Saturday, February 1, 2003

IF there was any justice Worcester may well have been plotting a trip to Kent tomorrow night.

But as Terry Venables will tell you football is anything but fair and two quick second half goals inside two minutes killed off City's FA Trophy hopes against Conference visitors Margate.

Up until that point John Barton's team had proved more than capable of coping with their higher league graded opposition and looked odds on for a replay if not victory.

But in less than two minutes Phil Collins ripped up the formbook to set up the opener and win a dubious penalty.

It was a double whammy as Barton admitted after the match but if there was a gulf in the two sides perhaps it was in the penetration up front.

Collins needs no second invitation to sniff out a goalscoring opportunity and when he manoeuvred half a yard in the 70th minute he hit the byline in a flash and squared for Simon Beard to score with an easy tap in.

With City still reeling Collins inflicted the fatal blow when he raced clear and was brought to earth by McDonnell as he attempted to round him.

City's keeper managed to get a hand on the ball first before colliding with Collins but referee Mike Mullarkey was swift to point to the spot and Leon Braithwaite dispatched the penalty with aplomb.

McDonnell survived with just a booking for his sins but an air of resigned fate hung over the remainder of the game. However there were still plenty of positives to dwell on not least an improved all round display after two below par displays against Dover Athletic and Moor Green.

The Trophy clash was billed as a litmus test to assess the home side's progress and for more than three quarters of the game they more than matched their Conference visitors.

In fact it was a case of the what might have beens during the first 45 minutes for the Dr Martens Premier outfit who were unlucky not to go into the break in front.

That they didn't owed to a large dollop of misfortune when Mitch Counsell, on his home debut, unleashed a 25-yard shot in the 13th minute which flew past Phil Smith but struck the inside of the post.

It was a wonderful effort and even then it still might have produced a goal but when the ball came back across the goal David Holmes could only steer the rebound into the side-netting.

Two minutes earlier Margate were grateful to Smith who produced two quick saves in succession to deny Carl Heeley and then Paul Carty whose glancing header was brilliantly tipped round the post.

Braithwaite and Collins were well-marshalled at the back by Barton's revamped line up of three centre backs and Carl Heeley, Mark Blount and Dan Jones did well in blocking the threat of the duo.

When Braithwaite did find a way through in the 30th minute McDonnell stood tall to deny him from eight yards. Perhaps this played on the striker's mind because three minutes later he missed a glorious chance to break the deadlock after pouncing on a mistake by the otherwise excellent Pat Lyons but his shot dribbled out by the corner flag.

Margate boss Chris Kinnear brought on Irish U21 captain Terry McFlynn and he almost had an immediate impact but once again McDonnell was quickly off his line.

The assured Counsell then released Lyons but he didn't quite have the legs to escape the last challenge. Stewart Hadley replaced Adam Webster in the 66th minute as Barton searched for fresh impetus up front but the breakthrough came at the other end.

In the closing stages City searched in desperation for a way back but a Hadley header was the closest they came.

Their cup exploits over City can trot out that old chestnut of concentrating on the league but with the title race hotting up there are still 14 cup finals left to negotiate.