Saturday, April 10, 2004

LEON Kelly suffered double agony on Saturday after missing a penalty and limping off injured in Worcester City's 0-0 bore-draw with Chippenham Town.

The striker's failure to convert a spot-kick proved decisive in a Dr Martens Premier Division match of few chances and little quality even though Adam Wilde had a shot cleared off the line in the final 15 minutes.

City, strong at the back, were below par from an attacking perspective and were not helped by a whistle-happy referee, who by the end had blown for 34 free kicks, to interrupt any flow that might have developed in the game.

While the spirit was willing, City's spark and creativity that has graced much of their recent success at St George's Lane was sadly absent.

Bluebirds' boss Steve White fielded a five man midfield that swamped City, who with Jai Stanley and Wilde both off song, had little scope to breach them.

Pat Lyons flickered brightly on occasion but Kelly and Mark Owen, on a forgettable 250th appearance for the club, had barely a sniff of goal all day such was the paucity of openings.

Both defences enjoyed the upper hand though Owen mis-controlled 11 seconds into the second half with the goal beckoning.

In such circumstances a penalty kick was a gift horse not to be thrown away.

Kelly had done brilliantly to win the 28th minute penalty, turning and powering past three players before Ellis Wilmott upended him with a tackle, but the penalty, at the Canal End, was forgettable, hammered high over the bar.

Failure to score from the spot is proving expensive for City with Wilde guilty of the same crime at Dorchester last week.

John Barton admitted he would have preferred either Paul Carty or Carl Heeley to have taken it and with Wilde initially grabbing the ball to take the penalty, City's manager would be better placed nominating a taker before kick-off.

Kelly's miserable afternoon got worse following a crude challenge which forced his substitution on 79 minutes.

It was a frustrating afternoon all-round for Barton who on seeing Wilde finally burst into life on 74 minutes, promptly saw his shot cleared off the line by Wilmott following an excellent run.

At the death Lyons spurned a gilt-edged chance, heading over from six yards when completely unmarked at the back post.

Chippenham's revival under White has been remarkable. They were rooted to the foot of the table with 14 points from a possible 57 when he took over before Christmas, but they had to wait until the 38th minute for their best effort when Martin Paul glanced a header just over.

City: McDonnell 6, Davies 6, Carty 5, Holloway 6, Heeley 6, Snape 6, Stanley 5 (McDonald 76), H Lyons 7, Owen 5 (Webster 64, 6), Kelly 6 (Middleton 79), Wilde 5. Subs (not used: Hayes, Woolley.

Attendance: 1,036.