Kidderminster Harriers 0 Guiseley 1

THE Lions returned from the Midlands with all three points and a huge boost to their safety battle as they left Kidderminster Harriers at the foot of the National League table.

It was a huge win for the Lions who are now seven points clear of the drop zone in 18th and still above their neighbouring rivals FC Halifax Town.

Mark Bower’s men have a five-point cushion over the Shaymen who drew at Woking as the bottom seven remained the same.

Bower was delighted with the win. He said, “It was definitely all about the three points, it didn’t matter about the game and thankfully, in the end we got them.

“The story of the game was that we should have been out of sight by the time the first half hour had gone. We made some good chances and had a goal bizarrely ruled out and then they (Kidderminster) got into the game.

“The longer the game went on the more they settled but apart from when their lad hit the post I can’t remember them troubling our defence.

"I’m pleased with the all round performance but the one thing we needed was to make the most of those chances and score a couple of goals in the first half.”

The home side began with a head of steam and Guiseley keeper Steve Drench made a save to deny Elton Ngwatala. But the Lions were soon into their stride and Adam Boyes had the ball in the net in the 11th minute only to see an offside flag raised.

Gavin Rother was the next to threaten as he sent in a shot that cleared the bar by no more than an inch. There was also a first half change for the visitors as Ollie Norburn picked up an early in jury and was replaced by Will Hatfield.

There was an all-action start to the second half as both teams felt that they could go on to win the game.

Kidderminster almost broke the deadlock when Ngwatala unleashed a powerful drive from outside the area that struck the outside of Drench’s post.

Minutes later it was Guiseley who should have opened the scoring, following a set-piece. A corner was whipped in and James Hurst had a free header but he planted it just wide of the target.

The Lions’ hero was Liam Dickinson as he grabbed the match-winning goal just 12 minutes from time, moments after his introduction from the bench. Dickinson came on for the hard working Boyes, and his first involvement saw him at the back post as Rothery’s corner came in and he lashed it home on the volley.

Bower added, “It was nice to get a goal from a set piece because since Rob Atkinson’s been injured we haven’t looked like scoring from free kicks.

"James was unlucky with one 10 of 15 minutes before, but for the goal it was a great delivery from Gav and a great finish from Liam with his first touch.”