Evesham Utd 1, Halesowen Tn 1

RELIEF in the form of a Worcestershire Senior Cup replay was welcome news for everyone at Common Road on Tuesday night, writes Mervyn Collins.

Top of the table Halesowen showed their capabilities in the second half after a resurgent home side had shown glimpses of what they are capable of in the opening 45 minutes.

However, despite a spirited attacking show, defensive frailties again showed and Danny Watson was forced into a several fine stops most notably a one-handed effort to claw aside Gary Smith's early curler.

It took Evesham 41 minutes to find the net and it was a simple goal as Phil Preedy pushed the ball past his marker and fired an angled drive into the corner from 12 yards.

Visiting keeper Tim Clarke was only called into serious action once to push aside Shaun Pratt's 27th minute strike. He should have been beaten four minutes earlier when Preedy miscued in front of an open goal and, when Pratt slotted in the wayward shot, he was deemed offside.

Dean Roberts replaced Scott Mullen at half-time but Evesham's ambitions disappointingly fizzled out. Steve Lutz finished tamely from Preedy's 52nd minute cross before the home defence came under intense pressure.

Never looking totally assured, they were caught out when Ross Collins slid in the equaliser after 59 minutes and only Watson's heroics prevented the scorer giving the visitors the lead six minutes later.

Preedy and Pratt were both off target at the other end before Watson produced another crucial stop to again deny Collins. Steve McCartan blazed wildly over in the final attack on a night when Evesham will be glad to have ended their three-match losing run.