MANAGER Neil MacFarlane praised the way Harriers reacted to setbacks to secure a derby win of Hereford.

Kidderminster went behind in the clash but hit back quickly through Kane Richards. Declan Weeks’ brilliant strike from distance at the start of the second half then handed them a 2-1 victory despite playing for nearly an hour with 10 men after Ryan Johnson’s earlier dismissal.

MacFarlane said: “I’m elated with the performance. To go 60 minutes or so with 10 men and to put on that display was fantastic and the boys, to a man, gave everything for this football club and that’s all I ask.

“They were a real credit to themselves and I couldn’t be happier for them to see that out, and it was thoroughly deserved in the end.”

The boss didn’t dwell on the red card for Johnson and was instead quick to praise his side’s reaction, adding: “I’ll have to have another look at it. He (the referee) was about to blow for a free-kick just before that in the middle of the pitch, which obviously led to that. But that decision was made and we then had to change our shape and go 4-4-1, but they gave me everything and I can’t be prouder of them tonight.

“The response during the whole game was unbelievable. The work ethic, the determination to work to the shape. But not just that, I thought the first 20-25 minutes of the second half some of our football was unbelievable with a man down and we really controlled the game.

“We’ve got a number of players missing who have been influential this season but it just shows you what I have in that dressing room and what they mean to us.

On Weeks’ match-winning strike, he said: “Unbelievable goal, right in the top corner and thoroughly deserved for the way he’s been performing in recent weeks as well.

“To see out that kind of a result with 10 men tells you a lot about where we want to go.

“The players should be really proud of themselves and so should the supporters. They realised the situation but also stuck with them the whole game and that mirrored what I saw on the pitch.”

The boss hopes attacker Dan Bradley will recover from a groin injury to feature against Darlington this weekend.

“I’ve learned in this league that every game’s tough. We’ve just got to treat it like we always do and the same as we did today, to go with the mindset to win every match,” he added.

“It doesn’t happen all the time but if I get that level of commitment week in, week out, we won’t be far away.

“We’ll go to Darlington next, we’ll rest up and recover as we always do and prepare ourselves properly for there at the weekend and I’ll be assured in knowing what the group always give me, and they’ll be giving me everything.”