YORK City have dropped to seventh in National League North following a flat 2-2 draw at Kidderminster Harriers.

Michael Woods got on the end of a good Olly Dyson cross to open the scoring but, though they seemed the more comfortable on the ball, York failed to increase their advantage.

To cap off the fairly tepid first period, former Minsterman Keith Lowe rose to nod home an equaliser from a 42nd-minute corner.

Kiddy came out the sharper in the second half but gave away a 52nd-minute penalty, which Sean Newton powered home.

But Kidderminster had the final say with 10 minutes to go when substitute Jason Cowley drilled in an excellent half-volley to level.

The performance came as something of a disappointing contrast to last week's spirited win over Guiseley. Where York there could have recorded a more dramatic scoreline than 1-0, they this time looked unlikely to register another that was not from the spot.

York boss Steve Watson was forced into one change from that win over Guiseley, after Harry Bunn came off late in the second half. Woods came into the midfield off the bench.

Michael Duckworth was rested for Guiseley but made the bench for the trip to Kidderminster.

Scorer of the crucial goal last Monday, centre-back Josh King retained his place in the starting line-up. Fellow young defender Harry Spratt came onto the bench in place of Kieran Kennedy.

Russ Penn made no changes to the Kidderminster side that drew 1-1 with Hereford on Saturday, which itself saw just saw changes from the 3-1 Boxing Day defeat at the Bulls. Amari Morgan-Smith was sent off in that outing.

In both encounters, the Harriers took the lead, Luke Maxwell putting them ahead on Boxing Day and Ashley Hemmings netting a 13th-minute penalty at the weekend.

Former Minsterman Penn named three ex-York players in his starting 11, deploying keeper Luke Simpson, Keith Lowe and Lewis Montrose.

Woods made the early impact. After opening exchanges which bobbed placidly back and forth between the sides, Olly Dyson ran onto a good ball forward, played it low across Simpson and Woods slid in for a simple fourth-minute finish at the back post.

There was a misplaced pass from Kidderminster allowed Jack Redshaw to skip through the Harriers midfield but his neat advance was halted when his attempted through ball for Jake Cassidy was cut out. York returned the favour when Akil Wright gave the ball away to Sam Austin. The effort from the resultant passage of the play went comfortably over.

Freemantle, the man who won the penalty against Hereford on Saturday, went down inside the area under pressure from Matty Brown but his appeals were waved away.

Zimbabwean defender Cliff Moyo – who had previously done well to shepherd an advancing Cassidy off the ball – this time cheaply handed the ball to Redshaw after a patient, if not incisive, passage of play. Simpson parried Redshaw’s angled drive before then collecting an audacious halfway-line effort from the midfielder.

Dyson might have been disappointed not to have notched his second assist of the night by the 19th minute, when he did well to poke the ball around Norwich City loanee left-back Caleb Richards and deliver into the area. His ball evaded everyone in City’s light blue away strip.

Yet another loose pass, this time from Luke Maxwell with Kidderminster pressing looking to press, gave Scott Barrow the chance to make strides forward. He was unable to pick out the lone Redshaw in the area.

The half passed by with little more menace from either side. Harriers had the possession but York had the territory – while the hosts seemed confident passing across the back line, they had little composure on the approach to York’s final third. That is not to say York looked much more like scoring, however. They had the ball in the Kiddy area a good few times but had failed to create a real effort after the midway point of the half.

With three minutes to go to the break, Lowe levelled for the Harriers. In-keeping with the air of the first half, the ball trickled out from the edge of the York area for a corner, which was played short to Sam Austin. He lofted into the area, where Lowe rose and nodded softly into the stranded Jameson’s net.

Kidderminster came out a reformed side for the first few minutes of the second half and were much the sharper of the sides to begin with – but York were gifted the opportunity to get their noses back in front when Moyo was ruled to have handled a Woods cross in the area following a well-weighted ball over the top from Newton. The reliable centre-back stepped up and thumped the spot kick home.

The second City goal seemed to knock Harriers off their stride and the game eased back into a familiar rhythm. York have proved they can play well on the deck but the long ball from the back was too often preferred. The target man Cassidy usually did well to hold the ball up but chose the conservative ball backwards frustratingly often where more attacking options were available.

One ball forward saw the former Wolves man take it down well, use his strength to round Richards and play across the face of goal. It was beyond Woods and there was not enough on it to reach Barrow at the far side of the box.

After looking a touch flattened by the penalty, Harriers once more recovered from their torpor with around 20 minutes to go, again playing with just that bit more purpose than York.

But by the 80th minute, they were back level through a superb Jason Cowley strike. A looping ball fell nicely for the substitute, who caught it sweetly on the half-volley and sent it arrowing into Jameson’s bottom-left corner.

Rob Guilfoyle came on for the final five minutes and put himself about decently.

Kidderminster: Simpson, Penny, Richards, Maxwell, Lowe, Montrose (Sterling 44), Austin, Hemmings, Prosser (Cowley 72), Freemantle, Moyo. Subs not used: Palmer, Martin, Arthur.

Goals: Lowe (42), Cowley (80)

York: Jameson 5, Tinkler 5, King 5, Brown 6, Newton 6, Barrow 5, Wright 5, Woods 5, Dyson 6 (Guilfoyle 84), Cassidy 5, Redshaw 6 (McLaughlin 5, 73). Subs not used: Flatters, Duckworth, Spratt.

Star man: Sean Newton. Fairly sure-footed at the back and did well pushing forwards on occasion.

Goals: Woods (4), Newton (52 pen)

Stats for Kidderminster / York

Shots (on target): 5 (2) / 6 (4)

Corners: 2 / 2

Offsides: 0 / 4

Fouls: 6 / 9

Penalties: 0 / 1