Saturday, October 23, 2004

HUNDREDS upon thousands of revellers flocked to Blackpool Promenade on Saturday intent on catching this year's illuminations.

If only they realised that a small corner of neighbouring seaside town Southport was enjoying its own brightly lit extravaganza.

An action-packed Nationwide North tussle at Haig Avenue finished with both sets of supporters dazzled by the entertainment on show.

Four goals, missed sitters and goalmouth scrambles in a passionate contest.

Why head to the Pleasure Beach when you can strap yourself in for Worcester's very own roller-coaster ride?

There were plenty of up's and down's for City's travelling fans to endure over the 90 minutes, but it was all worth it in the end as John Barton's battlers held firm for the second game running to pick up another priceless point.

Similar to their previous clash with leaders Alfreton Town, guts and determination were the order of the day and City's pitch-side troops gave it in spades, if you pardon the beach pun.

And nobody typified the fighting spirit more than two players who would gladly spill blood for the club -- Carl Heeley and Mark Owen.

Skipper Heeley was City's dominant figure at the back and refused to let his defence buckle as the Sandgrounders laid siege for a winner in the last 15 minutes.

Owen, on the other hand, was Worcester's bundle of energy and drive at the other end.

Making his first start after a knee injury, Owen chased down every ball, every lost cause and ran himself into the ground before Barton brought the exhausted lad off late on.

However, the striker's exit did not come before blasting City in front with a lovely second-half finish. It was an encouraging sign Owen is more than determined to make up for lost time.

Barton started with the same 3-5-2 formation that negated Alfreton, with on-loan goalie James Coates making his bow and John Snape figuring for the first time this season in midfield alongside Pat Lyons and Nick Colley.

Lyons wasted the game's first real effort when his 20-yard drive sailed over but City generally failed to test goalkeeper Steve Dickinson, despite a healthy share of the possession.

Southport fared much better on the attack, yet striker Terry Fearns missed two ludicrously easy efforts within the opening half-hour.

On the first occasion, Fearns raced into the box and slashed a shot across the face of goal under pressure from Rob Warner.

Then later, after receiving a left-wing cross from Kevin Leadbetter, Fearns scuffed his effort wide of goal.

Leadbetter whipped a curler beyond the far post before Southport grabbed the lead on 39 minutes.

Fearns shifted inside Heeley outside the box before delivering an inch-perfect cross for the unmarked Kevin Lynch to head home at the back post.

However, the home side's patiently built sandcastle crumbled apart within a minute as Hoyle rose majestically from eight yards to bullet Les Hines' corner into the net.

Hines and Hoyle combined again before half-time to tee up Owen but his goal was ruled out for a foul.

Liam McDonald replaced Shabir Khan at the interval and made a telling contribution in City's second on 68 minutes, slotting the ball past two defenders to Owen who flicked the shot with his left boot past the despairing Dickinson.

City's lead was just as short-lived as Southport stole an equaliser seconds later. Lyons brought down Lynch on the edge of Worcester's box and Leadbetter's free-kick fizzed into the bottom corner after a slight deflection.

Both sides hit the woodwork in the chase for a winner, Hines striking the post with a looping 30-yard free-kick and Southport captain Steve Pickford crashing against the bar.

City: Coates 6, Khan 6 (McDonald 46, 6, Warmer 87), Hines 6, Hoyle 7, Heeley 8, Warner 7, Colley 6, Snape 6, *Owen 8 (Webster 78), Kelly 6, Lyons 7. Subs not used: Whittington, Skyers.

Attendance: 863.