MISSION accomplished! Chester City paid the deposit on another season in League Two with their second successive victory over their main rivals in the battle to avoid a return to the Nationwide Conference.

The back-to-back wins against Rushden & Diamonds and Kidderminster Harriers also relieved the pressure on manager Ian Rush who can now, barring an unlikely reversal of fortunes at the bottom end of the division, look forward to planning for his first full season as a manager.

On the evidence of the last two matches City have little to fear from a Rushden or Kidderminster revival but at the same time there can be no complacency in the Chester camp.

Saturday's performance wasn't pretty and for most of the game a goalless draw seemed to be the most likely outcome.

But, as Rush readily conceded after the game, his side had to 'dig deep', and the result on this occasion was more important than the performance.

With two rookie strikers still finding their feet at this level it is unlikely Chester are going to worry the league's better defences and there was little in this game to suggest a mid-table position is going to be easy to attain.

Harriers were certainly better than when they were beaten at the Saunders Honda Stadium, in October.

They provided a few awkward moments for a Chester defence which looked less than assured, particularly in the opening moments of the second half when substitute Blair Sturrock threatened to unlock the door.

But City survived and pleased their 480 travelling fans with their determination to get at least a point against an equally tenacious team which included former Chester defender Wayne Hatswell, currently playing in midfield and looking like a fish out of water.

Although a point looked there for the taking Chester were never happy to settle for that and the persistence of Sean Hessey, who had earlier gone close with a scorching free-kick, provided the cross for the winning goal.

Kidderminster's defenders will have nightmares about the way they failed to get the ball away in front of goal and Stewart Drummond looked as surprised as anyone when he was presented with the chance to poke the ball into the empty net with less than 15 minutes left.

Whether City deserved to take three points is debatable, but the important thing was not to lose and that rarely looked a possibility.