IT started badly and went downhill from there.

This was a game when everything that could go wrong went wrong and against a Westfields side bristling with confidence after four straight wins.

I can’t remember seeing a City side trail by five goals at the break and a red card for the keeper soon after just meant their slim hopes of a second-half recovery were forgotten.

One that will stick in the memory but for all the wrong reasons.

CATCH UP WITH OUR LIVE TEXT COVERAGE OF THE MATCH

Guest reporter David Lawrence gives his analysis on how the action unfolded at the Victoria Ground.

GET A FOOTHOLD IN THE GAME

All the planning and pre-match talking went out the window after just 75 seconds.

That’s how long it took for City to give the ball away and for Jamie Molyneux to brush aside the last man and place his shot past keeper Dan Jezeph.

And any chance of returning to the script was well and truly forgotten when Westfields made it 2-0 inside the opening 15 minutes.

City shot themselves in the foot - not once but twice!

PLAY KEEP BALL

Only Midland League Premier Division leaders Ilkeston Town have scored more goals than Westfields this season so the last thing you want to be doing is giving the ball away cheaply.

A loose pass set the visitors up for their opener, another led to the second from the penalty spot and it was the same old story for the third.

I’m sure manager John Snape’s half-time ear-bashing was still fresh in their minds when skipper Jordan Stoddart rolled the ball into the path of Aidan Thomas straight after the restart so that the striker could celebrate his hat-trick before taking a well-earned breather.

Westfields were clinical, City were sloppy.

DECISIONS, DECISIONS

City will argue that key decisions didn’t go their way.

They have a point but that’s not why they were thumped 6-1.

There was a question mark over the penalty incident that saw the visitors double their lead but there was contact from Matt Birley as Westfields’ Sam Rawlings went up for a header inside the six-yard box and that was enough for referee James Cox to point to the spot.

The other key moment came just before half-time when Thomas tucked away his second of the game.

It seems City keeper Dan Jezeph thought a Westfields player had handled the ball and after giving the referee his version of events was duly sent off.

KEEP 11 PLAYERS ON THE FIELD

Which leads me to Dan Jezeph’s red card.

I can understand that after picking the ball out of the net five times you are going to be a tad frustrated but that can’t boil over into a foul-mouthed tirade at the referee.

Speaking to the manager afterwards, John Snape accepted that his keeper was still young and learning his trade and would be dealt with internally.

Playing a side with title aspirations is hard enough with 11 players so the last thing you want to do is to give them a numerical advantage.

PRAISE FOR BALDWIN

John Snape is a far better football manager than I’ll ever be but I found it odd that James Baldwin was the player sacrificed to allow keeper Sam Gilder to replace the banished Dan Jezeph.

During a wretched first half for City, Baldwin provided the few moments of hope.

His tireless running and tenacity actually asked questions of the Westfields defence.

Worcester City's @WorcesterCityFc Twitter account pulled no punches.

NOT CITY'S WORST HOME DEFEAT

WORCESTER City fan and historian Julian Pugh believes it is not the club's worst home defeat.

But it seems like it could be around 112 years since City suffered a heavier home loss in a competitive match and it was the biggest since 1946.

He said on City's Banter Board: "On 7 November 1903 we were beaten 7-2 at home by Coventry City - this was their first team in the days when they played in the Birmingham League. 

"We also lost 6-0 at home to Watford - again their first team - in the FA Cup in January 1906.

"On 21 September 1946 City lost 6-1 at home to Gillingham. In February 1946 we lost 6-2 at home to Barry. These were both Southern League matches.

"Meanwhile on 1 November 1941 we lost 8-1 at home to Aston Villa in a Birmingham League match.

"The status of wartime games is hard to gauge - many statisticians and historians regard them as 'unofficial'.

"There were three occasions in the 80s when we let in a lot of goals in friendly games - 6-1 v Wolves for Kevin Tudor's benefit game in 1983, 6-4 for a similar game v Aston Villa for Malcolm Phelps's benefit in 1984 and 8-0 against a strong Arsenal reserve team in a friendly in 1985."

MATCH FACTS AND STATS

MIDLAND FOOTBALL LEAGUE PREMIER: Worcester City 1 (Evans 87 ), Westfields 6 (A Thomas 35, 45+2, 48, Molyneux 2, 33, Hayes 15 pen).

City: Jezeph 3, Birley 3.5 (Birch 51, 6), Keasey 4.5, Forsyth 4, Stoddart 3.5, Caines 4, Lockett 5.5, Withington 5.5, Harrison 5.5 (EVANS 52, 7) Reynolds 6, Baldwin 6.5 (Gilder 45+2, 6). Unused subs: Willis, Basford.

Westfields: Havard 6.5, Gwynne 7, Rawlings 7, Kahaki 7.5, Hurrell 6.5, J Thomas 6 (Hainault 54, 6), JONES 8, Cooper 6, A Thomas 8 (Moreira 67, 6), Molyneux 7.5, Hayes 6. Unused subs: Butler, Plane, Miller.

Attendance: 361.

Referee: James Cox 6.