Worcester City 2 Grantham Town 0

STRIKES in either half from a rejuvenated Adam Wilde and Stewart Hadley added to a miserable day for Grantham Town.

A motorway pile-up had seen the Gingerbreads arrive an hour late, forcing the kick off to be delayed by 15 minutes, and matters soon took a turn for the worse when Worcester City went ahead after just five minutes through Wilde.

Resplendent in their new kit, City were soon in their stride and a spell of intricate play on the left involving Mitch Counsell and Hadley was capped in superb style by Wilde who stepped past his marker before crashing a shot past Seamus Lawless.

The goal and the build-up set the tone for the rest of the match and where City have struggled in previous encounters against relegation-threatened sides, there was little danger this time as they eased to a 2-0 win.

The memory of dropped points against Ilkeston and Halesowen was shrugged aside as City produced some of their best football in recent months, particularly in the first half.

Mark Shail led from the back while wing backs Jon Holloway and Paul Carty galloped forward at every opportunity as City signalled their intent to take the game to the Gingerbreads.

Carty, belying his 37 years, burst clear in the eighth minute to whip over a dangerous cross which was whisked off the feet of the incoming Adam Webster.

The striker then lashed a speculative volley wide while Hadley forced the first corner with a run and left foot shot.

A nervy Lawless, on his Dr Martens Premier Division debut, almost gifted City Wilde a second goal in the 19th minute when he came for a Holloway free kick but punched poorly.

The ball fell to Wilde who controlled neatly before unleashing a shot that struck the underside of the bar and bounced to safety.

Wilde, confidence surging through his veins after his second goal in consecutive games, and sixth since arriving at City, was in sparkling form, firing over a tantalising cross from the right which just eluded the incoming Hadley at the back post.

Despite comfortably in control chances remained at a relative premium with Webster denied by Ian Wilkins after Hadley had broken clear on the right in the closing minutes after the first half.

Mindful of past slip-ups after less than impressive re-starts, City started the second half briskly and Webster was within a whisker of scoring within 20 seconds when he just failed to connect with a Carty diagonal ball fired across the six yard box.

That miss proved irrelevant two minutes later however when Hadley spun his marker and curled in a delightful shot from the edge of the area.

The home side eased up at the point, allowing the Gingerbreads more possession with the excellent Gary Bull their main threat.

The ex-Birmingham City player had a spate of chances late on, the best of which saw him drill a shot just inches over with Danny McDonnell beaten all ends up.

Grantham's best chance of an opening arrived in the 62nd minute when Carty was penalised for a raised boot inside his own area but the free kick was charged down.

Moments later Holloway set pulses racing with a chested clearance that had the visitors furiously appealing for a penalty.

City had chances to extend the lead with Webster, back after missing the last two matches through illness, spurning the best of those when Counsell released him on the hour mark.

He managed to turn his marker but with the goal at his mercy he drifted the ball well-wide.

Wilde's pace bought him space in the 73rd minute but he lobbed wide with Lawless caught in no-man's land.

The last word of the match fittingly fell to John Snape, whose return from surgery has galvanised his team-mates, but he mis-read the script and drilled a stoppage time shot wide of the post.