Racing Club Warwick 2 Redditch United 0

ON a day when Warwick scrapped and blustered their way nearer survival, Redditch were left grateful for already having done enough, barring a miracle, to ensure their Dr Martens Western status.

For three quarters of a mind-numbing encounter, United looked set to achieve the unusual distinction of losing to a side who failed to muster a shot on target.

The hosts, battling with Swindon Supermarine to beat the drop, were delighted to find themselves ahead after a scrappy 13 minutes.

Appropriately enough the teams were divided by an own goal as Richard Field leaned on Warwick striker Kim Green and succeeded in winning a header in his own area which looped backwards over a stranded Neil Olden into the Reds net.

The only other highlight of a dismal first half was when United defender Quentin Townsend almost scored a carbon copy own goal in the 29th minute.

After the break Matty Hall went on a promising run from the halfway line and threaded a slide rule pass to Peter Sutton but the forward blazed wildly over the bar on a terrible pitch.

Keith Marlow beat Lee Knight in the air to reach a Luke Yates corner on a rare Warwick foray in the 65th minute and United almost scored two minutes later when a Richard Beale corner from the right was met by Lee Booth with a downward header and cleared only as far as Field, whose shot in the six yard box was charged down.

In the 71st minute it was game over after Racing Club scored with their first on-target effort.

Paul Danks was caught in possession while defending in his own box and Paul Eden, a target for Nicky Cross' Redditch in pre-season, found Green who hooked his foot around Olden, close in, to make it 2-0.

The comedy of errors continued in the 82nd minute when Field was set to meet Hall's left wing free kick with a free header at the far post only to be barged off it by Booth.

Warwick sub Adam Kinder was narrowly wide at full stretch after entering the fray late on and United sub Chris Hill's inch perfect cross was snatched off Paul Danks' toes by Warwick keeper Craig Dutton.

But it only remained for Kinder and Green to fire embarrassingly wide of the mark when well-placed in injury time to emphasise their own inefficiency and rub salt in United's wounds.