EVEN with a Constable on their side, there's one law Harriers should be extremely afraid of - sod's law.

As a consequence of catapulting Kidderminster into round two of the FA Trophy, James Constable's hat-trick heroics have potentially catapulted him out of their league.

Typical! Harriers and Mark Yates are quickly waking up to the fact that the more goals Constable scores the harder it will be to keep him at Aggborough.

Yates was at pains to play down the loanee's starring role in the Rivacre Park re-match with Vauxhall Motors because he wants the scoring sensation to himself.

Smashing in a hat-trick and taking his tally to seven goals in eight games put paid to that, however.

In fact the Walsall striker would probably have drawn less attention to himself had he sped around the Wirral with a blue light on his head shouting "nee nor, nee nor".

Much of the Harriers manager's blueprint for the play-offs revolves around keeping Constable either on loan or on a permanent deal for the rest of the season.

But anything Constable does during his short-term stay may be taken down and will be used in evidence by Saddlers boss Richard Money and rival managers when deciding the forward's future.

Walsall are sure to demand a fee for the player they signed from Chippenham last season and with their promotion bid still in the balance there is every chance they will recall him soon.

His deal expires on January 23, but the way he dispatched his treble-whammy at Vauxhall confirmed why nobody with Kidderminster connections wants him to leave, least of all us scribes.

The 22-year-old goal-getter is a headline writer's dream, although there is absolutely no truth in the rumour that the West Mercia constabulary are holding a police pun amnesty so that all those "arresting performances" and "cop a load of that" phrases can be handed in by offending hacks.

In fact the boys in blue would probably have done a better job of controlling this blood and thunder tie than referee Karl Evans who let it boil over on more than one occasion.

The models rolling off the Ellesmere Port production line have decent engines and are well-built - but with a few miles on the clock a couple of them are used for scraps - or more specifically, partial to scraps.

Although Harriers gave as good as they got, the visitors were afforded little protection in the face of some intimidating, physical tactics from the hosts.

Vauxhall could play some decent football too and some of their approach play was impressive, but despite boasting Wayne Rooney's cousin Thomas among their ranks the Conference North club did not possess a clinical finisher like Constable.

The in-form frontman got the ball rolling on 39 minutes when he headed in Jonny Harkness's left wing flag kick after Michael McGrath was denied by Sean Lake.

And if after six wins from seven games further proof were needed that Harriers had turned a corner then the fact that they finally scored from one after 176 attempts should suffice.

Having let a three-goal advantage slip in the first match, Harriers defended stoutly to soak up sustained periods of pressure from Carl Macauley's part-timers, although keeper Scott Bevan was a virtual spectator throughout.

And Yates's men took control in the final quarter of the replay to give a travelling army, which easily outnumbered the home fan-base, something to cheer about.

After Constable made a mess of an overhead kick from Simon Russell's cross and substitute Brian Smikle spurned a great chance, Harriers stepped up a gear late on with Motors running on empty.

Constable notched the pick of his treble on 82 minutes with a sublime lob over Lake who was in no-man's land following his erroneous decision to leave his line when Smikle flicked on Bevan's long punt.

And with the clock ticking down, the man-of-the-moment raised his profile further in the last minute, sliding the ball past Lake after a defensive mistake.

There was still time for Andy White - remember him? - to cap his customary cameo appearance with the fourth and final goal in the dying few seconds as Harriers set up a second round clash at Exeter City next weekend.

Vauxhall (4-4-2): Lake, Moogan, McMahon, McNulty, Dames; Griffiths, Field, Garrity, Whittaker; Rooney, O'Donnell. Subs not used: Macauley, Dittmer, Wright, Woodyatt, Martindale.

Harriers (4-4-2): Bevan 7, Kenna 7, Whitehead 8, Creighton 8, Harkness 7; Russell 8, Penn 7, Hurren 7 (Sedgemore 65, 7), McGrath 6 (Smikle 60, 7); Reynolds 7 (White 76), CONSTABLE 9. Subs not used: S Taylor, B Taylor.

Referee: Karl Evans (Manchester).