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Brace: Iyseden Christie.

Crawley 0
Harriers 4

RUTHLESS Harriers ended their four-month wait for an away win in the Blue Square Premier in style after a four-goal glut in the first half shot down Crawley Town on Thursday night.

A brace for Iyseden Christie and one each for Matthew Barnes-Homer and Simon Russell made sure the Aggborough side secured their first league victory away from home since defeating Burton Albion in November.

It also ended a six-game losing run on their travels and confirmed that Harriers are finding some form in the final third of the season.

Manager Mark Yates kept faith with the line-up which defeated Rushden and Diamonds in the league on Monday.

Jon-Paul Pitman should have opened the scoring in the fifth minute for Crawley after a mix-up by keeper Chris MacKenzie and Mark Creighton but the midfielder shot over an open goal.

Striker Christie made Town pay for their wastefulness with two goals in as many minutes.

Harriers' top-scorer was given too much space on the edge of the area and he chipped keeper Ashley Bayes in the seventh minute.

Town's uncertain defending allowed Christie to make it 12 for the season sixty seconds later, when he latched onto Darryl Knights' throughball and slotted it beyond a diving Bayes.

Barnes-Homer made it 3-0 in the 20th minute, when his first shot was blocked by Dannie Bulman and fired the rebound into the back of the net.

MacKenzie then kept the hosts at bay as they tried to battle back into the game. He dived to save Bulman's curling low 20-yard effort, before tipping over Thomas Pinault's dipping 30-yard shot.

The keeper was replaced by Dean Coleman in the 38th minute after sustaining a thigh injury while kicking the ball away.

But the disruptions could not prevent Harriers' dominance and Russell made it 4-0 when Bayes saved Barnes-Homer's shot and allowed the winger to rifle home the rebound.

Harriers sat back and invited pressure from the hosts in the second half but were rarely opened up.

Jamie Cook wasted the host's best chance when he shot over the bar, after Jeff Kenna's attempted clearance from James Krause's free-kick fell to him in the box.

Otherwise, Harriers comfortably contained lacklustre Crawley to ensure that the 57 fans who made the trip to Sussex returned home with big smiles on their faces.

Harriers: MacKenzie (Coleman, 39, 6); Kenna 7; Hurren 7; Creighton 8; Russell 7; Penn 7 (McGrath, 54, 6); Bennett 7; Christie 7 (Smikle 69, 6); Barnes-Homer 7; Jeannin 6; Knights 7.

Crawley: Bayes; Thomas; Stevens; Thompson; Bulman; Pitman; Wilson (Murphy, 44); Pinault; Cook (Joseph-Dubois, 79); Krause; Carayol (Blackburn, 46).

Referee: Darren Sheldrake (East Molesley). Attendance: 597.

10:22pm Thursday 27th March 2008

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