Quakers face Harriers in toughest match yet this season

By Ray Simpson

Quakers face Harriers in toughest match yet this season

 Fourth plays fifth at Heritage Park on Friday night, as the Quakers host Kidderminster Harrier...

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Fourth plays fifth at Heritage Park on Friday night, as the Quakers host Kidderminster Harriers in which a win would take Darlington back to the top of the table for a day at least.

Darlington picked up a very impressive win at FC United of Manchester on Bank Holiday Monday, as they won 3-2 thanks to goals from Liam Hardy, Stephen Thompson and Nathan Cartman. The win kept Darlington in fourth place, one point behind AFC Fylde, Salford City and Harrogate Town.

Kidderminster, who have stayed full time despite being relegated last season, are just one place and two point behind the Quakers, having won four of their seven games so far this season. In their last game on Bank Holiday Monday they beat Altrincham 1-0.

“This will be our toughest match of the season. Being full time is always an advantage, but at the same time, we need to make sure that we do the right things ourselves,” said manager Martin Gray.

“It was important to get back to winning ways on Monday after the Alfreton game. The performance in the first half was our best of the season, but if I have to be critical of the last two or three games, we’ve had enough chances and started so positively that we should have killed teams off by half time instead of making hard work of it near the end.”

After five seasons in the Football League they were relegated back to the Conference Premier in 2004/05. They remained in the top level of non-league football until they were relegated into the Conference North at the end of last season.

The two sides have met multiple times over the last 20 years, including the first game at the Arena, when Harriers spoiled the Darlington party, as they won 2-0 in front of over 11,000 fans. Prior to that, Quakers were the first opponents that Quakers beat in the Conference 1989-90 season, while in the penultimate game of that season, Harriers beat Quakers 3-2 and denied them the title on the night.

Kick off on Friday night is 7:45pm, updates on the game will be made from the club's Facebook, Twitter, Mobile App and Website. Live Commentary will be broadcast from Darlo Fans Radio at 7:35pm