HARRIERS will take their dramatic charge toward the play-offs into the final day of the season after a deserved 3-1 win at Southport.

An Ashley Hemmings brace plus a goal for Amari Morgan-Smith helped ensure the Aggborough outfit made it five wins on the spin in National League North.

They dominated a beleaguered Southport side who slumped to a seventh straight defeat, likely on to avoid relegation by a narrow margin.

The victory puts Harriers ninth in the table, two places and just one point behind the play-offs and sets up a dramatic last day on Saturday (29th).

The congested nature of the play-off battle means Harriers – the division’s in form team – can still finish as high as fourth.

Equally, they know results elsewhere may mean they could make it six straight wins in their final outing and still lose out on extending their season.

Russ Penn, fresh from a commanding 3-0 win over basement side AFC Telford last time out, named an unchanged starting XI and bench for the clash with the Sandgrounders.

For the fifth game in a row, Harriers were ahead inside four minutes. In fact, just 20 seconds were on the clock when the visitors strode ahead through Hemmings, who curled the ball home off the inside of the post.

Southport levelled after the interval from the penalty spot after Caleb Richards upended his man in the area. Chris Doyle stepped up and confidently put the ball beyond Christian Dibble.

Eleven minutes later, Harriers had their lead back after indecision from Tony McMillian goal at a corner gifted Morgan-Smith with a header into the net.

In truth, the side never looked like doing anything other than winning comfortably from that point and added gloss to the score with a third goal 13 minutes from time.

Joe Leesley, such a huge factor in recent performances, had the Southport defence backpedalling as he entered the area, crossing accurately for Hemmings to finish at the far post.

Harriers bring the curtain down on their regular with the visit of Kettering Town to Worcestershire on Saturday.

An exciting afternoon looks to be in prospect as the Poppies are still entrenched in a relegation battle and will travel to Hoo Road knowing nothing can be left to chance.

Harriers have also confirmed that their women’s side will play a league fixture on the Aggborough turf against local rivals Worcester City on Wednesday, 3rd May at 7:30pm.

Admission will be £3 for adults and £1 Juniors, with tickets available from harriers.co.uk or the Club Ticket Office.