THE sight of Danny Glover lying face down in the St George’s Lane turf following Guiseley’s winning goal just about said it all for Worcester City.

For 87 minutes, City had strained every sinew in pushing one of the league’s best sides all the way in an absorbing contest.

Then, with the game in the balance, James Walshaw got past Tyler Weir, made the most of a ricochet off Stuart Whitehead and drilled the ball beyond goalkeeper Glyn Thompson.

Glover, as he had done for much of the match, was also back defending and, in seeing the ball nestle in the net, collapsed to the ground out of sheer exhaustion and despair.

It was a desperately cruel blow for City whose chances of making the Blue Square Bet North play-offs now hang by a thread.

There was also a resigned tone in the voice of the public address announcer as if he knew the significance of the strike.

Victory would have given Worcester renewed hope for the top five finish but defeat, their third in a row and yet another against a team above them in the table, does them no favours.

They are now down to eighth in the table and have played more games than everyone in the top 10 except runaway leaders Chester.

Even more frustrating is the fact that, alongside their grit and determination, Carl Heeley’s team had more than enough chances to have seen Guiseley off long before Walshaw’s winner.

But it was the same old story of Worcester paying the price for not taking their chances, something that has plagued them on several occasions this term.

Rob Elvins, Mike Symons and Glover all came agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock and Michael Taylor struck the post in search of an equaliser seconds after coming on as a stoppage-time substitute.

Glover forced a first-half save from Steven Drench and pulled a shot inches wide of the far post in the second, while Symons, back in the side for the first time in six matches, scrambled the ball wide from Weir’s cross.

Elvins, playing in a much more advanced role than normal, however missed the pick of the bunch.

Despite being slightly off balance, he planted the ball wide of an empty goal after getting the better of goalkeeper Drench in the area following a surging run.

At the other end, Steve Kittrick’s Guiseley enjoyed good spells, particularly in the first-half, but City repelled everything thrown at them.

They defended heroically, if very deep in the second period with Glover and Matt Birley often in their own penalty box, and stood firm.

That was until Walshaw pounced to break City hearts and leave them once again ruing missed opportunities.