Unibet's National League North Promotion Final Preview

Not just because a season of hard work has ended in promotion. It goes much deeper than that.

Brackley’s relationship with the play-offs hasn’t so much been toxic, it’s a love affair that ended in a high court battle where they have been chewed up, spat out, lost the house, dog and the timeshare on the Costa Del Sol to boot.

May 2018, semi-final defeat to Harrogate Town. Then in 2019, to Spennymoor Town.

In 2020, Gateshead broke their hearts. A year later, Covid got there before anyone else could but pain returned last summer in the form of York City.

Five defeats from five is hardly a tonic for interim manager Gaz Dean but Kidderminster have a point to prove, too.

Two years before the Saints discovered their immunity to play-off success, Harriers were relegated from the National League. They’ve been there ever since.

They have had their moments and are familiar with such agony themselves, but this is as close as they’ve come to returning.

Much of that is down to Russ Penn. The club who have fallen from the spotlight in the last decade are shining bright again.

The 37-year-old - who spent time in Kidderminster’s academy, returned as a first-team midfielder and then came back again as a coach and manager - doesn’t mind doing it the hard way.

Afterall, they’ve had to go to both Alfreton and King’s Lynn Town and win in the play-offs.
The stunning 4-1 triumph at the Walks was actually their fifth victory on the road on the spin.

That bodes well as they are taking on a team with one of the best home records around.

They face a Brackley team who have, said play-off torment aside, lost just seven times at St James Park in the past three years.

They’ve also won both the league matches this season, and did the same the year before that, too.

But we’ve seen before that what has gone on before counts for nothing in the present!

The form….
Brackley Town D-L-W-D-W
Kidderminster W-W-W-W-W

The players to watch:
Brackley Town: Callum Stead:
Kidderminster: Amari Morgan-Smith

The odds…
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