Finnigan edges battle of management candidates

With Yates and assistant Neil Howarth taking charge of Cheltenham at Bournemout after they left Harriers during the week, talk around the ground before kick-off was about who would take over.

This clash clash pitted two candidates for the Harriers hot-seat against each other.

In one corner was midfielder and caretaker manager John Finnigan, while in the other was Chester boss Jim Harvey, whose time at the Deva Stadium club looked to in jeopardy as rumours swirled around Aggborough like the brisk winter breese that former Halesowen Town manager Morell Maison was set to join City as director of football.

Based on this performance, Finnigan edged an intriguing contest on points but Harvey's experience still makes him a heavyweight contender for the post.

One thing's for sure, that whoever takes over at Aggborough is inheriting a decent group of players.

Against a Chester side packed with young players and without suspended top-scorer Nick Chadwick, Harriers played well in fits and bursts and could have won by a cricket score if they had been more ruthless in front of goal.

Aaron Farrell, who was lively throughout but lacked confidence in the penalty area, saw an effort tipped over by former Harriers keeper John Danby.

Martin Riley saw a header from a corner hit the angle of the bar and post as the home side pressed.

Robbie Matthews shot at Danby in the 11th minute after good work by Farrell and Brian Smikle but the deadlock was broken in the 16th minute.

Chester failed to deal with a corner and Matthews headed the ball towards the near post, where centreback Gavin Caines stooped to nod it into the back of the net.

Once they grabbed that goal, Harriers struggled to impose themselves on Chester, who kept plugging away.

The victory was only settled late on when substitute hitman Damian Spencer set-up Duane Courtney for a second goal in the 89th minute.

Afterwards Finnigan said: "I really enjoyed that, 2-0 and a clean sheet, which I asked for from defence before the game.

"The defenders popped up with the goals as well, so we're thrilled to bits.

"We're going to plan to attack each game as it comes, Rushden is the next one and we'll be concentrating on that see what happens in the future."

Harvey, on the other hand, is a man who understands that his young team are fighting a losing battle to escape relegation this season.

Chester had started brightly, with dangerman Lloyd Ellams pouncing on a loose pass by Daniel Andrew before flashing a shot across the face of goal.

Moments after his side had fallen 1-0 down, the young hitman almost pulled a goal back when his stinging 20-yard effort took a deflection off Gavin Caines only for keeper Dean Coleman to athletically tip it away.

But after that brief fight back, City's players struggled to hold on and the game became a low quality affair, before Courtney's strike finally killed them off.

After the game Harvey said: "It's very flattering to think that the Harriers fans would want me as their manager, but at the moment I'm at Chester and we'll see how things go there.

"There are some people coming into the club to take it over, so we'll have to have a chat with them to see what the position is but at the moment it's unclear.

"I think Harriers are doing extremely well, you can see they have a very talented group of players.

"They're just outside the play-offs and I think anyone would like the job, they've been in the Football League recently but all things in good time."

Harriers: Coleman 6; Courtney 6; Caines 6; Riley 6; McPhee 8; Bennett 6 (Hayward, 69); Knights 6; Smikle 6; Farrell 7 (Spencer, 73); Matthews 7; Andrew 6.

Unused substitutes: Baker; Singh; Dolman.

Chester: Danby; Roberts; Ryan; Rule; Kelly; Owen; Ellams; Rea (Coluter, 89); Lea; Jones (Davidson, 63) ; Wilkinson.

Unused substitutes: Murphy; Freeman; Rawlinson.

Referee: Ian Smedley (Derbyshire). Attendance: 1,755 (94)

FINNIGAN DELIGHTED TO GET UP AND RUNNING