Thursday, August 1, 2002

TWO slack back passes inside 30 minutes killed off Worcester City's hopes of causing an upset as First Division Wolves ran out comfortable 4-0 winners last night.

George Ndah was on hand to punish mistakes by Mark Shail and Jon Holloway and the £1million pound striker completed his hat-trick in the second half.

Molineux regulars such as Sean Connolly and Mo Camara combined with the pace of JJ Meligan and Michael Branch proved too strong for City as skipper and Wolves fan Carl Heeley readily admitted.

"They had a lot of pace and counter-attacked really well and we just couldn't cope," he said.

"Wolves beat us comfortably which is disappointing, and it is also disappointing that we have not had a terrific pre-season but you have to gauge the opposition you play against.

"We can't be too disheartened because you wouldn't expect us to get results against those sort of teams."

Wolves took the lead after just seven minutes when an awful Shail back pass allowed Ndah to nip the ball away from Danny McDonnell who brought the lanky forward down.

Ndah converted from the spot and added a second on 28 minutes after sidestepping McDonnell after Holloway gifted the striker a goal by passing straight to him.

The two goals were crushing blows and during a lacklustre first half City failed to trouble Matt Murray in the Wolves goal.

"You can't give two goals away like that - it knocks the stuffing out of you," said Heeley.

Ndah spurned two golden chances for his third goal soon after the break - the first when he danced round McDonnell but shot into the side netting and then wasted a one on one chance following a brilliant Adam Proudlock run.

On 58 minutes however he made no mistake with a clinical strike low into the corner.

Wolves wrapped up the friendly with a fourth in the 71st minute when French midfield trialist Frederic Brando split the City defence with a superb reverse throughball which Jimmy Lee Jones slid home in style.

Worcester: McDonnell, Holloway, Shail (Todd 46), Heeley, Carty, Snape, Jackson (Shirley 73), Middleton, Webster, Owen, Edwards (Pinkney 54). Attendance 1,020.