Harriers 2
Eastbourne 0

STRIKER Matthew Barnes-Homer's brace ensured ten-men Harriers got back on track in the Blue Square Premier at Aggborough on Saturday.

The forward made it 15 goals for the season with two predatory strikes in the space of five minutes to rock The Sports.

Victory was the perfect response for Harriers, who had endured back-to-back home losses to Northwich and Cambridge, to ensure they are still in the running for the play-off spots.

Barnes-Homer's brace came after Harriers' defender Craig Armstrong was shown a straight red card in the 15th minute.

Despite being a man down, the hosts always looked the better side and inflicted Borough's 10th league loss of the campaign.

Manager Mark Yates handed a debut to new signing Chris McPhee against his home town side, alongside midfielder Dean Bennett.

Andy Ferrell was dropped to the bench, while Russ Penn started on the bench after recovering from his bruised knee ligaments.

Top scorer Justin Richards missed the game with a hamstring problem, which meant that Harriers' fielded the unfamilliar partnership of Barnes-Homer and Darryl Knights up front.

With Stefan Moore out with an ankle problem, Harriers' had no strikers on the bench, Eastbourne, making their first visit to Harriers, had in-form striker Andy Atkin up front in a 4-5-1 formation.

Harriers suffered a set-back in the 14th minute when left-back Armstrong was shown a straight red card for a rash high tackle from behind on Eastbourne's Dan Smith.

The dismissal seemed to galvanise the hosts and Yates decided to play three at the back in order to maintain Harriers' attacking zest.

It paid off handsomely with two goals in five minutes giving the home side the advantage.

First, Barnes-Homer pounced on a slip by Dan Smith to lash the ball beyond keeper Lee Hook from the edge of the box in the 21st minute.

He then doubled Harriers' lead in the 25th minute lead after some text-book counter-attacking by the hosts.

Darryl Knights flicked the ball to David McDermott on the left. The former Walsall man powered down the wing and delivered a teasing low pass that the striker took in his stride and fired beyond the keeper.

Martin Brittain rattled the bar with a free-kick as hungry Harriers searched for more goals.

Atkin could have pulled a goal back for the visitors when he latched onto defender Keith Lowe's header but shot wide.

Knights limped off after taking a heavy knock in the 39th minute and was replaced by Penn, who made his first league start since injuring knee ligaments at Barrow in January.

Another good chance when begging in the 40th minute when defender Marc Pullan cleared McDermott's shot off the line.

Penn saw a low effort blocked by Neil Jenkins' desperate sliding challenge at the start of the second half.

The versatile McPhee demonstrated another talent when he slotted into central defence, with Martin Riley moving to left-back as Harriers decided to shut up shop.

While Eastbourne saw a lot of the ball they did not have the ability to open up the host's well-drilled backline.

Visiting captain Paul Armstrong tried his luck in the 72nd minute with a low shot which keeper Adam Barlett gathered comfortably.

Barnes-Homer saw a first-time effort fly very high over the bar from Penn's free-kick, after substitute Michael Carr was fouled by Jenkins.

Harriers comfortably held off their opponents to make a mockery of being a man down.

Harriers: Bartlett; Creighton; Knights (Penn, 39); Barnes-Homer; Armstrong; Brittain (Carr, 70); McDermott (Smikle, 70); Riley; Bennett; Lowe; McPhee.

Unused substitutes: Ferrell; Jones.

Eastbourne: Hook; Armstrong; Atkin; Austin (Lovett, 60); Baker; Brown; M Crabb (Wormull, 74); Jenkins; Pullan; Smart (N Crabb, 60); Smith.

Unused substitutes: Harding; Jordan Referee: Dean Mohareb. Attendance: 1,403 (44)