Thursday, December 26, 2002

FOOTBALL'S thin line between success and failure was emphasised in cruel fashion for Worcester yesterday.

Feted as heroes last week John Barton's side became pantomime villans after coming unstuck in a mud-spattered 2-1 defeat at Newport County.

This one hurt. Not simply because it brought their nine match unbeaten run to a halt but because of the manner in which they were vanquished.

Put bluntly City should have sewn this game up inside 30 minutes.

On the sodden turf of Spytty Park City chalked up a handful of good opportunities that on another day - like Chelmsford last week for example - would have put them streets ahead at the break.

But, and not for the first time this season, City failed to kill off their opponents which later returned to haunt them with devastating consequences when Garry Shephard rounded Danny McDonnell for the 81st minute winner.

That had all seemed a long way off when Darren Middleton handed City a dream start from the penalty spot after an unlucky handball against Scott Walker in the seventh minute.

Chances popped up at regular intervals for the St George's Lane club - the best when Adam Wilde burst half the length of the pitch only to curl his shot just past the post in the 21st minute.

Shephard had given the visitors a taste of his threat with a run and shot saved by McDonnell at full stretch but the key moment came from another City break. Instigated by John Snape it ended with Middleton's first time shot rattling the bar.

It proved to be a pivotal moment because two minutes before half time Raith Plant, looking suspiciously off-side, waltzed round McDonnell for the equaliser after Mark Blount, in his first game on loan, was caught in possession.

Strong hint of offside or not, City had little cause to grumble at the direction of the game because two minutes earlier Shephard somehow poked a rebound from a brilliant McDonnell block, over the bar from six yards.

As the game wore on pitch conditions became harder and Newport's tactic of lumping early balls forward stretched Worcester's back four.

McDonnell needed to be sharp - and was - to deny Matt Rose at the near post in the 68th minute.

Despite City's midfield falling off the pace in the heavy conditions - not ideal for Snape's groin strain - chances still came their way.

Wilde, quiet for large spells, sparked into life in the 73rd minute and forced Pat Mountain to save at full stretch. A minute later the keeper denied Lyons.

Shephard's winning strike prompted a frantic finale and Wilde twice had chances in the dying minutes but to no avai, leaving City to reflect on only their third defeat of the season.

Worcester: McDonnell 7, Davies 6, Carty 7, Heeley 7, Blount 6, Snape 7, Middleton 7, Lyons 6 (Charlton 79), Webster 8, Holmes 7, Wilde 6: Subs not used: Jones, Willetts, Tomkins, Wyatt. Attendance 927.