman 7. Subs (not used): Joy, Danby.

Attendance: 742.