SO another season ends in disappointment for Worcester City.

A campaign which promised so much but, ultimately, failed to deliver.

Everyone knows the reasons why, despite a late surge in a bid to reach the play-offs, City finished six points shy of the top five.

They have been too inconsistent - playing both brilliantly and woefully - and lost matches they should have won.

There is no single defining moment where it all went wrong. However, defeats in two crucial cup matches - at Basingstoke and Welling - help divide the campaign into three sections.

After a good start, which saw City sitting top of the league at the end of August with an unbeaten away record, Andy Preece's side went through a rotten home run. Moor Green, Farsley, Alfreton and Redditch picked up points at St George's Lane, while Romulus, Hemel Hempstead and Basingstoke forced cup replays.

It was that penalty shoot-out defeat in Hampshire on October 31, which cost City £10,000 and a first-round trip to Chesterfield, that brought about a significant change.

Manager Preece's threat to take an axe to his squad seemed to have an effect as the team went on a run of league and cup results that saw them lose just twice in the next 16.

Morale was boosted by the contract renewals of Preece and Chris Smith along with the Chris Cornes signing - but the ex-Wolves midfielder failed to live up to his billing.

Crucially, however, the two matches City lost during that spell - at home to Leigh and at Farsley - saw them lapse into their early-season habit of losing when in control.

But that run, which saw the start of City's unbeaten home run in 2007 and the return of Adam Webster alongside top-scorer Mark Danks, did instill confidence.

As a result, they travelled to Welling for the FA Trophy quarter-final on February 3 dreaming of a Wembley final.

Yet, with Smith suspended and Danny Hodnett drafted in late on for flu-victim Des Lyttle, the team lost 2-1. That marked the beginning of near-weekly team changes and a series of results hardly befitting a promotion challenger.

Worcester drew four and won just two of their next 10 games, one against Lancaster, and it culminated in a shocking display at Moor Green.

City's mini-revival, which incorporated the departures of Andy Morrison and Justin Thompson, kept their play-off hopes alive until the final day but, in the end, the mountain was too high to climb.