Saturday, February 16, 2002

IT wasn't a game for the purists but two late strikes in either half were enough to put a smile back on manager John Barton's face after Worcester City's 2-0 victory at Cambridge City.

Pretty it wasn't but goals from Adam Webster and Nathan Jukes did enough to earn three valuable points and ultimately that was the most important factor for Barton's team.

At the start of the match the players strode out on to the Milton Road ground in dazzling sunshine but any thoughts of bright and breezy play to match the weather were rendered useless by the difficult, bobbly pitch which cast a shadow over both sides attempts to play football.

City enjoyed pockets of half-decent play with Darren Middleton in central midfield charged with creating opportunities for the front two but though that was the plan the inability to maintain enough possession scuppered that prospect.

Indeed it was Dwaine McFarlane dancing down the right who looked to be the greatest danger but he flattered to deceive however and could conjure up nothing concrete, bar a glaring miss on 16 minutes after dispossessing Martin Fox to race clear but shin his shot apologetically wide.

It was in fact Middleton's partner in central midfield Jon Holloway who caught the eye with a series of timely tackles and his all round energy and commitment helped spur City forward.

After the early exchanges it was clear that what mattered most was winning and whoever scored first was likely to emerge the victor and that proved to be the case.

The Lilywhites had their chances - Steve Holden blazed over unmarked after just four minutes while Paul Carty and Middleton both left Danny McDonnell frantically racing out of his area to deal with underhit back passes.

McDonnell endured a nervy afternoon and his hesitancy led to some furious exchanges between the 'keeper and his defensive colleagues.

Fortunately for City the decisive moment came their way in the 44th minute when Jukes chipped a ball through for Webster to run on to and he coolly waited for Matt Nurse to advance before a measured lob into an empty net.

Before the match captain Carl Heeley had called for more clinical finishing in front of goal and Webster's effort was positively precision engineering.

The second half degenerated into a scrappy affair with the home side dominating the majority of play and keeping the impressive Mark Shail and Heeley constantly on their toes.

"It was a case of digging deep because they had some good lads and put us under a fair degree of pressure," said Shail.

"I thought the lads dug in well. It wasn't pretty but sometimes you have to be able to defend solidly and be able to do the horrible, ugly things to get the points.

"In the end it was a comfortable win but probably not as comfortable as the scoreline suggested."

Adam Wilde forced a save from McDonnell after Carty was caught dallying near his penalty area in the 51st minute.

But that apart there was little to seriously threaten City's goal apart from a snap volley from former Wycombe Wanderers striker Roy Essandoh and a mazy Wilde run brilliantly stopped in its tracks by a last ditch Allan Davies tackle.

As the game wore on City launched several counter attacks with Webster close to grabbing a second as he swept a Stewart Hadley cross just over the bar.

The second goal followed another break which found Webster wide on the left with Nurse advancing towards him. Calmly the striker squared for Hadley whose goalbound effort was handled by Fox who was giving his marching orders.

Jukes stepped up to calmly send Nurse the wrong way and seal a slightly flattering 2-0 victory for City.