ADAM Murray had his prayers answered after Kidderminster Harriers claimed a hard-fought 1-0 win at Merthyr Town in midweek.
Harriers ended a run of six games without a win in all competitions with victory at Penydarren Park as Amari Morgan-Smith’s penalty proved decisive.
And Murray praised his side for producing a gritty performance but felt Harriers could have killed the game off if they had taken their chances.
Murray said: “There’s been a shift over the last week for us. I’ve done a lot of praying.
“It was very gritty, we did the basics really well. We felt Merthyr are one of the best footballing teams in the league.
“Merthyr will be in and around it at the end of the season
“They score a lot of goals and if you allow them to play then they’ll cause you problems. We knew we had to stop them at source.
“To a man, we were organised, we were disciplined, we could have had three or four goals.
“That’s the bit we’ve really got to hone in on because the game can be put to bed a little bit earlier and then we’re not holding on.
“I proud of everyone. All credit to the players.”
A second-half penalty from substitute Morgan-Smith settled the game as both teams spurned chances throughout.
And Murray felt he showed trust in his players to see out the victory as Harriers survived waves of late pressure to seal the points.
Murray added: “I just felt a win was coming. How it was going to come I wasn’t sure.
“But when you’re putting people under that much stress, at some point there has to be a breakthrough.
“You’re always going to come under pressure when you’re winning a game away from home in the last few minutes.
“As a coach you can move things about but that’s where you have to trust your players and rely on your players.
“We came under a bit of stick for our corners a couple of weeks ago and rightly so.
“But we’ve been exceptional since then and a lot of work has gone into them.
“I don’t get too low when we lose games and I don’t get too high when we win.
“It’s a long season, there’s a lot of games and a lot of points to play for.”
Kidderminster are next in action against Spennymoor Town on Saturday, October 25 with kick-off at 3pm at Aggborough.
