Friday, April 13, 2001

MARK Owen grabbed his 30th goal of the season to give Worcester City a 1-0 win at Newport County last night.

Owen's 55th minute strike was enough to give City their second victory over Newport in the space of three days and keep them in fourth place in the Dr Martens League Premier Division.

The game didn't live up to the recent goal feasts between the sides, but the result mattered most as City opened up a gap between them and the chasing pack.

Manager John Barton said: "We are pleased with the result although I thought we made heavy weather of it to be honest. It was a 1-0 victory which we could have turned into a more emphatic victory.

"We have had sides on the ropes many times this season but haven't been able to finish them off.

"We were quite solid defensively. We changed it slightly and played three up front to see if we could get Jamie Hyde into the top third of the pitch more often. Then we altered it to make us more solid in the last 20 minutes.

"We are disappointed from the point of view that it may have looked as if we snatched a narrow victory, and that wasn't the case."

City's new-look strike force caused the home side several problems and only their lack of finishing prevented them taking an early grip on proceedings.

Newport had their moments as well but City's defence again did sterling work, while young Paul Wyatt, given another outing in goal, made two crucial saves to keep out efforts from Gary Thorne and Garry Shephard.

The decisive goal came when Mark Shepherd twisted past a defender on the left and although he was tackled, the ball squirted into the path of Owen who finished with a low drive from 15 yards.

Although Newport piled on the pressure after that, City still looked more dangerous on the break as they held on for their first ever win at Spytty Park, with Owen having an effort cleared off the line and Shepherd being denied at the death by Newport goalkeeper Pat Mountain.

Worcester: P. Wyatt 7, Joyce 6, Burrow 6, Greenman 6 (Tucker 62, 6), Heeley 7, Weir 8, Cottrill 7 (Lutz 53, 6), Ellis 7, Owen 7, Shepherd 7, Hyde 7. Sub not used: Reed.