Saturday, May 1, 2004

WORCESTER slid to a disappointing final position of fifth in the Dr Martens Premier Division after their end-of-season slump culminated in another defeat.

A tired, listless performance saw them go down at home to a much more committed Cambridge City side.

And although the visitors had to wait until the last six minutes before scoring their two goals, it would have been all over long before but for an outstanding display by goalkeeper Danny McDonnell.

England's latest recruit made a string of superb stops to fully justify winning both the supporters' and players' player of the year awards for the second year running.

Skipper Carl Heeley said: "Danny was outstanding. He pulled off some great saves and we could have been looking at a heavier defeat but for him.

"I thought there wasn't much to choose from between the sides for probably an hour, but I thought they tended to get a little bit more possession in the final third. We didn't look like we had too many goals in us."

City's defeat saw them slip below Nuneaton although fifth was still their best finish in 15 years and improved on last year's achievement by one place.

But there was still a feeling that it could have been even better after a run of only one win in their final eight matches.

Heeley added: "It was a bit disappointing to drop down a place on the final day but we have lost some games recently where other teams have failed to win - it wasn't the case this time.

"It should have been a higher finish than what it was. Second place was there for the taking and any sort of run to the end of the season would probably have got it."

Probably the luckiest person on the City payroll was manager John Barton, who was spared watching the game having been advised not to travel due to a bad back.

New player-coach John Snape, assisted by John Newman, took charge and they saw City have at least as much play as the visitors but carried far less threat, with their strikers seeing little of the ball throughout.

Adam Wilde, who often looked City's liveliest player against his former club, created arguably their best chance on the hour when his free-kick was headed down by Barry Woolley and Heeley's shot took a big deflection off Cambridge defender Craig Pope and spun inches wide of the post.

Cambridge, looking for a point to secure their place in the new Conference Two next season, looked much more dangerous.

McDonnell made excellent blocks to deny Rob Miller, Robbie Simpson, Danny Bloomfield and Richard Scott before the break, while Bloomfield (twice) and Simpson were denied by him again after the break.

The visitors finally broke through six minutes from time when Lewis Baillie stole in at the near post to head home Scott's corner, leaving McDonnell with no chance.

Three minutes later City were caught short at the back and McDonnell saved well again from Scott but could do nothing about Bloomfield's follow-up.

Worcester: McDonnell 9, Holloway 6, McDonald 6, Woolley 6, Heeley 6, Snape 6, Stanley 5 (Webster 77), Middleton 5, Owen 5, Kelly 5, Wilde 7. Subs not used: Parker, Smith, Atkinson, Hayes.

Attendance: 991.