NEIL Howarth has admitted that patience was the key for Kidderminster Harriers tonight as they overcame ten-man Halifax in the Blue Square Premier.

The early sending off of Anthony Griffith undoubtedly changed the shape of the game and it was easy to see why many in the game feel it's so much harder to play against ten men than a full compliment.

Speaking after tonight's victory, Assistant Manager Neil Howarth revealed that it was a message of patience to the players in the dressing room at half time, with the breakthrough coming when Cortez Belle turned in James Constable's deadly cross.

He explained: "We said to the lads 'you've just got to be patient' and just keep probing and the extra man would start to show when they got a bit tired, and 70 or so minutes gone when we got the goal, that proved to be the case.

"If you've got quality from a cross like that and the defender is just trying to clear it then if the defender doesn't put it in the net there's a centre-forward waiting just behind him."

Harriers moved up three places in the division with eyes firmly fixed on the sixth place that remains within another victory's reach.

After overcoming the disappointment of the draws against Northwich and Crawley Town, Howarth was confident that the squad should be able to travel to Histon this Sunday with a little confidence.

"We've ground out a 1-0 win tonight like we thought we were going to do on Saturday but it wasn't to be," he added.

"After the last two draws the players have been a bit low - we've felt as though we'd lost those two games.

"We're four unbeaten now and we've got a horribly difficult game at Histon on Sunday and we should be going there with a bit of confidence."

There was 45 minutes of action for young midfielder Michael McGrath against the Shaymen tonight, and the former Redditch player's performance drew praise from Howarth.

He continued: "He's only a young lad but there's no doubting his quality.

"In the last 12 months or so he's come on leaps and bounds in training and reserve games, he's been excellent this season.

"He's the kind of player that can unlock defences, and if he can harness that ability in the right direction then he'll have a decent career in front of him."