HARRIERS were left tasting defeat once more on an afternoon of controversy and frustration at Aggborough against Boston United.

The Pilgrims were the brighter to start and went ahead early through a Wright goal on six minutes.

After finding their feet, the hosts finished the half the far stronger, pulling level through Joe Ironside after earlier hitting the bar.

Boston would be awarded a penalty late in the 45, though, as what looked to be a questionable call saw Heaton penalised for the award of a penalty that Davies converted.

Harriers had an effort cleared off the line in the second half and pushed hard for an equaliser but United stood tall, despite huge claims for a handball in the area deep into injury time.

Save for a run and shot wide by Austin, Boston's opener was the first real chance of the game, coming as Wright was played in before taking a shot from distance that caught Hall unsighted before finding the bottom corner.

Vaughan had to hook an Abbott effort off the line with 21 on the clock before Harriers went close with Ironside's header dropping just wide of the post. Momentum started to build, though, and after Horsfall's header was tipped on to the bar with half an hour gone, Harriers took the lead just two minutes later; Bradley played in by Weeks before driving a low cross into Ironside who slid in the finish.

That head of steam continued to gather but was killed seven minutes later as Boston were awarded their penalty, Heaton adjudged to have caught Allott in trying to clear the ball. Davies stepped up and fired the penalty in off the bar.

The second half started with a handful of Harriers half chances; Austin twice and Heaton also going close, a clearance off the line just before the hour seeing Ironside denied his second.

On 63 minutes, Rollins had strayed a good few yards offside but was able to go through one-on-one with Hall before firing wide, the same player again testing the keeper five minutes later.

With the visitors content to wind down the clock and bring down Harriers players at will, Harriers weren't able to fashion together another meaningful assault on the target, but here was one final moment of controversy. After Richards had seen his shot from 12 yards clearly blocked by the arms of at least one United player, appeals for a penalty were waved away - frustrations regrettably boiling over with the striker himself seeing red for his protestations.

That was deep inside six minutes of added time, with Boston able to see out the final seconds without incident.

Following an improved performance on Tuesday night, Sam Austin is looking for Harriers to start improving their results with the visit of Boston United to Aggborough.

Austin and his teammates made their second 400 mile round trip in the space of four days in mid-week, but returned following a narrow 2-1 defeat.

He is eager for Harriers to ensure that this level of performance is carried into the game against The Pilgrims.

"The results haven't been going our way, but against Spennymoor, we felt like as a team, we played really well," Austin admitted.

"...We need to start taking our chances and getting in the lead early on in games..." Sam Austin

"We were happy with the performance, so now it's about getting the results.

"We're stripping things back to the basics now.

"We're looking through and seeing what we really need to work on, and going through everything with more detail, which is definitely going to help us in the future.

"We need to get together now, and hopefully results will come".

Digging deeper into the areas that Harriers are looking to improve, Austin says that taking early chances will make a big difference.

"We need to start taking our chances and getting in the lead early on in games, as we keep getting behind at the moment and it's making it harder for ourselves," he added

"We've had games where we've had one chance - that's not good enough.

"Against Spennymoor we created three or four in the first half - they were really good chances rather than half chances".

Boston United head for Aggborough sitting in 12th position in the league, six points behind ninth placed Harriers.

"They're a good team like everyone else in the league," added Austin.

"The league is so close, so it's going to be a massive game".

"We've got to stick with what's ahead of us, and our next game is on Saturday so it's all about getting ready for it".

"I've been trying to get another goal for ages, and hopefully one will come soon..." Sam Austin

Played primarily in defensive roles this season, Austin enjoyed playing slightly further forwards on the left against Spennymoor.

With Austin having netted just once in two and a half seasons at Aggborough, he's itching to find the net again.

"I enjoy playing anywhere but it was nice to be getting at players and creating some chances," admitted Austin.

"I've been trying to get another goal for ages, and hopefully one will come soon - I've just got to keep trying".

Dan Bradley is back in full training ahead of the match and could possibly feature, while Ed Williams isn't progressing quite as rapidly an remains a doubt.

Jimmy O'Connor and George Waring are both still nursing minor injuries and are unlikely to be available, Billy Daniels a similar case as he continues his recovery from the injury sustained in the Hereford game over Christmas.

Ryan Johnson serves the second of his three-game ban, while Liam Truslove (foot) is eligible to play for Harriers after his loan at Halesowen Town ended, but is still recovering from an injury picked up during that spell.

Kick-off at Aggborough is at 3:00pm on Saturday.

WATCH: Sam Austin's full pre-match video interview, courtesy of our YouTube channel, by pressing the video tab above.

BUY: Match tickets for the game and print them in advance at home, beating the queues, by using the element in the top right of the page. Don't worry, you can still pay cash on the turnstiles once online sales end.