ETHAN Moore is no stranger to scoring late goals and his latest ensured Worcester City another precious point.
The striker buried a 93rd-minute penalty to salvage a draw from a game City had dominated to break Histon hearts.
It was the third time this term that he has struck in the closing stages to secure a share of the spoils, having previously been the hero against Gainsborough Trinity and Solihull Moors.
This time, having replaced Santiago Aloi 18 minutes into the second-half, Moore showed nerves of steel to convert after Graham Hutchison had been fouled in the box.
While it was no less than City deserved, the last-gasp leveller was horribly cruel on a youthful Histon side who battled bravely in search of a first win since January 4.
The visitors defended for all they were worth, but offered little as an attacking threat beyond Harry O’Malley’s 70th-minute header.
They also showed their inexperience as Salim Relizani picked up two yellow cards in the space of 60 seconds late on – one for a petulant piece of time-wasting, the other for clattering into Leigh Bedwell – and was sent off.
Being denied at the death summed up the Cambridgeshire outfit’s luck, too, as their team bus mistakenly drove to St George’s Lane for the match, before making a hasty detour up the A449.
But Worcester should have been out of sight long before Histon stunned the home crowd into silence.
That they weren’t was down to the heroics of one man – keeper Callum Kitcha.
Time and again, he repelled City’s advances and just when you thought he couldn’t make another top-class save, he did just that.
Worcester will point to poor finishing from the likes of top-scorer Daniel Nti, Martin Devaney and Santiago Aloi, but it would be wrong not to acknowledge Kitcha’s role.
That said, City have scored the fewest goals in Skrill North this season and such profligacy has cost them in the past.
Had Moore not intervened with his 12th goal of the campaign, it would have been the seventh home league game this season without a goal for the Blue and Whites.
Instead, City completed a week manager Carl Heeley described as ‘pivotal’ unbeaten, with five points from three matches at Aggborough – not a bad return.
They remain 12 points above the relegation zone with six games left and, despite back-to-back draws, are playing good football.
Barring a disaster, Worcester should soon be mathematically safe from relegation.
A top-half finish would be welcome and a measure of the strides Heeley’s men have made since the turn of the year.
But staying up was their aim at the start of the season and Moore’s latest late show moved them a step closer to achieving that.
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