Saturday, January 31, 2004

SUCCESSIVE home victories, and in some style! Wake up City fans you are not dreaming.

For much of this season St George's Lane has been a bubbling cauldron of seething frustration, but on Saturday it echoed to its rusty rafters with cheers and assorted grunts of satisfaction as City fought from a goal behind to beat Welling United 3-1.

In the process John Barton's revitalised side completed their first league double of the season. More significantly they leapt into third place in the Dr Martens Premier Division courtesy of postponements elsewhere.

Barton straight-batted inquiries of a late title charge, looking no further ahead than tomorrow's trip to Bath City, but unlike the inflatable Jordan, currently bursting out of a screen near you in I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, City do look increasingly like the real thing.

Where that will lead is the $64,000 question but for now City supporters can enjoy the here and now because at present there's a lot to cheer, not least Saturday's man-of-the-match Leon Kelly.

Welling's shell-shocked back four might have expected a buffeting from high winds but Hurricane Kelly battered them in much more brutal fashion during an electrifying forward display.

How he failed to score (notwithstanding two bloopers from close range) is a mystery but he and arch predator Mark Owen are finding rich pickings in front of goal as 11 goals in three league wins on the trot testifies.

The single biggest transformation of late is in the creation of chances helped in no small part by the return to form of the enigmatic Adam Wilde who hit the net for the second game in succession.

For much of this season City have been prisoners of their own inconsistency, but the shackles have been cast off, replaced with a spring in the step and a renewed purpose.

But it wouldn't quite be Worcester if they didn't have a blip somewhere along the line and that came in a very sluggish opening 25 minutes in which they failed to master the blustery conditions and fell a goal behind to the lively Charlie Taylor inside 10 minutes.

Punishing a square City defence, and possibly lenient referee's assistant, Taylor breached the offside trap to coolly dispatch a low shot past Danny McDonnell.

Welling's bright start could have been even better but for McDonnell's brilliance when he pulled off a sensational one-handed save to deny Taylor.

City needed something to snap them out of it and it came through Liam McDonald's 24th minute strike, expertly sweeping in Wilde's cross for the equaliser.

It's been a fairytale month for the teenager and his debut senior goal capped perfectly his emergence from bit part player to main-stay of central midfield alongside John Snape. From then on there was no looking back with City dominating, but finding the winner proved a hard slog.

Wings keeper Gavin Kelly somehow thwarted Leon from eight yards in what was to become a familiar but frustrating theme for the striker while Owen had a goal disallowed.

Even when Leon Kelly did eventually get the better of his namesake, nipping round him after a McDonald through ball, he mis-kicked with the goal at his mercy, enabling the lurking Wilde to fire home on 75 minutes.

Jon Holloway, inches away with a bullet header, wrapped up proceedings with an 82 minute header.

City keeper McDonnell, who made a couple of crucial saves from Paul Booth with the scores locked at 1-1, was pleased with his side's fightback.

"We started sluggishly but, especially in the second half, we really pulled our finger out and did better against the wind than when it was with us," he said.

"Liam McDonald passed the ball well, the forwards looked dangerous and defensively we tightened up in the second half and it was a good all round display. "We're delighted to win three games on the trot but this league is so open you can't get carried away. You are only as good as your last game and we weren't too bad today."

Not too bad indeed! Bath, watch out.