Saturday, March 6, 2004

IT'S been a while but Adam Webster issued a timely reminder of his talent with a hat-trick, capping a superb afternoon's work by City.

Rivals Dover Athletic were destroyed in a five goal burst either side of half-time as recent defeats by the Kent side were avenged in spectacular fashion.

Encouragingly, St George's Lane is fast becoming a fortress for Worcester who made it four home league wins on the trot while extending their unbeaten run in the Dr Martens Premier Division to eight matches.

Leon Kelly and a collectors' item from John Snape completed the scoring but in a clash that simmered close to boiling point throughout, City also demonstrated nerve and resolve to fight back from a goal down, levelling just before the break.

For Webster, it was a welcome return to the fold as he made the most a rare start of late following Mark Owen's failure to shake off a knock picked up in training.

"We've been talking about the strength of the bench for some time now and Adam's response is exactly what you want," said manager John Barton. "You have to feel a bit sorry for Mark but Adam's come in and taken his chance."

"Dover are a good side, indisciplined, but a good side and we equalised at the right time," he added. "It was probably one of the most important goals in our season, in terms of what it did for us, because for the opening half hour it looked as though we were going to turn in one of those nearly, but not quite, displays.

"I was pleased with the fact we came from a goal down, in front of our home crowd, which we've not always found easy with the expectation, but we did and we smashed them."

Webster set the tone for an ill-tempered opening spell with a clattering challenge on Paul Hyde after just five minutes, earning the first of five bookings in the first half.

Hyde, whose alleged racial slurs so incensed City last season, found little sympathy and was greeted with boos and a sharp blast of an air horn at every goal kick.

But with the lively Lee Spiller winning the early midfield battle against Snape and Jai Stanley, Dover looked the more likely to score with Andy Arnott heading a corner against the bar.

City were exposed on occasion at the back with rescuing tackles by Carl Heeley and Allan Davies denying further openings. Danny McDonnell then blocked Matt Carruthers who had again caught City dawdling to break clear.

The mood soured briefly when Craig Wilkins shoved Paul Carty head first into the Canal End wall but it got worse for Barton's side on 37 minutes when Dover went in front.

Jon Holloway and Heeley challenged for the same header from a long throw on the right, neither won it clearly, enabling Carruthers a free header which rebounded off the bar for Darren Davies to tap home from six yards.

But if an element of indecision contributed to that goal, a monumental cock-up put City level when Dover captain Arnott, in attempting to head a bouncing ball back to Hyde, put it past the keeper. The ball hit the post where Webster, following up, approached too fast to score, but managed to knock the ball to Kelly who tapped in from a yard out.

It looked suspiciously off-side but having falling victim to a controversial winner in January, no-one in the City camp was exactly shedding any tears. In fact it lit the blue touchpaper as Barton's side upped the gears after the break and rattled in four goals in 15 minutes.

Webster poked in a rebound following Hyde's point blank save from a Holloway header on 48 minutes while Snape unleashed a left-footed screamer from the edge of the box five minutes later after Stanley's initial shot had only been half cleared.

Webster's precision lob dropped over Hyde for a fourth on 61 minutes and a venomous penalty two minutes later, after Kelly had been sent tumbling, completed his hat-trick.

The Whites also had a penalty, harshly awarded for handball against Carty, but it proved in vain as McDonnell produced a superb save, low to his left, to deny Jamie Day.