Kidderminster’s impressive unbeaten home record ended when they failed to hit back from a fifth-minute goal by Mark Boyd.

The nearest they went to equalising was in the closing stages when their leading marksman Justin Richards hammered a free-kick against the bar.

It was Harriers’ first defeat at Aggborough since February – a spell which included ten victories.

Mark Yates’ outfit do remain just three points behind leaders Crawley Town, after they suffered a last-gasp 2-1 defeat at Burton Albion.

Kidderminster, who went into the match on the back of four straight wins, will be aiming to bounce back when they visit bottom-of-the-table Northwich Victoria.

The Bluebirds, having lost their previous four games, secured a welcome win with Boyd’s 25-yard free-kick that deceived goalkeeper Adam Bartlett.

Harriers assistant manager Neil Howarth said: “We gave away a bad goal early on and that gave Barrow something to hold on to. It was massively
frustrating.”

Although Bartlett should have made a better fist of trying to stop Boyd’s free-kick, he kept his side in the game with an excellent save in each half.

In a bid to get back into the finely-balanced match, Yates made a couple of substitutions at the start of the second half, with Neil MacKenzie and Darryl Knights replacing Brian Smikle and Martin Brittain respectively.

The double switch helped to improve Harriers’ display but they still found Barrow’s battling defence a tough nut to crack.

The second half was only three minutes old when Richards missed a good chance to equalise, when he failed to connect with his head in front of goal following a teasing cross from MacKenzie.

A handful of other efforts – apart from Richards’ 20-yard free-kick which rebounded off the bar – were either saved by goalkeeper Alan Martin or went
narrowly wide, leaving Kidderminster reflecting on a frustrating display that failed to produce a goal in a match for the first time this season.

Howarth said: “We have to show more quality and our better players have to be better on the ball to unlock defences when we go a goal behind.

“Of course we’re disappointed to have lost, but we aren’t going to overreact.”

Kidderminster: Bartlett; Lowe, Jones, Creighton, Baker (McDermott 71); Brittain (Knights 46), Penn, Russell, Smikle (MacKenzie 46); Richards, Barnes-Homer.

Subs not used: Coleman, Bennett.

Ref: Steve Cummins (Cheshire).

Attendance: 1,686.