Shrewsbury 2 Kidderminster 3

Last updated : 19 October 2002 By Footymad Previewer

Shrewsbury Town crashed to their fourth home defeat of the season as they went down by the odd goal in five to near neighbours Kidderminster Harriers.

This action packed local derby was decided by a own goal from Shrewsbury's on-loan central defender David Artell, a hero last week when he scored the winner at Carlisle.

The Rotherham centre-half, playing his fourth game for the Shrews since arriving from Millmoor, deflected a John Melligan cross past the stranded Ian Dunbavin ten minutes after the break, sentencing Shrewsbury to their third successive home reversal.

In an absorbing first half, Shrewsbury fell behind to a controversial fourth minute strike from Harriers' Danish striker Bo Henriksen, but the home side hit back with two goals from Ryan Lowe, in between which Kidderminster's keeper Stuart Brock also saved a penalty.

However, just when it seemed that Kevin Ratcliffe's men would take a deserved lead in to the half-time break, Danny Williams levelled in first-half stoppage time - with Artell's 55th minute own goal then proving decisive.

The controversy surrounding Henriksen's early opener stemmed from the fact he looked yards offside as his shot beat the despairing Dunbavin, although 13minutes later Shrewsbury were back on level terms, with top scorer Luke Rodgers turning provider, crossing for Lowe to steer home his first goal of the season.

Ninety seconds later, referee Pugh then awarded a somewhat harsh penalty against the visitors, stopping Lee Ayres for what looked an innocuous nudge on Rodgers, but for the second time this season in a home match Shrewsbury skipper Nigel Jemson saw his spot-kick saved.

Harriers keeper Brock guessed right and palmed out the penalty before pulling off another fine save to deny Karl Murray, who had followed up Jemson's effort.

After creating a number of good chances, Lowe finally fired Shrewsbury ahead three minutes before the break, but they were then pegged back by Williams, whose free-kick was deflected past Dunbavin on it's way into the net.

In the 55th minute Artell turned the ball past his own goalkeeper and in doing so secured three points for Kidderminster, who ultimately deserved their victory