KIDDERMINSTER boss Phil Brown admitted he was ‘dismayed’ by Tuesday night’s defeat at Marine.
An eventful first half saw Ashley Hemmings fire Harriers ahead after just six minutes.
But it was all downhill after that as Marine’s Jack Hazlehurst equalised 16 minutes later with a spectacular shot.
The key moment of the game, however, came when Kidderminster’s Ryley Reynolds was sent off after 32 minutes for a challenge on ex-West Bromwich Albion player Joe Mattock.
Three minutes later, Chris Doyle put the Merseysiders ahead – and scored a second after 37 minutes.
It was a devastating five minute spell for Harriers and, although that was where the scoring ended, it means Kidderminster now occupy the last play-off place on goal difference ahead of Buxton.
Brown told the club’s official YouTube channel: “My feelings are one of disma more than anything else.
“I looked at the first 15-20 minutes of the game and I thought, ‘that’s my team’. And then the next 20 minutes of the game, it was unrecognisable.
“We’ve just been talking about the basics here – we’ve lost the game on basics. It’s quite as simple as it gets.
“Then the young lad loses his head and gets a red card, and unfortunately, where Reilly is concerned, he looks like he’s staring at a red card in every game.
“He runs at risk, but he’s a good player, and he has to learn from this, because it’s cost us.
“I had plenty of qualms with the referee’s decisions all night. But the main one, what is dangerous play any more, is if somebody puts their head down below knee height almost and he gets a kick, that’s his problem.
“You can’t blame Riley for trying to kick the ball at the same time, and unfortunately, he’s kicked his head. Does it look dangerous? Absolutely. But you’ve got to define what the words dangerous play are.
“So the red card, it was an absolute joke of a decision.
“But credit Marine, they’d done their homework. And you know, whatever, I’d like to have a centre half that scores two goals like that.
“But at the end of the day, it’s not back to the drawing board. It is just, let’s revisit the basics.”
Brown says Kidderminster’s play-off bid is still on – but work has to be done before Saturday’s game with Spennymoor.
The Harriers boss added: “I’m not going to quit on this – we’ve gone to what we’ve gone too far.
“We’ve come a long way as a group, a group of players, in the first 25-30 games of the season, including cup competitions.
“And there’s lots to like about the way we play. But after this performance, I’m going to have to revisit some basic stuff that we’re going to have to deal with.
“I’m going to think long and hard about the team and the system and formation.”
