Saturday, December 21, 2002

TITLE contenders? You bet!

If further proof were needed about Worcester's championship credentials it was emphatically delivered at St George's Lane in the most one-sided contest since Mike Tyson crumbled at the fists of Lennox Lewis earlier this year.

It was like taking candy from a baby -- only easier.

Rampant City tore Chelmsford to shreds, limb by limb and the only mystery was how they didn't reach double figures.

Inspired by a stunning first half display that brought four goals, should have delivered six and could quite easily have been eight, City literally ran riot.

A wretched own goal in the second period wrapped up the three points, a 5-0 win and a miserable afternoon for the visitors.

More significantly it rattled out a timely Yule tide message to City's rivals -- it read simply 'we mean business'.

Tamworth, Chippenham, Stafford - bring them all on - because John Barton's boys can take them all the way to the wire - no question.

Doubts have surfaced about the lack of goals -- 11 blanks in 27 league and cup games is admittedly worrying -- but Saturday was a reminder, in spades, of what this team is capable of.

The record books show the Clarets have not won at St George's Lane for 32 years but if they have to face an onslaught like this every time they turn up they may as well not bother coming for another 50 years.

The early exchanges were promising -- even the announcer Captain Crazy beat Santa Claus in a pre match shoot out -- but there was no hint of just how promising because -- pick any Christmas clich, carve up, roasting, stuffing -- that was the fate for Chelmsford.

Each goal simply got better and better, and better.

Adam Wilde put the wheels in motion after just seven minutes, lashing the ball into the roof of the net after the Clarets had been skewered by Darren Middleton and David Holmes.

A minute later Middleton fluffed a sitter when it seemed easier to score but it didn't really matter because on 12 minutes City had the game in the bag.

Allan Davies burst forward, pounced on a Holmes reverse pass and curled in a delightful left-footed shot past the despairing Paul Nicholls -- his first goal for the club.

The December weather was typically gloomy, overcast and damp but the football was positively Rio De Janeiro.

Davies certainly played that way, galloping forward at every opportunity, and after one thunderous run, unleashing a fierce drive that stung Nicholls to the very core.

The action was sublime and if it had been a boxing match the white towel would have been flung in long before Holmes somehow miscued a golden opportunity to make it three on 29 minutes.

Two minutes later his strike partner Webster did indeed make it three with a stunning lob via the underside of the bar.

It couldn't get any better -- could it? Well it did six minutes later with a sweeping move started by Jon Holloway and finished by Middleton for his 10th goal of the season.

Wilde and Holmes were the architects and the speed of movement and thought were simply too much for the Clarets.

Chelmsford trudged off demoralised for a half time team talk that would have tested Winston Churchill in his finest hour.

As it was the second period could only ever be an anti-climax after what went before it but there were was still time for a poorly hit Holmes free-kick in the 52nd minute to slice in off Tony Samuels.

Further chances came for City who failed to quite scale the heights of the opening period but that didn't matter -- the warm glow from the first 45 minutes still radiated long after the final whistle.

Paul Parker dubbed Tamworth the best side in the Dr Martens Premier Division after the Clarets' 4-0 home defeat last week but at 4.45pm on Saturday it's fair to assume he might have revised his opinion.