HARRIERS blew away the dark clouds hovering over the club with an impressive display against in-form Eastbourne on Saturday.

Matthew Barnes-Homer’s first-half brace ensured that Mark Yates’ troops bounced back from defeats to Cambridge and Northwich and sent out a message that they have not given up on a play-off place in the Blue Square Premier.

It was even more impressive because the Aggborough side conjured up a victory despite Craig Armstrong’s sending off in the 14th 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, who joined the club from Weymouth last week, against his home town side in midfield.

With top scorer Justin Richards missing the game with a hamstring problem, Harriers’ fielded the unfamiliar strike partnership of Barnes-Homer and Darryl Knights.

The host’s hopes of getting back on track where dented when Armstrong was shown a straight red-card for a rash high tackle from behind on Eastbourne’s Dan Smith.

But the dismissal galvanised the hosts and Yates decided to play three at the back in order to maintain their attacking zest.

The move paid off handsomely with two goals in five minutes to give 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 after some text-book counter-attacking by the hosts.

Knights flicked the ball to David McDermott on the left.

The former Walsall man powered down the wing and delivered a teasing low pass, which the striker took in his stride and fired beyond the keeper to make it 15 goals for the season.

The hosts were hungry for more goals and Martin Brittain rattled the bar with a free-kick.

Eastbourne top-scorer Andy Atkin could have pulled a goal back for the visitors when he latched onto defender Keith Lowe’s weak header but dragged his low shot wide.

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

But the change did not knock Harriers out of their flow and another good chance went 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 and were given a standing ovation off the pitch by the fans after the full-time whistle.

As the supporters filtered out of the ground Yazz's ‘The Only Way Is Up’ appropriately sang out of the ground’s tannoy system, prompting everyone involved with the club to ponder a resurgence back into the top five.

Harriers: Bartlett 6; Creighton 7; Knights 7 (Penn, 39, 7); BARNES-HOMER 8; Armstrong 5; Brittain 7 (Carr, 70); McDermott 7 (Smikle, 70); Riley 7; Bennett 7; Lowe 7 ; McPhee 7. 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).